Bonfire Night and Martinsfeuer

Written by Lucy Simmonds (M.A. Romance Languages and Cultures)

Ah, the first mulled wine of the year, or Glühwein as it’s called in Germany. Candles on the table, condensation at the windows’ edges: the cosy season has truly begun. Sat with some German friends, they tell me about tonight. It’s St. Martin’s Eve. As the days grow shorter and the summer warmth turns to a crisp autumn chill, I look forward to such end of year traditions. What the British Bonfire Night and the German St. Martin’s Eve have in common is that both events bring people together. In the Rheinland, where Martinsfeuer (Martin’s fire) is a huge event, our friends tell us how they prepare their bonfires months in advance. Every day after school they would gather wood and eventually create a tall, almost sprawling structure, ready to be burnt on November 11th. Since the UK is predominantly Protestant rather than Catholic, St. Martin’s Eve isn’t really recognised. In Germany however, the “Martinsfeuer” (Martin’s fire) is their very own Bonfire Night. Officially a Catholic holiday, St. Martin’s Eve is widely celebrated in Germany. The evening is illuminated with a parade of children making their way through the town with their home-made lanterns. Alongside them trots a horse with St. Martin as the rider and traditional St. Martin’s pretzels can be bought in most bakeries. Whilst both are essentially a night to light a bonfire, set off fireworks, run around with sparklers and have a drink by the fire, the origins of the two events are polar opposites. Our Bonfire Night, also known as Guy Fawkes Night, celebrates the 5th of November, 1605, when Guy Fawkes and his fellow Catholic plotters failed to blow up the House of Lords and kill the Protestant King James I. Most Brits know the following rhyme which demonstrates the more political nature of our Bonfire Night: “Remember, remember, the Fifth of November Gunpowder treason and plot I see no reason why the gunpowder treason Should ever be forgot”

Unlike our burning effigy of Guy Fawkes, the Germans’ St. Martin on his horse, riding around and representing good deeds and holiness, is muss less macabre in comparison. Although I sometimes miss celebrating Bonfire Night in England, I love going for a walk on the evening of November 11th here in Germany. There is always a little “Umzug” (parade) somewhere in which a group of wooly-hat-wearing little ones stomp proudly through the cobbled-streets, lighting up an otherwise dark November night.