Monday, March 7, 2011

Count Down to Lent - Rosenmontag

In you've never heard of Rosenmontag (Rose Monday), don't feel alone. I'm married to a German immigrant, and I didn't hear about Rosenmontag until I lived and worked in Germany (in the Rheinland-Pfalz state) in the 1980s. My husband is a German immigrant from the predominately Catholic German state of Bavaria, where they celebrate Fasching before Lent.

Back to Rosenmontag, which has nothing to do with roses. Rosenmontag is a day to get crazy during the German Karneval (carnival) season leading up to Lent.

At the office where I worked in Kaiserlautern, the local German women took charge and made a big production of cutting the ties off of men who wore them to work on Rosenmontag. The men, of course, took it all in good fun and knew to wear old worn-out ties on that day.

In addition to the cutting of ties, there was lots of eating and drinking of wine and beer and schnapps (for its medicinal purposes, of course).

Prosit! (a German toast to your good health)
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7 comments:

  1. Mary Nida SmithMarch 7, 2011 at 12:28 PM

    Interesting! My German relatives(Markus Von Nida)are connected to my facebook, also some from West Virgina where they all settled in 1744.

    ReplyDelete
  2. SallyMarch 7, 2011 at 12:34 PM

    Sounds like a good time, and how exciting to have lived and worked in a foreign country.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Linda O'ConnellMarch 7, 2011 at 3:51 PM

    Wow! What a celebration.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Pat WahlerMarch 7, 2011 at 7:52 PM

    I'll drink to that!

    Pat
    www.critteralley.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  5. Donna VolkenanntMarch 7, 2011 at 9:13 PM

    Hi Mary Nida,
    Wow! That's amazing that you were able to connect with your family over Facebook.

    Hi Sally,
    It was an adventure!

    Hi Linda,
    Yep. Those Germans know how to party.

    Hi Pat,
    Cheers!

    Donna

    ReplyDelete
  6. MaDonna MaurerMarch 8, 2011 at 2:49 AM

    I married a German, too! AND, I've never heard that either. I'm finding it interesting that his family lives in the same state that you worked in. In fact, his ultimate favorite fussball team is from K-town! He has only lived in Germany about 6 years of his life. He grew up in Asia, so a bit mixed in his traditions. =)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Donna VolkenanntMarch 8, 2011 at 10:17 AM

    Hi MaDonna,
    Fascinating! When we lived there, K-town it had a population of about 80,000 Americans.
    Donna

    ReplyDelete

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