New Year is going to give its grand entry very soon and there are literally days left to start the countdown. On the big day people follow various traditions as per the rule of their land. This New Year, if you wish to experiment with a new tradition then you better give it a try for German New Year Traditions. If you want to celebrate New Year like a German, here are the local traditions that they observe in Germany on the New Year’s Day. By observing these traditions on the New Years’ Eve as well as New Year’s Day, you can consider yourself as a German. These traditions are quite unique and interesting to practice on the New Year. If you would like to explore them here are some of the most followed New Year traditions in Germany for you.
Table of Contents
German New Years’ Traditions
In Germany, people call New Year’s Eve as Silvester. This name came after Pope Silvester as an honor. People follow different traditions from eating and drinking various foods to shouting loud and many more to attract good luck for the New Year. As soon as the New Year arrives, the Church bells across the country ring as a sign. People host huge parties with friends and families and enjoy to their best. With beautiful fireworks in the sky and great music in the background, you will get to witness the best celebrations for the New Year in Germany. Here we present you the German New Years Traditions that you can rely on to have a great year.
1. New Year’s Dinner
As with countries, Germans also have a New Year tradition that demands them to eat well on both New Years’ Eve and New Year’s Day. It is believed by the German people that who eats well on the New Year will have a satisfying year. There are actually multiple food traditions observed in Germany and we will list out one-by-one. On New Year’s Eve, Carp is one of the main dishes in the menu. However, consuming poultry is said to take away money.
2. Cooking on Stones
In Germany people follow the tradition of cooking on stones which were pre-heated on stovetop or oven. The heated stone is placed on a table and guests are asked to cook variety of dishes like fish, meat, shrimp etc on it. Germans also feed mostly on Raclette cheese as topping on boiled potatoes and bread on the New Year.
3. Drinks
Drinking is also one of the German New Year’s Eve Traditions. Germans mostly have alcoholic punches for the New Year’s. They also mostly drink bubbly sekt that is made in traditional Charmat method. There is wide range of New Year drinks available and it is up to you which one you would like to taste. However on the Silvester, people mostly drink Feuerzangenbowle, which is nothing but mulled wine.
4. Offer Lucky Charms
As the name suggests, lucky charms bring good luck and so are given as gifts to others with the intention that they would be blessed with luck for the New Year. The luck charms here refer to lucky mushrooms, ladybugs, little pigs etc.
5. Special Dishes
Now it is time to talk about Sauerkraut New Years Tradition German. There are many foods that are believed to bring good luck and people eat them like crazy on New Year. Starting with lentil soup, it is believed to bring abundance and money. Sauerkraut is said to bring luck and is believed that one will receive as many blessings as the shreds of cabbage on consuming it on the New Year’s Day.
6. Bowle
Another New Year’s Traditions In Germany is having a Bowle on the New Year’s Eve. Bowle means punch in German language. Bowle is a mandatory New Year’s drink for most of the Germans. This is made by combining alcohol, fruits, and juice. People can also opt for alcohol-free Bowle.
7. Melting Lead
In order to predict future, Germans follow this tradition of melting lead. They heat a little piece of lead in a spoon through a tiny flame and then drop the melted content into cold water. The shapes that the metal forms in the water decide your future in the coming year as per Germans tradition. This tradition is called Bleigiessen.
8. Catch ‘Dinner for One’
This is yet another German New Year Food Traditions we are going to talk about here. ‘Dinner for one’ is a popular movie that has first gone on air in 1963 on German TV. It has this name for being repeated for so many times on TV. It is a humor-filled movie and everyone enjoys watching it.
9. Greet Each Other
As soon as you enter the New Year, you can kiss your loved one and exchange New Year wishes with your kith and kin. “Frohes neues Jahr’ is the German word for Happy New Year. On the New Year the fireworks gets skyrocketed and it is a beautiful sight to behold.
10. Drive Away Evil Spirits with Loud Noises
It is believed in Germany that loud noises will drive away evil spirits. Keeping that in mind, they try to make noises as loud as possible on the New Year. They use crackers that make huge sounds to create the noise.
11. Rummelpottlauf
Rummelpott is a drum like thing that is used to create music. Germans on the New Year walk by house to house singing silly songs and asking for sweet treats playing a Rummelpott. The sweet that is distributed is mostly Fortchen.
The people of Germany also have afternoon coffee with family and friends as a part of tradition. Around this time Berliners and rosettes are served the most by the people.
These are the German New Year Traditions that are quite popular there. Germans abide by these traditions on every New Year to attract luck and drive away evil spirit. If you also believe in any of these traditions, do give them a try and bookmark our website – NEWYEARWIKI.COM as we have lined up more intriguing articles.