Father’s Day in Germany is celebrated differently from other parts of the world. It is always celebrated on Ascension Day (the Thursday forty days after Easter), which is a federal holiday. Originally, during the middle Ages, Father’s Day was a religious celebration to honor God the Father.

While in many countries the Father’s Day ritual involves little more than writing a card and giving the gift of a new pair of socks — with breakfast in bed if the father is especially lucky — the Germans have turned it into a true holiday for the country’s men. They are granted carte blanche to get riotously rip-roaring drunk.

Regionally, it is also called men’s day, Männertag, or gentlemen’s day, Herrentag. It is tradition to do a males-only hiking tour with one or more smaller wagons, Bollerwagen, pulled by manpower. In the wagons are wine, beer or schnapps and traditional regional food, Hausmannskost.

But actually not all guys who enjoy Männertag get completely smashed, indeed for a country with a reputation for high alcohol consumption, Germans tend to be exceptionally good at controlling their drink intake. For most, the day is just a good excuse to get together with friends.

These traditions are probably rooted in Christian Ascension Day’s processions to the farmlands, some of which reportedly took on the character of drinking sprees as early as in the 17th century. In the streets of urban regions, especially Berlin, "gentlemen parties" take place since the 19th century, excluding women and going along with alcohol consumption.

Tell Dad, "Alles Gute zum Vatertag." (Happy Father’s Day!)

1.1 lb Asparagus

1 pinch of Sugar

1 tbs Butter

1.8 oz flour

1 Cup chicken of beef stock

1 pinch of nutmeg

1 egg yolk

1 tbs liquid cream

1 handful of fresh parsley

Wash and peal the asparagus, remove any hard parts and cut it in little pieces. Bring a pot of salted water to a rolling boil and add the asparagus and a pinch of sugar. Boil till the asparagus is nice and soft, drain but be sure to save about one and 3/4^th cups of the asparagus broth and set aside.

The butter is heated in a pot or pan, melting it if necessary, then the flour is added. The mixture is stirred until the flour is incorporated, and then cooked until at least the point where a raw flour taste is no longer apparent. Add asparagus broth and stock.

Bring the soup to a nice boil and season to taste with salt and nutmeg and thicken it with the liquid cream and egg yolk. At last add the parboiled asparagus bits and arrange with fresh chopped parsley.

Enjoy!

In the months April to June Germany offers a tasty surprise for the gourmets under us.

White Asparagus

Asparagus is known as the "royal vegetable" in Germany, a nickname gained because (as in France) it was only available to the nobility. It was during the reign of Louis XIV the French Sun King, who grew asparagus in green houses so he could enjoy it all year, that asparagus regained popularity in Europe as a luxury vegetable reserved for the tables of nobles and the various royal courts, and in 16th century Germany ‘Spargel’ began to be cultivated around Stuttgart.

A ‘Catalogue of Herbs and Trees’ from the time, covering the ‘Pleasure Garden’ of a German Duke from the area, described asparagus as ‘delightful fare for lovers of food’.

Nevertheless Germany’s love affair with asparagus had begun, by the middle of the 19th century it was popular with all levels of society and ‘Spargelzeit’ is now a huge event throughout Germany.

Traditionally, it is grown in covered cloches so that when the spears protrude above ground, they will not start to photosynthesize in the sunlight. The spears are green to gold in color, and sometimes streaked with purple. The straighter and whiter the spear, the higher price it will fetch. Unlike green asparagus, which usually tastes best when the spears are thin, large spears of white asparagus can be quite flavorful, especially if the woody outer later is peeled away.

April to June is spargel season in Germany, and it’s hard to avoid this vegetable during these months. Roadside stands, farmers’ markets, and grocery stores all carry ample supplies of the "royal vegetable," and many restaurants have special spargel menus which feature asparagus as the star ingredient. People who want to enjoy asparagus year round may opt to pickle white asparagus while it is in season, assuming that they can keep other members of their households away from the kitchen long enough to secure the asparagus in pickling jars.

In Schwetzingen, sometimes known as the asparagus capital, people can attend the annual Spargelfest, a festival dedicated specifically to celebrating asparagus, at which a Spargel Queen is crowned. White asparagus is worked into a variety of creative dishes during this annual festival, such as appetizers made by wrapping asparagus in cured meats, another specialty of German cuisine. Spargel can also be worked into quiches, salads, and a variety of other dishes.

Asparagus Quality

Germany has divided asparagus into strict quality classes, comparable to USDA Grade A, Choice, etc. The classes of "Spargel" are:

Extra – Minimum diameter of 12 mm (15/32 inch), no hollow cores, perfectly straight and all white. Most expensive.

Handelsklasse I (HK I) – Minimum diameter of 10 mm (3/8 inch), light bending, light coloration (violet). Good value.

Handelsklasse II (HK II) – Minimum diameter of 8 mm (5/16 inch), curved stalks allowed, slightly opened flower heads, more color than HK I and sometimes woody. Good for soup stock and students.

No matter which quality you choose, the asparagus should be fresh, fresh asparagus has moist cut surfaces, can be dented with a fingernail and smells sweet, not sour. Do not touch the asparagus at the German market, unless you want to be yelled at by the seller.

Just before the Maibaum is erected, depending on the region, there may be a procession through the village, usually ending up at a central place and/or restaurant and watched by crowds of spectators and accompanied by a brass band. The actual installation of the tree then takes place in the afternoon or evening. While the crowds may spend the time drinking beer and eating sausages, the young men busy themselves with decorating the maypole to get the symbols of various trades representing the region into the right position. Whilst the maypole is traditionally set up with the help of long poles, today it may sometime also be done using tractors, forklifts or even cranes.

If the tree is erected on the eve of 1 May, then the event is usually followed by a May dance or Tanz in den Mai.

Depending on local custom, the Maibaum may remain in place until the end of the month and is then taken down, decorations removed and the trunk stored until the following year. In many parts of Bavaria it remains in place all year round.

On the night of the last day of April, many young men erect small decorated “Maibäume” in front of the houses of their sweethearts. Some attach a red heart with the name of the girl written on it to the tree.

Primarily found within the nations of Germanic Europe and the neighboring areas which they have influenced, its origins remain unknown, although it has been speculated that it originally had some importance in the Germanic paganism of Iron Age and early Medieval cultures, and that the tradition survived Christianization, albeit losing any original meaning that it had. It has been a recorded practice in many parts of Europe throughout the Medieval and Early Modern periods, although became less popular in the 18th and 19th centuries. Today, the tradition is still observed in some parts of Europe and amongst European communities in North America.

The symbolism of the maypole has been continuously debated by folklorists for centuries, although no set conclusion has ever been arrived at. Some scholars classify maypoles as symbols of the world axis (axis mundi). The fact that they were found primarily in areas of Germanic Europe, where, prior to Christianization, Germanic paganism was followed in various forms, has led to speculation that the maypoles were in some way a continuation of a Germanic pagan tradition. One theory holds that they were a remnant of the Germanic reverence for sacred trees, as there is evidence for various sacred trees and wooden pillars that were venerated by the pagans across much of Germanic Europe, including Thor’s Oak and the Irminsul. It is also known that, in Norse paganism, which is the best attested form of Germanic paganism, cosmological views held that the universe was a world tree, known as Yggdrasil. There is therefore speculation that the maypole was in some way a continuance of this tradition.

Wikipedia®

Well it’s a little old fun tradition, I know we have so many, but never the less here is another one. While not observed in all areas of Germany, especially in the more rural areas you may want to keep an eye out for kids running wild tonight.

Here is some history,

The German term is recorded in the 17th century as Saint Walpurgis Nacht or S. Walpurgis Abend. In earlier references, 1 May is more typically referred to as Jacobi Philippi, after James the Less and Philip, the apostles whose feast day falls on 1 May.

Walpurga was an Anglo-Saxon nun in the 8th century. She returned to Germany, the land of her ancestors, to help out her uncle St. Boniface. Boniface was a real “nice” guy who liked to travel around and defile sacred sites in central Europe as a way of converting the locals to Christianity. Walpurga continued the Family Business by running a monastery in Bavaria. She was canonized for doing a good job at the monastery and for supposedly calming a storm on her boat ride to Germany via prayer.

In Germany, Walpurgisnacht, the night from 30 April to 1 May, is the night when witches are reputed to hold a large celebration and await the arrival of spring.

In some parts of northern coastal regions of Germany, the custom of lighting huge fires is still kept alive to celebrate the coming of May, while most parts of Germany have a derived Christianized custom around Easter called “Easter fires”.

Some of the biggest celebrations can be found on the Brocken (the highest mountain in the Harz) where to this day big celebrations are held. Every year on the feast day of St. Walpurga, hordes of revelers in witches’ costumes gather on the summit of Mount Brocken in the Harz Mountains to celebrate Walpurgis Night. This traditional German festival, an extravaganza of broomsticks and dancing, now attracts people from all over the country. Why not join the thousands of would-be witches on the night proceeding the first of May and turn back the clock to the middle Ages?

Also the Thingstaette in Heidelberg has a huge party like celebration with thousands of people having fun and sitting around fires watching artists like fire breathers and more.

In Berlin, traditional leftist May Day riots usually start at Walpurgis Night in the Mauerpark in Prenzlauer Berg. There is a similar tradition in the Schanzenviertel district of Hamburg, though in both cases, the situation has significantly calmed down in the past few years.

Weird things happen on the night of April 30 to May 1. It’s a custom mainly for children and teenagers to tamper with the neighbors, such as ringing doorbells and running off, hiding possessions or putting mustard on door handles. Sometimes, older children or adults do destructive things like lifting drainage covers in the middle of the road or moving traffic signs. So drivers are asked to be very careful at night or the following morning, because these actions create safety hazards and result in property damage. German Polizei patrols the neighborhoods and takes appropriate action if necessary. These pranks can occasionally result in damage to property or injury.

Like last year I want to run the summer countdown again during summer break.

I tried my best last year to come up with fun stuff to do during the summer, but between my own kids being off and going placed I did not get as many places up as I would have liked.

So here is my shout out!!

What place, park or yearly event did you love ? What was a must see for you? Where did your kids want to stay forever?

If you have a place like that and would love to share it for this summer, send me an email.

I need the location, a description and address or website I can get that off. Also if you have some pictures you would like to share.

Put it all together and you will be featured in this year’s summer countdown.

Send it to aaliawinter@gmail.com

Be sure to mark summer countdown into the subject

*** Make sure to choose your pictures well since I will publish them on the website

The specimen of Brachiosaurus displayed at the Berlin Natural History Museum is the tallest mounted dinosaur skeleton in the world. The skeleton was discovered in 1912 at Tendaguru in Tanzania and shipped to the Berlin museum for display. In the picture my little sister can be seen at the front to illustrate the enormous size of this fabulous creature. The skeleton is so large that if she had been allowed to walk under it I don’t think she could reach its ribs.
Obviously, such as large animal has many problems existing at such a large scale. One of the most interesting for Brachiosaurus brancai is its blood pressure.             

Because of its long neck its blood pressure would be about 2 to 3 times a modern Giraffe which seems beyond reasonable limits. It has been suggested that such a high pressure would rupture its heart. This problem of high blood pressure would not exist on a Reduced Gravity Earth because blood pressure is lower in a reduced gravity.

The museum is located:

Museum für Naturkunde
Invalidenstrasse 43
10115 Berlin
Germany

Opening hours

Tue to Fri: 9.30 a.m. – 6.00 p.m.
Sat, Sun & holidays:
10.00 a.m. – 6.00 p.m.
Mon closed

Admission

Adults: 6,- Euro
Children: 3,50 Euro

Contact

Phone +49 (0)30 2093-8591
E-mail info@mfn-berlin.de
Guided tours
+49 (0)30 2093-8550

More info on the Dino Exhibitions

So let’s start with the teenies:

When it comes to going out clubbing, drinking or hanging out at the pub, here are the rules (they are actually Laws to protect minors in Germany)

No Child under 14 is allowed in a Discotheque, unless the club is used for a closed event ran by a known club or family and even then kids are to be home by 10pm unless accompanied by the parent

Starting at 16 children are allowed in the Discotheque even without parents until 12am (midnight) Police is known to do checks in clubs after midnight to make sure all under aged kids are out and are happy to provide embarrassing rides home.

Drinking … and boy do we love our beer here:

Starting at 14 kids are allowed to consume small amounts of wine and beer with a parent present.

Starting at 16 you are allowed to buy and consume alcoholic drinks like wine and beer. Hard liquor, cocktails, whisky, brandy and alike are not allowed to be served, sold or be consumed by kids under 18.

Pubs and bars are not supposed to let minors under 16 stay without parents; unless they are with a parent or part of an event. One exception is if they are consuming an alcohol-free drink or snack they can afford with a normal pocket money. Kids over 16 are allowed in a pub without an adult until midnight.

Smoking … bad for you anyways, but:

It’s against the law for children under 18. Police will not go after under aged offenders unless they are really small but any store caught selling cigarettes to under aged kids will be subject to a major fine.

Jobs

Kids under 13 are not allowed to work period. (No, that does not include normal household chores or cleaning their rooms). This is to make sure they concentrate on school. Kids over 13 are allowed to work up to 2 hours a day (only between 8 am and 6pm and with parental permission) to earn a little extra money on the side. These can be little jobs like newspaper routes, babysitting or tutoring. Kids 15 and older are allowed to work, 4 weeks in a year full time, like a job during summer break.

Tattoos, piercing and other beauty treatments:

Tattoos and piercing (exception the normal earrings) are forbidden to any child under 16. Kids 16 and older can get tattooed or pierced with parental permission only. This has to be in writing or the parent accompanies the child. Without permission you have to be 18 to get it done.

Since 2009 we have a law here in Germany preventing minors to use tanning studios too. This applies to using the UV tanning booths. The studios are supposed to check IDs and not let kids under 18 use the tanning booths. (This does not apply to spray tans)

Plastic surgery ….

Nothing goes without parental permission unless you are 18 or older. But they do have guidelines to some of the more common procedures. For example: Ears that need to be corrected because they stick out, 6 years and older, Nose jobs and liposuction 16 and older and boobjobs not until your 18. Now these are guidelines and they are at the doctor’s best judgment to use.

Gambling:

Gambling halls and casinos are off limit to kids under 18, unless a parent is with them. Children are allowed to participate in lotteries at fairs or clubs though, when the prices are of small cash value. Kids are not allowed to play the Lottery either.

Traveling:

Kids 14 and older are allowed to travel alone, with the permission of the parent. What I suggest is giving them written permission, a copy of the parents ID card to prove that the signature is real, address and phone number to get in contact with the parent in case of an emergency and destination and duration of stay.

Drivers License:

With 16 you can get a driver’s license for small motor bikes like a scooter or moppet. You can also get a license for a tractor if needed.

The normal car and motorcycle license you can start your classes at 17 but you do not get your license till you hit 18 years of age.

Intimacy and sex:

By German law says the age limit for sexual acts is 14. Anything under is illegal. Now unlike in the US for example, there will be no prosecution if both parties are under 14 and agreed to the relationship. Now as soon as one of the parties is older than 14 they can be charged and the prosecutor has to look into it.

14 to 16; If it is a romantic relationship between kids around the same age (a 15 year old and a 14 year old or between a 16 and a 18 year old) There is usually no grounds for prosecution, now if one party is 21 or older and the other under 16 then it is against the law.

The pill… There is no law as to when you can get the pill prescribed. It’s something your doctor decides.

Abortion …. Again this is not put into a law, but girls under 16 will need parental permission. For girls 16 and older it’s decided by case. But any abortion in Germany requires counseling by a doctor and a written notice that you were counseled by another Institution (similar to Planned Parenthood and or church ran) Abortions are only possible up to week 12 in Germany.

The mild weather wakes the toads form their winter homes in the dark woods and they start crawling towards ponds and lakes. Rain and temperatures during the night around 7 degrees Celsius is ideal for them. It makes them flirty and looking for places to lay their eggs and in 3 to 4 month the little tadpoles will hatch.

Did you know?

The females will walk up to 5 kilometers to the next pond even carrying their mate piggyback. They are known to be burdened with up to ten potential husbands on their back…. Aye talk about desperate men…

But their way is paved with many dangers and obstacles. The biggest of them all … mankind. Often roads cross migration routes and make it impossible to cross safely.

Conservationists build little fences and barriers at critical road points to prevent toads from being run over.
Every few meters along the fence they burry buckets in the ground, to collect the toads trying to cross. The buckets are usually emptied, twice a day, on the other side of the road.

Though celebrating Valentine’s Day has only become popular within the last few decades in Germany, there are several traditions the Germans have taken on whole-heartedly. This includes giving cards, sweet treats and flowers to their loved ones on this special day.

The origins of both the man known as Valentinus and the celebration itself are obscure. Little is known about the Roman (or Romans) who may have been a bishop in Terni or a priest in Rome. Although several legends have arisen around the Christian martyr Valentinus, there is no historical evidence that connects him to lovers or today’s Feb. 14 Valentine celebration. As in the case of other Christian celebrations, Valentine’s Day is more likely based on the pagan Roman fertility festival called Lupercalia that took place in mid-February. The Lupercalia only ended in 495 when it was banned by the pope.

In Germany, it is customary to express love and affection all year long, not just on one day of the year. Many Germans give items that could be considered romantic at any time of year.

Contrary to popular belief, Germans are actually quite romantic; especially when it comes to a world love fest day like Valentine’s Day Red is considered as the color of love from ancient times. As people celebrate Valentine’s Day with Red rose’s bouquets worldwide, Germany also follow it. In Germany it has become a ritual for the young men who were courting to gift his beloved flowers on Valentine’s Day. This ancient symbol of love still has high impact on the teenagers of this postmodern age too.

Unlike countries like United Sates of America and United Kingdom, Valentine’s Day is celebrated as a mature people’s festival in Germany. No half trouser clad little boy gives cute little heart shaped card to his girlfriend in school.

As in any other country, Gift baskets and rare chocolate candies are common in Germany on Valentine’s Day. German stores get filled with all kind of gifts on Valentine’s Day. Most of those gifts are colored in red and pink. Youngsters also experiments with photo collage and love maps. People from different part of Germany use internet as way to send their love message to their beloved ones. The Valentine’s Day celebration in Germany may not be grant and loud like that is in Brazil or America but it is elegant.

Several popular Valentine’s Day phrases in the German language are: "Ich liebe dich," which means "I love you," and "Kuess mich," which means "Kiss me," and "die Valentinskarte," which means "Valentine’s Card."