Carpenter German Adventure: St. Martin of Tours Parade

November 11, 2008

We had a treat today at Luke’s school – the annual St. Martin of Tours kinder parade. Here’s the background (a bit long, but interesting):

Excerpt from: St. Martin’s Day - Martinstag Guest Author - Holly Fox
Fall has begun, we’ve turned our clocks back, and the sky is already dark by late afternoon. A procession of children carrying glowing lanterns on long sticks sing, “Ich geh’ mit meiner Laterne, und meine Laterne mit mir. Dort oben leuchten die Sterne, und unten leuchten wir. Mein Licht ist aus, ich geh’ nach Haus. Rabimmel, rabammel, rabum.” (I’m walking with my lantern, and my lantern comes with me. Up there the stars are shining, and we’re shining down here. My light is out, I’m going home. Rabimmel, rabammel, rabum.)
In early November, German children begin these processions, which celebrate the feast day of Martin of Tours. On the actual feast day, November 11th, families might attend a special church service where they hear the story of St. Martin and sing more songs. They then go on one last procession led by a man dressed as a Roman soldier on a white horse.
St. Martin was the bishop of Tours and lived in the 4th century. Originally a soldier in the Roman army, St. Martin met a shivering beggar in Amiens and gave him half of his cloak. That evening Jesus appeared to him in a dream wearing the half cloak. He then decided to be baptized and two years later committed his life to the church.
Another story is that when he was chosen to become the next bishop of Tours, a hesitant St. Martin hid in a goose house. The cackling geese, however, gave away his hiding spot and he agreed to the job. Some stories suggest that to punish the geese, he immediately killed one of them for that evening’s dinner. Roast goose is the traditional St. Martin’s day meal across Catholic Germany. Although St. Martins Day is celebrated in the traditionally Protestant parts of Germany as well, the day is notably more important as a Catholic holiday. In the Rhineland the lantern procession even takes on a certain Halloween feel as children go from house to house singing and receive sweetened, bishop-shaped bread rolls with raisin eyes and buttons.
November 11th is also the official beginning of the new Carnival session across western and southern Germany and traditionally the day to pay one’s tithes. These tithes could also be paid to the church in geese. St. Martin is unique in that he is the first saint that was not martyred. So the celebration of St. Martin’s day has no gloomy overtones, only shining lanterns, children singing, and treats to eat on the way.

So this afternoon, John and I went to Kid’s camp to see Luke in the parade. It was very chilly, and Luke was not in a happy mood. Yesterday he fell on a play structure and skinned his nose, so he looks a bit sad in the pictures! At any rate, there were kids everywhere with their lanterns attached to little plastic “fishing poles” with a battery-powered light hanging on a cord into the lantern. (They reminded me of the fish in Finding Nemo down in the deep dark depths of the ocean with the light hanging on his head.)

Clearly most of the parents were German because they knew all the words to the Lantern song, while John and I struggled to hold a crying, struggling Luke, juggle the camera, and continue to pick up luke’s lantern which was not cooperating with his “fishing pole.” After a round of singing as we walked up the block, we headed back to the school for the traditional bishop-shaped rolls with raisin eyes and some warm kinder gluhwein (punch), which Luke greatly enjoyed. There is no question the little guy loves his food – a satisfying end to the day!