Tag Archives: german

No Early Birthday Wishes in Germany

The informant is the daughter of two German immigrants. She was born in Germany, spent time in France, and grew up in the US. She is a college student.

Informant: In Germany it’s a big no-no to say happy birthday to people early or celebrate early or anything. If you do that it’s supposed to like… give them a year of bad luck so we just…don’t do that. And if you do that to someone else they definitely won’t be happy.

Me: Ohh my god I definitely wished you a happy early birthday this year several times 

Informant: Haha it’s okay it doesn’t really matter. Oh also, for my birthday this year I wanted to come home the day before my birthday to see my parents and ‘cause they wanted to give me a gift too but they were like, “No that’s bad”. So I ended up driving home a few days after my birthday because they’d rather celebrate it late than early.

Context: This was told to me during a recorded in person conversation.

Schültute

The informant (A) is the daughter of two German immigrants. She was born in Germany, spent time in France, and grew up in the US.

A: So Schültute is this like, big plastic cone-shaped thing that parents give their children on their first day of school..or like first grade and they’d put random stuff like candy and school supplies….just like anything that kids like. I think it’s meant to just make the transition to going to school and the first day like, less scary and it gives you something to look forward to and it makes the first day of school fun and like exciting. On a personal note I went to German school for one year – which was first grade – and my parents gave me one and it was pretty fun. Oh, also they’ll give you this like, backpack… it’s called a “ranzen” and it’s like square shaped and kind of funny looking but mine was like pink and I think it had unicorns on it, it was pretty dope.

Context: This was told to me during a recorded in person conversation.

Coffee and Cake (Kaffee und Kuchen)

The informant (A) is the daughter of two German immigrants. She was born in Germany, spent time in France, and grew up on the East Coast of the US. She is a college student.

A: “So coffee and cake – Kaffee und Kuchen in German – is basically just a thing German people do sometimes where they get together to drink coffee and eat cake and just like relax and hang out. When I visited my grandparents in Germany we’d do this a lot with them and people they knew, and they’d always just hang out for a while and gossip and stuff while they ate cake. 

Me: That’s so cute! So when and where did you guys do it?

A: It’s usually around early afternoon-ish when people are free; sometimes people would just come over and bring cake and pastries and stuff but there were like cafes that were specifically for coffee and cake where you could sit and hang out for a while. I remember there was one cafe we’d always go to called Cafe Mayer. It closed down a few years ago and we were pretty sad.

Me: Is there any special significance to coffee or cake?

A: Um, I don’t know…I guess a lot of women like it because it’s like…less than a meal. Like, we’ll just drink coffee and eat some cake and it’s not as filling or as an entire meal and it’s less calories I guess.

Me: do you remember what you guys would talk about or anything?

A: I mean anything really, the adults would gossip and just small talk and stuff. It’s super chill.

Context: This was told to me during a recorded in person conversation.

German Sauage Proverb

Context:

Informant SG was a current undergraduate student at the Univerity of Southern California at the time of this collection. I met with SG on a Zoom call to exchange family folklore.

SG mentioned, “The context would be as advice to someone dreading an ending or waiting for something to be over. Any time an inevitable end is applicable. Plus, it has sausage in it.”

Text:

“Alles hat ein Ende, nur die Wurst hat zwei.”

Which translates to

“Everything has an end, only the sausage has two.”

Analysis:

An analysis of this proverb might give insight into the attitudes Germans share in regards to inevitable ends. This proverb could possibly be used in a variety of scenarios. One scenario being when someone is desiring for a dreadful/boring/painful circumstance to come to and another instance being when someone is desiring for an enjoyable circumstance to last for longer. In both cases, the German attitude regarding endings is that all phases/events in life have some definite end. This could even suggest that Germans might view time in a more linear fashion with a clear beginning and end as opposed to a cyclical view in which time would go on continuously in a repeated way.

The second half of this proverb helps to distinguish itself as German. Germany is known for its sausages in that Germans regularly engage in both the making and eating of sausage. Not only does this element of the proverb help distinguish it as German, it too offers insights about the shared attitudes of Germans in regards to time and inevitable ends. In saying “only the sausage has two (ends),” this proverb becomes more relatable and offers an opportunity for laughter/humor. Further analysis of this proverb in its intended context could perhaps show the degree of seriousness with which Germans view time and inevitable ends. I am inclined to think that by including a sausage into a proverb, which is often regarded for its timeless wisdom, that Germans might view time in a light-hearted and spirited way. By sharing this proverb with someone who is dreading an end of either a painful or enjoyable circumstance, perhaps the speaker is reminding the listener to not take their current circumstances so seriously.

Pork and Sauerkraut and Birthday Wishes

Main Piece:

This is a transcription of the informant’s New Year’s Day tradition.

“Every New Year’s Day we always go over to my brother’s house with all the extended family, cousins, aunts, uncles, everyone. He is a really good cook and makes a giant roast pork and sauerkraut meal that we have been doing since we were little. Then New Year’s Day was my mom’s birthday so we’d cut her the first piece and then she’d put a candle in it for her birthday. It was like a fake little pre-birthday celebration with the whole family. She passed away many years ago but we still light the candle and do the whole thing but instead of a birthday wish it’s a wish for the new year for everyone. It’s sweet I think.”

Background:

The informant is from a large German-American family. 

Context:

The informant described this to me when I inquired about her family’s traditions around the holidays. 

Thoughts:

Pork and Sauerkraut is a very common New Year’s food, especially for those of German heritage. The combination of a birthday wish and luck for the new year appears to go hand in hand. There are certain theories as to why pork is associated with luck for the new year, “In Europe hundreds of years ago, wild boars were caught in the forests and killed on the first day of the year. Also, a pig uses its snout to dig in the ground in the forward direction” (Sherrow 28). The symbolism of a pig digging forward is meant to represent forward movement for those that eat the pig in the coming year. The luck of pork and a birthday wish create a hopeful start to the year for this family  

Sherrow, Victoria. “EAT FOR LUCK!” Child Life, vol. 86, no. 1, Jan, 2007, pp. 28-29. ProQuest, http://libproxy.usc.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.libproxy2.usc.edu/docview/216762697?accountid=14749.