Giving Thanks and Celebrating Autumn in Kreis Saarburg

Irsch, St. Gervasius and Protasius Catholic Church in Autumn 2004

Irsch, St. Gervasius and Protasius Catholic Church in Autumn 2010

Potatoes, squash, apples, grapes

Halloween celebrated, we look forward to Thanksgiving in the United States, and Christmas is already here in if you believe shop windows, TV ads, and some radio and television stations.

In Kreis Saarburg, there are also celebrations but they seem to meld better into the autumn of the year.  Here are some that originated with our ancestors and are still a part of the excitement of early and late fall.

Giving Thanks For the Harvest 

Autumn customs in one of my Heimat villages come to mind at this time of year as the leaves fall and pumpkins, squash, root vegetables and winter apples appear in our American markets.  We use many of them for the feast of Thanksgiving, decking our tables with cooked or baked varieties.

An article I read in a German language book explained the thanksgiving of German farming communities of the past.  They thanked God for the harvest, whether good or bad, by sharing their crops with God who gave them.  This has been carried on for centuries, even to the present day.  God's table in the Church, is decorated with the produce of the current year.  There may be squash, cabbages and other large vegetables, but there are often dry seeds of all kinds: flax, rye, wheat, oats, barley, legumes of all kinds.  All are harvested from German soil, traditionally from the soil that surrounds the village where the church is located.

I had seen this kind of decoration on autumn trips to my ancestors' village church in Irsch, enchanted with the kind of workmanship I generally associate with the Rose Bowl parade.  The closeup pictures above and the one below show the elegance of the most commonplace of decorating materials and the time given to produce this kind of thanksgiving to God from the fruit of the land.


Giving Thanks for St. Martin, Happy Children, and Rabimmel, Rabammel, Rabumm

Over the past several years, I have explained many of the traditions associated with St. Martin's Day (also known as Martini) as well as the importance of his November Feast.  If you click on the St. Martin's Day label at the right of the post page, the many activities associated with the day as well as the history and social customs are described, including carrying hollowed out gourds or pumpkins lit with candles.  

The custom of this celebration is still alive and well in the villages around Saarburg and in that city itself.  Most of 2013's customs are much the same as in the 1800s, although the lanterns carried by the children as they parade in the street are made of fireproof material and lighted with safe candles of one kind or another.  The Irsch website page just recently announced the village's 2013 lantern parade:

"The St. Martin's traditional lantern procession in Irsch will take place on Saturday, 09.11.2013 (November 9, 2013).  The assembly place is the parish church of Irsch at 5:30 p.m.  It will begin with prayer and a short homily about the holy St. Martin. Then the lantern parade (about 6 p.m.) led by St. Martin (on horseback) will parade to the Irsch multi-purpose hall. Once there, the great St. Martin's bonfire will be ignited and the Martin Brezeln (St. Martin pretzels) will be given to the children.

The lantern parade will be accompanied by the music society of Irsch as well as the torch bearers of the volunteer fire department, who also provide for the safety of traffic management and the burning of the St. Martin fire.  All children and adults are welcome  Hot drinks and snacks will be sold. The net proceeds as in prior years will again be used for the cost of transporting Christmas packages to help the needy in such countries as Romania."

In the event that you would like to see a typical St. Martin's parade, you can watch the video called "Rabimmel, Rabammel, Rabumm." The German words are given as subtitles on each screen of this very traditional children's song.  Unfortunately the translation in English below does not rhyme.

I go with my lantern

And my lantern goes with me

Up above the stars are shining,

Down here we're shining.

The rooster, he crows; the cat meows.

Rabimmel, rabammel, rabumm.

The rooster, he crows; the cat meows.

Rabimmel, rabammel, rabumm.

I go with my lantern

And my lantern goes with me.

Up above the stars are shining,

Down here we're shining.

St. Martin, he marches on.

Rabimmel, rabammel, rabumm.

St. Martin, he marches on.

Rabimmel, rabammel, rabumm.

I go with my lantern

And my lantern goes with me.

Up above the stars are shining,

Down here we're shining.

Lantern light, don't go out on me!

Rabimmel, rabammel, rabumm.

Lantern light, don't go out on me!

Rabimmel, rabammel, rabumm

I go with my lantern

And my lantern goes with me.

Up above the stars are shining,

Down here we're shining.

A sea of light in honor of Martin.

Rabimmel, rabammel, rabumm.

A sea of light in honor of Martin.

Rabimmel, rabammel, rabumm.

I go with my lantern

And my lantern goes with me.

Up above the stars are shining,

Down here we're shining.

My light is out,

Rabimmel, rabammel, rabumm.

We're going home,

Rabimmel, rabammel, rabumm.

Giving Thanks for a Blog Recovered

Due to circumstances I do not understand, for two weeks I lost access to this blog.  When I tried to make a correction in one of the previous posts, Blogger refused to let me do it.  After a great deal of wasted time and several curt notes to Blogger, all ignored, I had the good luck to bumble back into possession.  I was so thankful.  But it made me realize that, had I not had that bumbling good luck, I could never have posted to this blog again.  It would have been necessary for me to start an entirely new blog. So if you are a regular reader, you would probably have concluded that I got tired of blogging and quit without a goodbye.  

There are two ways to find out if I have been forced to start a blog with a new name: Register as a follower of my blog, and I will be able to notify you about where to find my new posts.  Or you can use my e-mail address (which you can find by reading my profile) to e-mail me.  

In the meantime, I promise to try to keep "Village Life in Kreis Saarburg" posts of the future right here.

Happy Thanksgiving to all


Sources:
Die Martinsumzug, http://www.irsch-saar.de/irschnew.htm

English for Rabimmel, Rabammel, Rabumm, http://german.about.com/library/blmus_laternegeh.htm

'

On St. Martin's Day, Winter is Not Far Away

Saint Martin's Day Procession, Saarburg 2011

St. Martin's Day, November 11, marked, in former times, the start of winter. It was a day which affected the residents of each village in many ways. It was the time when interest and lease payments were due. This was the origin of the following farmers' saying, "Sankt Martin ist ein harter Mann für den, der nicht zahlen kann." ("Saint Martin is a hard man, for those who cannot pay.") It was a better day for the sheep herders and the servants who received their yearly pay on this day. The geese lost their heads, literally, at the beginning of winter, and the celebration of the feast included roast goose for those families that could afford it. "Sankt Martin ist ein guter Mann, er bringt die Bratgans uns heran," was another farmer's saying that represented St. Martin's Day (Saint Martin is a good man; he brings the roast goose to us).

By St. Martin's Day, the field work and the harvest were finished. I was surprised to learn that in earlier times, Advent began right after St. Martin's Day, with the eating of meat strictly forbidden during the entire period. Therefore, the roast goose eaten on the saint's feast day was the last meat that would appear on the table until Christmas Day and this must have greatly increased the enjoyment of the St. Martin's Day meal.

The custom of the St. Martin's procession is one of the few that is still observed in the current time, as the picture above shows. The children go out with colorful lanterns, following St. Martin on horseback, dressed as a Roman soldier, who leads the parade. At the end of the procession, a giant Martin's bonfire is lit and the children receive Brezeln, a bread pretzel formed into distinctive symmetrical loops from a long strip of intertwined dough.

After St. Martin's Day, the hard work of the months of harvest came to an end and the cold winter months began. The soil began its yearly rest. Then farmers too could sit near the stove or the fireplace, rest, and enjoy a break from the heavy labor which would not start again until spring.

In the autumn, some of the fruits gathered had been mashed and put in oak barrels to ferment. In the winter came the time to distill or "burn" the fermented fruit into Schnapps. Many kinds were made. The cherries, Mirabel plums and Zwetsch plums made an especially fine Schnapps that would be served on special occasions and feast days. For every day, a Schnapps made of pressed apple peelings called " Balesch" was a drink for workdays. A typical farmer would drink Balesch each morning after his breakfast. It was meant to protect against every kind of illness. If a person had a stomach ache, not the doctor but Balesch was the prescription.

When the weather was cold enough to freeze, the farm's pig was slaughtered for the family's winter food. Often the village butcher would come to the farm to make sure that no scrap of this valuable animal was wasted. The farmer's wife had already filled the large pig kettle with water and heated it on the fireplace. The pigs legs were bound together and the animal was dragged into a pile of clean straw. The butcher knelt down on the pig as it struggled to avoid the sharp pointed knife but in vain. The butcher made a cut from the throat to the heart and the farmer's wife caught the flowing blood in a large pan. Then the pig was covered in straw which was set on fire, burning the bristles from the pig's skin. The pig was pitch black as the fire was extinguished and his carcass was lifted on to the butchering table.  Any remaining bristles shave off and washed with the hot water that had been heating in the kitchen. It took more than one man to lift the pig's carcass and hang it on a ladder which leaned on the outer stable wall. The housewife then carefully cleaned the inside of the carcass, and it was left there until the rind or outer skin would harden with the cold.

The following day, the butcher returned, cutting the pig into pieces to be smoked, made into sausages or eaten fresh.  Even though the farmer's wife had previously felt compassion for the animal she had fed and tended throughout the year, now she could not but be happy as she thought about the tasty ham, bacon, fresh meat and sausage that she would put on the table for her family during the winter months.

Many cellars were made of stone which was an especially good place to store the winter supply of produce that was the result of months of hard work growing and harvesting it.  The stone construction helped keep the cellar at a temperature that was ideal for storage purposes all through the year. It had kept things cooler in the summer and now would be warm enough to avoid freezing the winter food supply. From November on, the cellar stored wine, potatoes and other root vegetable, and crocks of cut cabbage fermenting into Sauerkraut.

The farmer had felled trees and chopped wood for the fireplace in the first days of the winter season and stored it in a shed or shelter. The smaller branches of the trees were tied together into giant bundles. The smaller twigs were useful for quickly starting a fire on a cold winter morning.

All in all, the coming of winter was a time to be looked forward to for the hardworking farmers of the small villages in the Rhineland. For the farmers, there was now time to sharpen the tools that had been dulled from the cutting of crops or tilling the soil and to make any necessary repairs to the farm equipment. These were the hours when the father, mother, and children had opportunities to spend with each other in simple pleasures; when the men had the time to talk and have a drink together, when the women had no more field work and could sit to spin or knit, either alone or with a few women neighbors, and most of all it was a period when the children could once again look forward to the visit from St. Nikolaus and the wonderful celebration of Christmas.

I grew up on a small Wisconsin dairy farm and I remember winter's pleasures, especially seeing my father eating a leisurely supper because there was no hurry to get ready for the outdoor work of the next day. Those were times of family laughter and togetherness and is probably one of the reasons, unlike many other people in Wisconsin, I still look forward to the coming of winter and the memories that go with it.

Ollinger, Josef. Geschichten und Sagen von Saar und Mosel, 2005
Jean Morette. Landlleben im Jahreslauf, 1983
St. Martin Photo by Josiane of Lorraine

November 11 - A Martini Celebration

Cover of
Mein erstes
Buch von
Sankt Martin
Text by Thomas Erne
Pictures by Susanne Kraus
Verlag Herder, 2001



November 11 is Veterans Day here in the U.S, a holiday for acknowledging the sacrifices made by our soldiers and to remind us of their bravery.

Germany and Austria also celebrate on November 11 but it is a different kind of holiday. It is a remembrance of Saint Martin of Tours and is known as Martinstag or Martini.

Saint Martin of Tours is not a saint that we here in the US associate with any kind of festival or custom. So when my genial landlord, Hans Dieter Jung, took me on a short tour of some of the small villages near Saarburg, I wasn't prepared for a lesson on unusual customs in the Rheinland. We had stopped at Hofgut Serrig, a farming community where natural farming and animal husbandry is practiced by workers with disabilities. As we passed a field of fat geese, Herr Jung said they wouldn’t be around much longer because it was almost Martini. “What is martini?” I asked, picturing a stemmed glass, wide rimmed, with a couple of olives. He explained that November 11 is Saint Martin’s Day or Martini. It is the time when geese lose their heads, literally. That didn’t seem a very nice way to celebrate a saint’s feast day but I didn’t say that – mostly because I couldn’t figure out how to put that thought into German.

With the help of my English speaking relative Edeltrud Heiser who lives in Trier, and some research on my own, I soon learned much more about St. Martin and the significance of this holiday which is a combination of our own celebrations of Halloween and Thanksgiving. I also found out why geese are so associated with this feast day. (Edeltrud gave me the gift of the children's book pictured above, "My First Book of Saint Martin")

St. Martin was born in about 336, the son of a Roman soldier. He too became a soldier in the Roman cavalry. One day a beggar approached Martin, begging for alms. Since he had nothing to give him, Martin drew his sword and cut his cloak in half. A legend grew that the beggar was Christ and that this caused Martin’s conversion to Christianity. As word of his holiness grew, the pope sent messengers to him, naming him Bishop of Tours. Martin, feeling unworthy, ran away and hid in a stable among a flock of geese. But the geese, recognizing his virtues, gave him away by cackling loudly. One could draw the conclusion that Saint Martin took his revenge on them, silencing them each year on his feast day.

A more practical explanation is that on the feast of St. Martin, November 11, it was the time of slaughter for the farm animals, including the geese. Farmers could ill afford to feed all of their poultry during the winter months when the time for food foraging in the woodlots and pastures was ended. It was also the time that taxes were due, and a fat goose or two to the landlord was, in many places, accepted as payment in kind. And if a family could afford to do so, a roast goose was often the holiday fare on Martini. According to an article called ""Eat a fat goose on St. Martin's Day"" in Der Blumenbaum, Nov/Dec. 2002, many restaurants in Germany and Austria still feature Martinsgans (Martin goose) on their menus in late autumn and especially on St. Martin's Day.

The Blumenbaum article went on to say that St. Martin's Day was an important date for shepherds, who considered St. Martin to be their patron saint. His day coincided with the date that their contracts ended. At this time they could bargain for better terms for the coming year of service. By custom, they would blow their horns until their masters arrived to meet with them, at which time the masters were presented with a decorated branch or Martinsgerte. Then the shepherds would recite rhymes for which they received presents.

Saint Martin's day was not just for the shepherds or the landlords. It marked the coming of winter; now people could celebrate the end of harvesting and wine making and look forward to rest from their heaviest labors. For workers and the poor it was a time when they had a chance to enjoy some of the bounty of the harvest. And it would be the last celebration before the solemn season of Advent and the fasting which would not end until Christmas.

The little children would parade through the villages in the evening of St. Martin’s Day, carrying hollowed out pumpkins or turnips with bizarre carved faces. It was customary for them to sing St. Martin songs or “Martinslieder” and recite rhymes in return for small presents. The lantern procession is still observed today but now there are paper lanterns in various shapes and sizes. The children sing a St. Martin's Day song such as this:

"I go with my lantern
And my lantern goes with me.
Up above the stars are shining,
Down here we're shining.
The rooster, he crows; the cat meows.
Rabimmel, rabammel, rabum.
The rooster, he crows; the cat meows.
Rabimmel, rabammel, rabum."

"I go with my lantern
And my lantern goes with me.
Up above the stars are shining,
Down here we're shining.
St. Martin, he marches on.
Rabimmel, rabammel, rabum.
St. Martin, he marches on.
Rabimmel, rabammel, rabum."

"I go with my lantern
And my lantern goes with me.
Up above the stars are shining,
Down here we're shining.
Lantern light, don't go out on me!
Rabimmel, rabammel, rabum.
Lantern light, don't go out on me!
Rabimmel, rabammel, rabum."

"I go with my lantern
And my lantern goes with me.
Up above the stars are shining,
Down here we're shining.
A sea of light in honor of Martin.
Rabimmel, rabammel, rabum.
A sea of light in honor of Martin.
Rabimmel, rabammel, rabum."

"I go with my lantern
And my lantern goes with me.
Up above the stars are shining,
Down here we're shining.
My light is out,
Rabimmel, rabammel, rabum.
We're going home,
Rabimmel, rabammel, rabum."

Happy St. Martin's Day to those of you who read this on November 11!