Celebrating Silvester

 

So close to the end of the year, Rain's prompt for Thursday Art and Dinner Date is "New Year's Eve Party". No such party for me, so I just leave out the party part and tell you a bit about how we used to celebrate New Year's Eve in Germany.

New Year's Eve is called Silvester in Germany - for Saint Silvester, who lived in the 4th century and whose death's anniversary is December 31. Of course, there are many people who have a party into the early morning hours of the new year, but there are also many people who prefer to let go of the old year in a much smaller circle - and some who don't do anything at all.

When we were children, we did the tradition of "Bleigieẞen", literally "lead pouring". You would melt small shapes made of lead over the flame of a candle and when it is liquid, quickly throw it in a bowl of cold water where it would harden in a new shape. Now it was everybody's task to interpret this shape which would predict your future in the coming year. In 2018, the EU passed regulations that limit the sale of toxic lead-containing products, including these molybdomancy kits. In this photo I am five or six years old when my brother and I did Bleigieẞen in our kitchen. This dates to the mid sixties.

A traditional food for Silvester is carp, but I am not sure that many people still do this. My parents eventually abandoned this tradition. Instead, we often had fondue - my mom would make a wonderful broth that would then be poured into the fondue pot where it would further heat and we would put thinly sliced pieces of meat in it and slowly let it cook to perfection. There was bread on the side and my mom usually made some very delicious sauces to go with it. A family favorite was her Aïoli, it was so tasty. This was accompanied by some good bottles of French wine. Most Silvester dinners were with my parents, my brother and his then current girlfriend, myself and my friend from Paris, Eve, who would come to visit us every year in late December (and I would go and visit her every year at Easter). I found an old photo that my dad took at one of those Silvester dinners. From left to right - my mom, myself, my brother's girlfriend, my brother, Eve.

Have you heard of "Dinner for One"? This is a Silvester classic in Germany. It's a British two-hander comedy sketch written by Laurie Wylie and performed by Freddy Frinton and May Warden. In 1962 it was recorded by the German TV broadcaster Norddeutscher Rundfunk as a black-and-white videotape recording. It has become a Silvester tradition not only in Germany, but in Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Estonia. Same procedure as every year.

Here it is - enjoy!

Finally we're approaching the "big" moment - midnight. The church bells are ringing in the new year and there are private fireworks everywhere. When we were kids, we would step out onto the balcony to watch the show; when I was at university, I would go up a hill with my friends to watch the fireworks over Tübingen from there. Of course there would be champagne or "Sekt", as we call it. One beautiful alternative to fireworks are Wunderkerzen (sparkler) that you hold in your hand. They are very popular. My daughter sent me a photo of one of her Wunderkerzen from last year.

And with this, my friends, my blogging year will come to its end. I wish all of you a very happy, healthy and peaceful new year, filled with joy and laughter. Guten Rutsch ins neue Jahr, as we say in German - literally "good slide to the new year". See you in 2023.