In Germany, especially around Christmas and the New Year you see them everywhere… Toadstool ornaments, Chimney Sweet figures, Marzipan Piggies with coins or 4 Leaf Clover in their mouths. These German good luck symbols didn’t just come out of nowhere… they all have history and legend to explain why they are lucky. Some luck charms go back to Pagan times,…
Category: German legends
Rübezahl! The legendary Silesian Lord of the Mountains!
I strolled down memory lane, sorting through a box of my old childhood Story Albums sent to America by my Opa. Max und Moritz, Kinder Märchen, and then a brown album with a scary brown giant on the cover Rübezahl! I loved listening to this one as a child (records or vinyl, for those of you too young to remember,…
What is the Vogelhochzeit? It’s a song to Welcome Spring!
Germans do love to sing, and they especially love their Folk songs. One of my favorite German Folk Songs is the Vogelhochzeit. In German School I loved singing the fi-de-ralala part over and over. And with so many verses, the song can go on longer than the Twelve days of Christmas! (I have a feeling that’s why my German School…
Edelweiss! All about this Legendary Alpine Flower
When I was a little girl, my Opa sent me a card that had a dried pressed edelweiss flower and a miniature hiker’s axe on it. I loved pulling back the protective cover and petting the soft fuzzy petals. For years that card sat on my bookshelf, and I would imagine the mysterious far-off mountain it came from. You see,…
Castle Frankenstein in Germany- A Castle Swirled in Mystery and Legend
In 2019 my partner, joined my daughter and I in Germany. Since he had never been to Germany before, and because I have a strange sense of humor, AND because Frankenstein was my daughter’s favorite book when she was younger, we decided to take him straight from the Frankfurt Airport to the Frankenstein Castle. It was a beautiful Summer’s day…
A German Kitchen Witch Brings Good Luck to Your Kitchen!
When I was growing up, my mother always had a flying Kitchen Witch hanging in the kitchen window. And naturally, as an adult with my own kitchen, I have one too. Now, the legend says that a German Kitchen Witch will protect your food as you cook it… no more pots boiling over, no more burnt cakes…. just delicious foods that…
The Pied Piper of Hamelin Story-800 Year Mystery Wrapped in Fairy Tale
While visiting Germany many years ago I had to visit the town of Hameln. You see, when I was growing up, one of my favorite records had the Rattenfänger von Hameln story… the Pied Piper of Hamelin Story. As a child, the idea of all those kids being snatched up because the town fathers didn’t want to pay the exterminator’s…
The Loreley- The Legend, the Song, and How to See It…
You are cruising down the Middle Rhine admiring the castles towering over vineyards and small villages when suddenly near Sankt Goarhausen, the whole ship breaks into song in front of a rock cliff. You’ve reached the Loreley. But WHAT is the Loreley? It’s not just a pile of rocks, it is a place of song and legend that has grown over…
Is Wienerschnitzel German Chicken Fried Steak? Read the “Texas Wienerschnitzel Incident” and Decide for Yourself!
I love origin stories….especially when German culture mixes with American, and you get a whole new legend! So the question came up, “Is Wienerschnitzel just German Chicken Fried Steak“? Well, seems like they are quite similar, but what is the story behind it? And then… I came across this tale… the Legend of the Texas Wienerschnitzel Incident. Now, I KNOW……
What Is Walpurgisnacht? And How did An English Nun Become Associated with Witches?
Many legends and traditions in Germany feature Witches.. think about all the Fairy Tales you heard as a child cautioning you about witches. Witches in Germany date back to the pagan times, before Christianity, and some of the celebrations or customs still show up in the modern world. Interestingly, Walpurgisnacht or Hexennacht (Witches’ Night), Halloween’s calander opposite, is what happens…