It’s not a complete coincidence that two typically German celebrations, St. Martin’s Day and the start of carnival season, are both on the same day. Their origins are centuries old.
It can seem like a strange coincidence to see children parade through the streets of Germany with lanterns to mark St. Martin’s Day on November 11 while, at the same time, colorfully dressed carnival revelers shout “Alaaf” or “Helau.”
Do these things really go together?
In fact, Carnival and St. Martin’s Day are two customs that share a common origin dating back several centuries.
Bishop Martin of Tours died on November 8, 397, and was buried three days later. This was a huge event, and explains why November 11 is celebrated, and not the day of his death. The legend of how Martin shared his cloak with a beggar while he was a soldier in the Roman army became the most famous story about the saint’s life.
He is one of the few saints who did not receive this status as a martyr, but instead because of his charity and Christian way of life. His benevolence made him a popular patron saint not only for the poor, but also for craftsmen, winegrowers and farmers.
The end of the farming year
In the Middle Ages, St. Martin’s Day, coming a few days after the harvest festival, marked the end of the farming year. The harvest had been brought in, the grapes picked, the rent had been paid (usually with fattened geese), and wages had been given out.
Following the slaughtering of livestock for winter provision, there was a celebration, which also allowed people to consume larger quantities of perishable foods such as meat, eggs and dairy products on this day before the period of fasting ordered by the Church.
Lent before Christmas?
Today, it is hard to imagine that people used to fast before Christmas. Consumerism and Christmas markets with their lavish offerings, ranging from Christmas cookies and sausages to mulled wine and eggnog, show nothing of the remains of this tradition.
However, in previous centuries, Advent was a strict fasting period for Christians, much like the period before Easter.
It would begin after November 11 and would also last six weeks, as a quiet preparation for the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.
Over time, the commandment of fasting during Advent was further relaxed, until the Roman Catholic Church abolished it in 1917.
The last binge before Advent
Before things became serious with penance and abstinence, people would be allowed to go wild one last time, by eating, drinking, dancing and celebrating exuberantly on a date that, coincidentally, also pokes fun at the Church. The number 11 not only marks the burial of St. Martin, but it also lies exactly between two sacred numbers for Christianity: 10 for the 10 Commandments and 12 for the 12 apostles. The 11 disrupted this divine order, leading it to be associated with fools and jesters over time.
Carnival starts on November 11 at 11:11 a.m. In the Rhineland strongholds, revelers loudly celebrate the start of Carnival — but then from November 12 onwards, it goes into hiding before reappearing in January. Then the first events begin, culminating in February in the colorful street carnival, which is celebrated for six days and ends once again on Ash Wednesday.
St. Martin and the fools: Opposites attract
So while the Church honors St. Martin of Tours on November 11, and children parade through the streets with lanterns and brass bands and sing for sweets at front doors, carnival revelers celebrate joie de vivre and freedom at the top of their voices on this same day before the more contemplative Advent season begins.
