I still owe you guys a holiday post from two weeks ago - which is a shame because I used to love this one as a kid! Erntedank (which translates to Thanks-for-the-Harvest, roughly) is kind of the German thanksgiving - or rather, we are often told that Thanksgiving is the American version of Erntedank, but, while related, they are not quite the same I suppose. Erntedank is a Christian holiday celebrated on the first Sunday in October, and its purpose is to be thankful for the harvest - or, more broadly, for the food we have and eat. Some places celebrate with parades, but for the most part, the altars in the churches are decorated with fruit and vegetables and corn. Personally I find it really beautiful and love the sight of it :)
When I was in kindergarden, we used to get the decorations after the holiday and the whole class would make soup and fruit salat together. I always loved cutting fruit and vegetables and I have very found memories of that time :)
Today, I have to bring my own 'harvest' in, but those early autumn days are still among my favourite days of the year - and maybe that's why I love all things autmn-y when it come's to stitching! ;)
10 comments:
Thank you for another interesting holiday post. A harvest festival may be closer to Erntedank than our Thanksgiving but not many places have them anymore. I love chestnuts! Unfortunately, the trees around me have not recovered from the blight that happened in the early 1900s.
Interesting! For a long time I thought only Americans had Thanksgiving but it's cool to see other countries have similar traditions. I know Canada just celebrated theirs as well. Autumn has always been my favorite season but I think it's because I love the cooler weather and Halloween lol.
Another interesting post. In England we celebrate the Harvest Festival. Every church will have a special service, usually around Michaelmas time. They often invite children from the local school to bring in tinned produce which is then donated to the local homeless charity or food bank. This makes the children aware of those worse off than themselves.
Of course, with so many food banks open in the UK it is ironic that many of the schoolchildren may end up eating the food brought in by their classmates!
We have Thanksgiving in Canada the 2nd Monday of October, so more in line with harvest as well compared to the U.S.A. date. There's some religious services around the date as well, but it's definitely a church by church thing.
I remember talking about this with you last year when discussing the differences between American and Canadian Thanksgiving, I think that conversation is part of why you started talking about the holidays, which makes me very happy.
You're right, 'Harvest Festival' is the translation I found as well, but I've grown so used to thinking of it as a kind of German Thanksgiving, so that's what I went with. There are still plenty of chest nut trees around here, there are some huge old ones at a playground near our cemetery and when I was a kid my grandparents or parents took me there every week and we would make littke chest nut animals afterwards :)
Thanks! We might not be celebrating the same thing, but the cause - to be thankful for what we have - is the same, and a very good reason to celebrate too!
Thanks! I wasn't aware there were so many people in need of food banks in the UK...it's a good thing you're having a tradition to make children aware of that. Starting them early on working for a better future, hopefully!
I knew Canada hat their own Thanksgiving celebrations, but other than it being a bit earlier in the year, I never knew a lot about it. So thanks for sharing!
I remember that conversation as well, and I believe you are right. I'm glad I started this series about holidays, I'm learning so much as well and it's great how everyone is sharing their own stories and traditions :)
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