Thursday, May 21, 2009

Männertag

Thursday

Holidays in Germany are always accompanied by beer - lot's of beer. And what better way to celebrate the Christian Ascension tradition than for all of the men in Germany to wander through the woods and drink lots of beer? Hence, the German holiday Männertag, or Men's Day.
In most parts of Germany this holiday is the equivalent of our Father's day (Vatertag) and has been since the middle ages. In the 19th century the custom switched gears in Berlin and became more of a man's day out or drinking day (sauftag). Today it seems that the holiday is becoming more family and festival oriented, but you still see groups of people pulling little carts through the woods loaded with all kinds of food and drink.

So with that imagery in mind we headed off to experience this strange custom. We started early with a steamboat ride down the Elba river. But then, as I was writing this article about Männertag, I decided that what happens on Männertag in German Saxony, stays in German Saxony. So if you want more details you will just have to show up next year.


Traditional Father's Day Bubble Maker

1 comment:

Rochelle said...

I'm guessing it involved steam rooms and flogging. oh wait... that's Siberia...