New Year’s Eve – the German Way

In Germany the last day of the year is called Silvester. And that’s not the only thing that makes a German New Year’s Eve special. Below I compiled a few links to point out and explain some the predominant peculiarities. But first, please enjoy what generations of Germans have been watching on this day since 1963: Der 90. Geburtstag or Dinner For One – a TV special that has become a national cult. Produced in Germany with British comedians.
Never mind the German introduction, the sketch switches to English after 2:30 minutes.

Sherry with the soup, white wine with the fish, Champagne with the bird …
The same precedure as last year, Miss Sophie? — The same precedure as every year, James:

Part 1:

Part 2:

Surprisingly, while practically everybody in Germany knows this skit and considers it to be indespensable for a New Year’s Eve, hardly anyone in Britain or the US is familiar with it. Outside of Germany, Dinner for One is also watched in Austria & Switzerland, parts of Scandinavia, South Africa and Australia – a true crosscultural phenomenon.

Why Silvester, you ask?

No your friend isn’t planning to ring in 2009 with someone named Sylvester instead of you. Silvester is the German name for New Year’s Eve – owing to the fourth century Pope Sylvester I. Eventually made a saint by the Catholic Church, his feast day is observed on December 31. St. Sylvester’s day became associated with New Year’s Eve with the reform of the Gregorian calendar in 1582, when the last day of the year was fixed at December 31. But despite the holiday’s Christian name, many German New Year’s traditions can be traced back to the pagan Rauhnächte practices of heathen Germanic tribes, which took place at the end of December and beginning of January.

What else is typical for Silvester?
How about Bleigießen – or melting lead?

Bleigießen (pron. BLYE-ghee-sen)
“Lead pouring” (das Bleigießen) is an old practice using molten lead like tea leaves. A small amount of lead is melted in a tablespoon (by holding a flame under the spoon) and then poured into a bowl or bucket of water. The resulting pattern is interpreted to predict the coming year. For instance, if the lead forms a ball (der Ball), that means luck will roll your way. The shape of an anchor (der Anker) means help in need. But a cross (das Kreuz) signifies death.

Also quintessential:

• the midnight fireworks
• on Silvester, good luck charms and New Year’s greetings are often exchanged. Acquaintances may give good luck charms to each other in the form of ladybugs, four-leaf clovers, horseshoes and pigs.
• the Neujahrskonzert (New Year’s Conert) of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra which is broadcast around the world (usually in more than 50 countries and to an audience of appr. one billion viewers).

In addition to wishing each other Ein Gutes/Frohes Neues Jahr (a good/happy new year), during the last days of December many Germans add the phrase Guten Rutsch! to their greetings. While many Germans now use it to wish someone a good “slide” into the new year, the word Rutsch more likely comes from the Yiddish word Rosch – which means beginning or head.

In this spirit allow me to thank you for reading Southeast Schnitzel throughout the year 2009. Let’s not look back but forward to a new decade.
Prost! to 2010!
Happy New Year & Frohes Neues Jahr to all of you.

Celebrating Christmas Eve with a German Service

In recent months people started asking me, “Where do all these Volkswagen families in Chattanooga go to church?”
My standard reply is, “I don’t know. And it’s none of my business.”
Most Germans keep their private lives personal. And it doesn’t get any more personal than one’s religion. Unlike many people here in the Southeast, German families don’t talk much about their faith. In fact, some may not even practice a religion.
That’s why I usually stay away from faith-based topics in this blog.

During this Christmas season, however, I would like to break with that rule.  Today I learned that there will be a church service in German on Christmas Eve in Chattanooga (thanks for the lead to Jeremy @484NW611). And even Germans who don’t visit their church much during the course of a year often feel compelled to at least take part in a Christmas mass.

For those of you who are interested, the German Service will be held at the Cross of Christ Lutheran Church on Hixson Pike. The mass starts at 7 pm (that’s 19:00h for my German friends) and will be followed by a candlelight service at 10:30pm. For directions, click this link. If you have any questions regarding the service, you can call the church at (423) 877-7447.

Have a Merry Christmas y’all.

Fröhliche Weihnachten vom Schnitzel.

Misusing Schnitzel for extravagance

When a Schnitzel is misused for stupid extravagance

The delicious breaded Schnitzel gave this blog its name. That’s why I consider it necessary to point out certain perversions of traditional cuisine. The golden “Kaiser Schnitzel” needs to be called out.

Prepared by the Schnitzelhuber restaurant in Düsseldorf, the golden Schnitzel comes not only coated in bread crumbs but also with truffels and gold.

Yes, you read that right. The breading of the veal sports 24-carat gold leaf. But the tasteless precious metal isn’t the most extravagant ingredient of this dish which is offered at a German self-service restaurant (sic!). It’s the truffles – usually sold for $2,000 to $3,500 per pound – that make for a luxurious lunch. Schnitzelhuber charges €150 ($214) for the “delicacy”.

Restaurant owner Thomas Huber said the imperial schnitzel comes with a traditional potato salad and a glass of champagne. He is not the first to have the golden idea, Huber told a German tabloid. In fact, his imperial schnitzel revives regal eating habits that stretch back at least 1,000 years. ”The Eastern Roman emperors used to order the best pieces of meat be topped with leaf gold.”

Rich people picked up the habit but it was finally prohibited in 1514 – until Huber resurrected it in 2006, when he first put in on his menu. Since then he has sold about 100 of the precious cutlets. However, Huber’s schnitzel went public only this week with a report in the local media. The chef said with the economic and financial problems still dominating the news he previously had not dared to publicize the decadent dish.

Weihnachtslieder & Christmas Carols

It is probably fair to say that most Americans are not very familiar with popular music from Germany — aside from Kraftwerk, Nena, Scorpions, Rammstein, Nina Hagen and maybe some Krautrock bands. Once a year, however, that changes.

No matter where you go during the month of December, you will likely hear Christmas tunes blasting from the speakers. Many of these festive tunes that have become ingrained into our musical DNA since childhood are actually German, or at least come from a German-speaking background. Let’s take a look at some of the season’s favorites which really make for cross-cultural holiday entertainment.

Read the rest of this article at my blog on Chattarati.

But before you keep reading over there listen to some great interpretations of holiday hits by two of my favorites: Ray Charles and Götz Alsmann.

Nikolaus vs. Santa Claus

Why the German Nikolaus is not Santa Claus

Even though the Christmas traditions on both sides of the Atlantic feature a certain white-bearded man with a red coat, there are subtle differences in the way Americans and Germans commemorate Saint Nicholas. While the historic figure ofNicholas of Myra mutated to become Santa Claus in the Anglo-American world, most Germans call him Nikolaus. And the traditions that go with it are quite different, too.

For many German kids this past weekend marked the unofficial beginning of the Christmas season. Sure, the adults think the first Advent Sunday is the kick-off. But for the children it’s Nikolaus that counts because they finally get some gifts. Here is how it works:

Read the rest of this story at Chattarati.