With our neighbors, New Year’s Eve takes place with family and friends around a good fondue or a good raclette at home… typical dishes of December 31st.
If in France, December 31 is rather seen as a huge evening with friends (even a big drinking session among young people), in Germany, all the generations are gathered around the table.
The Sekt, the German “champagne”
Unlike the Anglo-Saxons, the Germans are not very champagne, they are “sekt”!
It’s sparkling wine made with German grapes, much stronger and drier than our good old champagne.
The French are always a little sullen when you bring them a bottle of Sekt, but they still end up not being tempted.
The same movie on TV for 50 years
Among the great German traditions, there is the film ‘Diner for one’ (one could consider it as the equivalent of Santa Claus is a junk in France).
All German TV channels will broadcast it on the evening of December 31st.
The film (which is a sort of 11-minute long sketch) dates from 1963, since this year, it is systematically broadcast on TV for New Year’s Eve.
It tells the story of a very old lady who celebrates her 90th birthday with all her friends… but since they are all dead, it is her butler who will play the roles of everyone around the table.
A collective clairvoyance session!
Another German tradition: the “Bleigießen” which consists in heating lead or wax in a spoon and throwing the contents into a pot of water!
As it cools, it will form shapes that all the guests will interpret around the table.
Some will see a small baby during the year, others a palm tree which will mean that a trip is being prepared… etc.
The imagination of the Germans is limitless in the field and it is a great tradition that cannot be missed on the evening of the 31st.
Firecrackers galore
And at midnight, all over Germany, firecrackers and fireworks go off.
In France, we always wonder why the Germans love firecrackers so much on New Year’s Eve?
It is an old Germanic tradition to ward off evil spirits from the past year.
Happy New Year is also said “Gute Rutsch” in German … it means “good slide into the New Year”.