First German Long Weekend

This past weekend lasted for 4 days in all of Germany, since both Good Friday and Easter Monday are official holidays here. Fernando and I were looking forward to finally enjoying this land-of-many-national-holidays, as Germany is known for having lots of days when nobody has to go to work. Rather than travel, we decided to stay in Hannover, in order to experience a German long weekend, as well as what we thought was a relatively important holiday here.

Several days beforehand we started to get nervous-- might we even get bored during Fernando’s four days off? Since we rent an apartment and don’t have that much of our stuff here in Germany anyway, spring cleaning and working in the garden were not options. Nor was grilling out (no backyard), country drives (no car), or shopping of any kind, as all stores were to be closed for three out of the four weekend days. Yes, even Ikea. So we made some plans with people who were going to be around, and waited for the festivities to begin.

The holiest days of the Christian calendar, German style
You might imagine that since the government gave everybody two extra days off to go and celebrate these holy days, that Easter is a big deal for Germans. Well, other than an obvious increase in church bells throughout the city, the religious aspect of the holiday seems to have been lost. I’m generalizing of course, but Easter seems to mean only three things to most Germans (and not, necessarily, all three to all Germans): a big breakfast, an egg hunt, and family time. Kind of like Thanksgiving but with chocolate eggs instead of turkey. In fact, when I mentioned to an American friend of mine (married to a German and she herself a resident of Hannover for 13 years) who had pretty much invited herself to our place on Sunday morning for breakfast, that that particular day was Easter, she responded, “Oh, but you don’t mind, do you? We don’t celebrate it. Nobody here does.” In fact I didn’t mind at all, and was thrilled to have plans. Sure enough, Christine and her husband and son showed up that morning without even a “Happy Easter” as a greeting. Throughout the weekend Fernando and I were perplexed by this contradiction. Though the country comes to a grinding halt for four days in deference to J.C’s crucifixion and resurrection, it doesn’t seem like many Germans go to church or even know/care why they’re getting the time off. Supposedly there is more church attendance in the Catholic south (where the current Pope is from), but here in the north, Fernando I got the feeling, as the weekend lolled along, that this little holiday is really more of a gift from the government to residents of Germany for enduring several months of grey, rainy, and chilly weather. Hey, we’ll take it.

Osterfeuer
But there was a tradition that everybody seemed to be talking about in advance and then participating in: the “Osterfeuer”, or Easter Fire. This unofficial “holiday” takes place throughout the country on the night before Easter and consists of bonfires, brats and beer. The public bonfires, in keeping with the tradition’s pagan roots, are meant to cleanse the spirit of its bad winter “vibes” and welcome in the new, warm season with its longer and lighter days. There were several fires lit up in Hannover, in parks, parking lots, and soccer fields. It’s an even bigger deal in the German countryside, where locals build their wooden structure weeks in advance and camp out nights to guard it from rival town inhabitants trying to set it on fire early. Since we were told by those who invited us that we would be attending a more family-oriented bonfire that would start a bit earlier and offer apple cider as well as beer, we packed a blanket and imagined sitting cozily while gazing into the flames. But at the clearing, everyone remained standing around the blaze, and bonfires, um, they get really hot and blow lots of smoke, so we never broke out the blanket. But it was still fun. Leo learned the word “fire” (funny how that one never shows up in the vocabulary-building books) and stayed up past his bed time while Fernando drank a local Hannover beer. The mood was festive, and kids played dangerously close to the flames. Unlike Easter, people were passionate about this tradition. Is this why we got all this time off?

The Zoo

So what do you do when everything—except church--is closed for 4 days? Go to the zoo, of course! Thankfully, Hannover’s enormous zoo is open 365 days a year, and it was absolutely packed over the weekend. We went on Good Friday in the afternoon with the specific intention of looking only at the barnyard animal exhibit, and there were still hordes of people streaming in, just an hour before closing. In addition to being a wonderful place to see wild animals that do, for the most part, look relatively happy in their creatively--and lavishly--landscaped surroundings, the Hannover zoo is also a human refuge on the weekends, when everything else is closed. Within its walls, there are several places to eat (and smoke and drink!), several cafes, and rentable buffet-halls where you can go and get married or just enjoy an amazing Easter brunch (for €40 a head). There’s even stuff to do there when it’s raining or snowing. I wouldn’t be surprised if it also had a discothèque. The zoo is definitely not just for families with young children or school groups. Rather, it is entirely common to see childless couples strolling along its paths, often walking a dog or two, and elderly folks sitting on benches near the Bison, giving their dentures a work-out on a bag of sweet popcorn. It seems that Germans, in particular, like to look at wild animals in cages and thus spend a great deal of time in their presence. But with the zoo open year-round, Fernando and I still wondered why anyone needed a 4-day weekend to enjoy it.

Prepping for the vacation season
We figured it out. The long weekend wasn’t primarily religious, a government gift, or even an excuse to live it up at the zoo. It seems to have functioned, more than anything, as Summer Vacation prep for Germany. In addition to all their holidays, the Germans are also famous for having long paid vacations (6 weeks is the standard) and for taking this part of their lives very seriously. The Germans spend more per capita on travel than any other nationality, and this is obvious when talking to anyone about the exotic places they have visited. While nobody used these 4-days for an actual trip--as this is not nearly enough time for Germans, who prefer 3 and 4 week itineraries and ridicule American style trips that “do” five European cities in as many days--they were clearly prepping for it. Even though the weather wasn’t great, the parks and lake area were packed with joggers, bikers, and pole-walkers, many of them already kind of orangey-tan, in preparation for their upcoming skiing, Spain, or Africa trips. The vacation season will soon be upon us here. Though Fernando will be spending most of this year's vacation around the house waiting for an umbilical cord stump to fall off, there’s always next summer, right?