Holidays

Adlig Pollnitz in 2004

Advent and Christmas in Pommern

This story was told to me by my aunt. She was born in 1904 at Adlig 
Pollnitz - by Katharina Hines
 
We knew the end of November was close, because the butchering of the 
geese came to an end. The breasts of the geese were mainly smoked. 
The children knew that almost every day, they would receive for 
dinner soup made from the goose blood. We were told this black soup 
gives you fluids and energy. After that started the hog butchering. 
The butchering didn't give you a good appetite. You would loose your 
appetite, from the smell. 

If that was not enough, at the beginning of December the forest 
warden, brought us a deer. That one would hang close by the barn. 
We would have some meat in the winter month. The meat was 
tagged, and kept in a root cellar. The date of the butchering was 
written on the tag. A log book was kept in the kitchen so the 
oldest meat was always used first. 

To keep the meat fresh, big pieces of ice were cut on the pond and 
laid between the pieces. This way the meat would stay fresh until 
the next butchering season. The best time for us was the baking 
season. First the Pfeffernüsse and Sugar Nut cookies were baked, 
then the Brezeln and sheet cakes. The whole house would smell like 
bitter Almonds and Christmas spices. "Kollatschen" or "Tollatschen," 
as we called them and Christstuten were baked too. The Christstute 
was about 1/2 meter long and filled with raisins and marmalade. 

My grand mother came from a fishing family. She baked a blood cake 
(Blutkuchen). That cake is made of flour, goose or hog blood and 
raisins. Also a lot of cookies were baked for the color plates 
(Buntenteller). Now we got in to the Advent mood. In school we were 
busy during the pre-Christmas time. We learned Christmas poems, we 
thought they were way too long. Then we sung Christmas songs we knew 
from last year. The best time was the Christmas school. Our 
parents came to that celebration. We were acting in fairy tales and 
other small plays for the Christmas season. At the end we sung 
old Christmas Carols. In the Advent time we would visit a lot of 
relatives. The pastor received from his parish, the butchered 
meat and baked goods, as Christmas gifts. There is also a Santa 
Claus in Pomerania, we called him Knecht Ruprecht. 

At Christmas eve every one would attend the Church service. The 
Christmas celebration at home was always in the living room (Gute 
Stube). There we celebrated Christmas eve with our parents, 
grandparents, godparents and siblings. After the children recited a 
few Christmas poems and sung some Christmas Carols, the Christmas 
feast would start. We almost couldn't eat anything, we were so 
excited, because we wanted to see what we received for Christmas. 

The first Christmas day we spent time with our grandparents. The 
second Christmas day, was spent with our parents. On the third 
Christmas day, at our house, all the surrounding estate owners came 
to visit us. They arrived in their luxury coaches wrapped in fur 
blankets to keep warm. Aunts, uncles and cousins came also to visit. 
Every child had to stand in front of the Christmas tree and recite a 
Christmas poem. As our rewards we could pick a piece of candy that 
was hanging on the branches of the Christmas tree. Pomerania has 
many Christmas fairy tales. 

At Christmas eve, the people who lived near the beaches would say 
that you could hear the bells ring from the lost town of Veneta, 
which was lost in the Baltic sea. There is also a story about 
the golden sea gull, who would fly high in sky and sparkle more then 
all the stars in haven. We handcrafted Christ roses, red and green 
leafs were cut out of silk paper. We glued the leaves on some wine 
glasses. The rose was formed by rolling the paper strips with a 
knitting needle. Then a small candle was placed in the middle of the 
wine glass. The whole room would sparkle from the light of the candles. 

Ostern/Easter In Pommern

Easter starts with Palm Sunday.

A nice and popular custom was the Easter "stiepen." On Palm Sunday 

birch branches would be put in a vase filled with water so that the 
buds form small leaves by Easter. Favorite places were cupboards and 
tiled ovens to aid the shoots with warmth, also some warm water 
would be added to ensure the fast greening of the birch branches.



On the First Easter Day the boys and also the men had the right to

"stiepen" (swat) the hands and feet of the girls and women. One got

underway very early in order to scare the long sleepers. With a lot

of joking and laughing things went ahead. On the Second Day of 
Easter, the girls had the right to "stiepen." Also on Easter Morning 
the children would wake up their parents with a light 
stroke "stieben" swat. They said a rhyme with in it in order that 
their parents would give them an egg, cake, or dime.



Stiep, stieb , Osterei

ich bitte um ein Kakel-Ei,

gibst du mir kein Osterei,

stiep ich dir das Hemd entzwei



Swat, swat, Easter egg

Please give me an Ester egg,

If don't give me a Easter egg,

I will swat your shirt into pieces.

Gründonnerstag/ Maundy Thursday

Commemorates Jesus' last supper with his disciples and the 
institution of the Lords Supper. Holy Thursday is called Maundy 
Thursday from the Latin name for the day "Dies Mandatum", meaning 
the day of the new commandment. A popular assumptions is that it 
called "green" Thursday because of the green vegetables people eat 
on this Fast day. The word "grün" in the German name "Gründonnerstag" 

Green Thursday, does not mean that it comes from the name of the 
color, but from "greinen"(weinen-weep).

In Pommern Good Friday was called "Still Friday"

The word Karfreitag (Grief Friday, Quit Friday) is derived from the 

old-high-German term "chara", which means complaint, misery or 
mourning. The early Christians deplored a dying and the death of 
Jesus, because they believed that everything was lost. For it was 
already one day of the mourning and not the celebration joy. In the 
church are no flowers and no candles on the altar and the songs, the 
people sing are without company by the organ and the bells are silent.



There is a belief that the name 'Easter, Ostern' originates from an 
ancient Anglo-Saxon goddess of the dawn (Morgenröte) named 'Eastre, 
Eostre or Ostara'. Or from 'Austro' a Germanic goddess of the spring 
season. It is also believed that Easter has close links with the 
Jewish Pasha Fest (Passover). The French word for Easter 
is "paques", the Russian and Greeks refer to Easter as "Pascha." 
Easter can occur anytime between March 22. and April 25. Easter 
Sunday occurs on the first Sunday of the first full moon after March 21.



On Saturday before Easter, the church bells would ring and the young 
men would collect wood for the "Osterfeuer" Easter fire. The wood 
was placed on a hill and set ablaze; every one wanted to have the 
biggest Easter fire. The charcoal was taken home because many 
believed it had some salutary force.



On Easter Sunday farm hands didn't work; the estate owner didn't 
want a conflict with the church.

Easter water, Osterwasser

The water has the meaning of the life and fertility. In the dark of 
Easter night girls would go in complete silence, to get Easter 
Water,Osterwasser from springs and streams to wash with. If a girl 
was able to sprinkle her lover with Easter water, there would be a 
wedding soon.



In earlier times there was a custom to put away Easter Water for use

against skin and eye ailments. One had to scoop the water from a 
pure, flowing brook in the earliest Easter Sunday hours before 
sunrise and one may meet no one and speak to no one. Whoever washed 
himself on Easter Day with such water remained protected from skin 
and eye ailments.



Young girls went their way to the nearest clear stream in the gray 
early morning hours to gather the water which was supposed to bestow 
beauty and virtue. The way there and home again had to be paced 
silently. That wasn't easy, for young boys and envious women 
attempted to hinder them  with that, to startle them and to tempt 
them into idle conversation.  If they were successful, the Easter 
Water would turn to desecrated "Schladder-water" and the maidens 
would be teased all the time. Also the farmers would give the animal 
Easter Water, so they would stay healthy, too.



The earlier one made the pilgrimage to the spring, the fewer tempters

one would meet.  This Easter event had  another purpose that the

children and adults pursued.  In the rising sun, just when the sun

come above the horizon, one may see the Easter lamb jump.




You can color an egg by boiling it with onion skins. 

In just 5 or 6 minutes it will be this color yellow. 

Longer time will give you orange, then brown.

The Easter eggs, Ostereier

The egg has many special meanings. It is food, a symbol for 
pureness, fertility, natural product for debt. In the 16th and 17th 
centuries colored eggs were giving as Easter presents. In church, 
the priest are giving blessing to the Easter Egg. All farmers had to 
give tribute to their lords and barons. The tenth part of every 
harvest and animal of the farmers household had to be giving to the 
lords and barons. In Pommern the Easter eggs were mostly red, blue 
and yellow colored. In the country the eggs were boiled with onion 
skins so they had a dark brown color The first time a Easter bunny 
was documented was 1682. Also the farmers put fresh eggs in the 
attic for good luck and good health.