November 11th, St. Martin's Day

November 11 has several meaning in Germany. From a religious perspective it is St. Martins Day. The day set aside in commemoration of Martin or Tours, the Romain soldier that converted to Christianity in 316 AD and later became the Bishop of Tours.

The most repeated story about Martin occurred at the gates of Amiens when he and his soldiers came a scantly clothed beggar. Taking petty on the man, Martin cut his military cloak in half and gave half to the beggar to keep him warm. Why only half? Roman soldiers owned only half of their clothing. Martin could only give away what belonged to him, thus only half the cloak could be given. The story continues that Jesus came to Martin in his sleep that night wear the half cloak, telling the angels that the cloak had come from Martin.

I suspect there is a relationship between this separation of what belongs to the individual from what belongs to the state in this story of Saint Martin to a secondary, medieval meaning of the November 11. November 11 was when the serfs paid compensation to the nobles whose land they worked. 10 percent of everything produced in the year was payed to the nobility, be it grain, chicken, pigs or geese.

This fact and another story about Martin explains one of the traditional meals served on Saint Martin's day. When Martin learned that he was to be named the Bishop of Tours, he hid himself in a barn full of geese because he did not what such an honor. The noise from the geese gave Martin away and he was installed.

And so the nobles of the time ate geese to celebrate the day, as do a number of people today.

In this part of the middle Rhine, for working folk, the meal to celebrate the day is much more basic.

Magda and I were invited across the river to a part of Lahnstein known as Martins Siedlung (Martins Settlement), named after Saint Martin. This working class community was destroyed in WWII as was much of Lahnstein. It was rebuilt in the 1950s by the inhabitants. The homes that they built with their own hands, are small by today's standards and may not have the straightest walls or perfect corners. But each was on a plot of land big enough for a garden to feed the family (which makes such perfect sense for people coming out of the destruction of war). On Saint Martin's day, the people of this community decorate their fount lawns with candle-lighted paper and glass lanterns, many hand made. As night falls, the community comes out to greet each other and view the display of lights. At around 6:30, a parade begins. At the head of the parage is someone dressed as a Roman soldier riding a horse representing Saint Martin. Following Martin are the children of the community carrying paper lanterns and a band playing religious music. In former times, the children would sing songs praising Martin as they walked in the parade. But that is not true today, much to the chagrin of the older folks remembering their days in the parade.

Children are given sweet bread, sometimes shaped as a pretzel or as a man smoking a pipe.

After the parade, the families retire to there homes to the traditional, working class meal for Saint Martin's Day in this part of tye world, Dippekuchen. This is like a giant German potato pancake that is baked in a cast iron pot. This one contained 5 pound of grated potatoes, bacon, onion, fleischwurst, eggs and spices.

As a final note, there is an awareness of our celebration of Halloween, that creeps into German celebrations at this time of year. Several of the houses were decorated with carved pumpkins. This is interesting because Martin was known for destroying pagan temples and structure. Here we have this symbol of a pagan celebration that has transcended its original meaning and is being used in the observance of a saint is interesting. But perhaps it is Halloween itself has made this transition into a holiday for kids, with no pagan or religious connotations to it.