You are here: Home / Podcasts / German Words Explained / Martinstag

Martinstag

November 14, 2007 By Leave a Comment

The 11th November is known as Martinstag or Sankt Martin. Originally the start of a 40-day period of fasting before Christmas, it is now more associated with the processions of children holding lanterns that take place after dark. Many families eat goose on this day.

The day also sees the start of the Karneval season.

To hear a simple explanation, a short discussion, and a children’s song in German, listen to the podcast:

(Press the “play” button to listen to the podcast)

Laterne, Laterne,
Sonne, Mond und Sterne,
brenne auf mein Licht,
brenne auf mein Licht,
aber nur meine liebe Laterne nicht.

Download a transcript

Download the MP3 file | Subscribe to the podcast

 

Content not available.
Please allow cookies by clicking Accept on the banner
Filed Under: German Words Explained, Podcasts Tagged With: , , , ,
About Graham

Graham Tappenden is a British ex-pat who first came to Germany as a placement student in 1993, returning in 1995 to live there permanently. He has been writing for AllThingsGerman.net since 2006. When not writing blog posts or freelancing for the Oberurseler Woche and other publications he works as a self-employed IT consultant and online community manager. In 2016 he gained German citizenship.

Speak Your Mind

*

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.

Close