This week the Monday Podcast visited the Christmas Market (Weihnachtsmarkt) in Oberursel. In comparison to last year, there was a lot more to see and better weather as well.
We spent the afternoon there, and the longer we stayed, the more people there were. It was very busy in the evening.
Oberursel Christmas Market
To find out more, listen to the podcast:
(Press the “play” button to listen to the podcast)
Heilige Drei Könige is celebrated on 6th January. In some areas of Germany it is a public holiday.
The day celebrates the arrive of the three wise men from the east in Bethlehem. In the Evangelical Church it is known as Epihanias – similar to the English name of the day in some countries “Epiphany”.
On this day, groups of children known as Sternsinger go from door to door and sing a song or recite a poem or prayer. They then write in chalk above the door C+B+M and the number of the year with three crosses, eg. 20*C+M+B+08. These letters stand for the latin phrase Christus mansionem benedicat, meaning “God protect this house”.
The Sternsinger also collect donations for childrens’ charities.
To hear a simple explanation and a short discussion in German, listen to the podcast:
(Press the “play” button to listen to the podcast)
I recorded a video of the fireworks last night (this morning) from our balcony. It is very dark, but in the second half you can clearly make out the rockets flying overhead and one being lit on the ground. It is also very noisy!
Please click on ACCEPT to give us permission to set cookies [more information]
This website uses cookies to give you the best browsing experience possible. Cookies are small text files that are stored by the web browser on your computer. Most of the cookies that we use are so-called “Session cookies”. These are automatically deleted after your visit. The cookies do not damage your computer system or contain viruses. Please read our privacy information page for more details or to revoke permission.