Life: Idiotropic

Luci with her lantern, unlit
St. Martin of Tours was a Roman soldier who led a simple life. He became Bishop, but didn't want to, so at one point, according to legend, he hid out in a barn to escape the people who were looking for him to appoint him Bishop. A flock of geese made noise and gave away his hiding place, so the goose has become the symbol of St. Martin and the traditional food served on his day. November 11th is also the beginning of Fasching, Karneval, and Fastnacht.

A couple months ago I was standing at the bus stop talking to a few other moms and this holiday came up. I hadn't heard of it before, but the moms who had been here last year had very nice things to say about St. Martin's Day. So, even before going to my first parade, I kind of knew what to expect.

St. Martin's Day is traditionally celebrated on November 11th by children all over Germany and the Netherlands. The children walk the streets after dark carrying their lanterns and singing songs. At the end they meet St. Martin, see his horse and the bonfire, and get a special treat. Because not all horses can handle being calm around kids and a bonfire, there are only a few in the area that are used and they are shared by all the local villages. So, not all St. Martin parades are on the same day.

Last night we drove into Teveren, the small town outside of the NATO base, and parked near the school where the parade was to begin. It was dark when we arrived at 5:30. As we walked by, I could see adults gathered in a lit room at the school surrounded by bottles of Gluwein, a hot spiced wine that is traditional around here. The square in front of the school was crowded with kids of all sizes with their families all with lit lanterns of all shapes and sizes. The youngest kids carried the cylindrical lanterns like Luci's decorated in different ways. Some kids had paper mache animal lanterns that looked like they were made around a balloon form. Then the older kids (4-6th grade ages) carried beautiful lanterns in the shapes of birds, dragons, ladybugs, and all sorts of things all brightly lit and beautiful. Some had feathers and legs. Some had glitter. All had some place with tissue paper where the light could shine through. We met Luci's teachers and classmates there, so among the German students in Teveren, there were Americans, Canadians, and Italians.

A booth was set up selling hot Gluwein and hot cocoa and as it was cold and windy, a lot of people were taking advantage of that. About 6:15 a man on a megaphone told us to go to the front of the school. There, the band was assembled and began to play. They played simple children's tunes and many of the kids started to sing along to the St. Martin's songs. The walk was long. We walked all through the village in a large loop with the band in front of us and St. Martin riding his horse about 30 feet behind us. The girls kept looking back to see him. Luci had been told the stories of St. Martin the weeks leading up to this parade, so seeing him was as great as seeing Santa Claus. All along the route the police stood on the sidewalks or walked along with the crowd carrying lit torches. Some gave torches to the older boys to carry as well. I walked along with my girls, participating in this German tradition, seeing the police bearing torches, and couldn't help but feel, even among the music and colorful lanterns, a bit unsettled. People stood out on their front porch watching the parade go by. I carried Elise half-way, but the other girls walked the entire time - even Luci, carrying her Nemo lantern.
When we arrived back at the school after about 45 minutes of walking, there was a large bonfire lit in the grassy area behind the school. It was roped off, so the crowd all gathered thickly around the ropes. A man, dressed in rags (with thick socks and Tevas), sat shivering by the fire. St. Martin rode up on his horse (led the entire time by another man, lessening the drama), pretended to tear his fancy red robe, and gave the man a scrap of red fabric that he covered himself with. Then St. Martin rode around in circles about 20 times waving to all the children and the "poor man" walked around as well. It was a slightly humorous reenactment that did a good job of impressing the children.

After that we got in line to pick up our treats. All the kids got a bag with a large St. Martin bread in it and a full sized Milka chocolate bar. St. Martin's Day breads are in the shape of a man holding a pipe. They can be found in all the bakeries here and are about 14" long. The girls got very excited about their bread and ate a lot of it when they got home. Arianna ate the inside out of hers and then stuffed the hollow bread cavity with cheerios. Luci and Elise both ate different body parts and poked holes in the belly. Luci was excited because the pipes are not bread - they are some sort of ceramic that is baked into the bread so that it looks like St. Martin is holding it. She loves her pipe and thinks it's very special and wants to keep it "forever."

Anyway... it was a nice evening and a new cultural experience. On Saturday night we'll participate in the Gillrath St. Martin's Day parade since it's the one in our own village. We only did Teveren's since the preschool was participating in that one.

Here's the song that Luci learned (with the translation)

Ich geh' mit meiner Lanterne (I'm coming with my lantern
Und meine Lanterne mit mir And my lantern with me
Dort oben leuchten die Sterne, There, over the light are the stars,
Hier unten, da leuchten wir. Here, under the light are we.
Mein Licht ist aus, My light it out
Wir gehn nach Haus, We're going home,
Rabimmel, rabammel, rabum. Rabimmel, rabammel, rabum.)