It’s a common enough mistake made in Germany – Silvester, the name from New Year’s Eve, is named after Pope Silvester I, who died in the 4th Century A.D.
However, many people mis-spell it as “Sylvester”, like the cartoon cat. Even TV shows get it wrong, once in a while.
This week, I saw it mis-spelled on the door of a local supermarket:
With only three more days to go this year, we’ve reached the time when people start buying fireworks form midnight on New Year’s Eve (Silvester).
In Germany this all happens in a bit of rush, because of the restrictions on selling them.
Firstly, to buy fireworks you need to be at least 18 years old.
Secondly, and this is the main restriction, they can only be sold on the last 3 days of the year. If this includes a Sunday, as it does this year, then this is extended to 4 days.
So this year you only have Friday, Saturday and Monday morning to buy any fireworks, that you want to let off on Monday night.
Even if there are some exemptions to these rules, most people will stick to them and it creates a very different situation to that in the UK in November.
Everybody lets of their fireworks after midnight on the 31st/1st, so there are lots of fireworks going off at once creating an amazing atmosphere, but you don’t have the problem of different people at different times (or even on different days).
Because the fireworks are only sold for a very limited time, indeed with many people buying them on the 31st itself, there is less of a danger of accidents caused by insufficient precautions during their time stored in private homes.
The first hour after midnight, when the air is full of smoke and flashing lights really does have to be experienced first hand to understand what it is like – you are not watching a firework display, you are in the middle of it!
The 25th and 26th of December are celebrated in Germany as 1. Weihnachtsfeiertag and 2. Weihnachtsfeiertag. These days are public holidays, a tradition that dates back to Martin Luther.
Unlike many English-speaking countries, presents are not exchanged on these days, as this happens on Heiligabend.
Instead, many families come together on these days and eat together. For example, couples with children will spend the 25th with one set of grandparents, and the 26th with their others.
To hear a simple explanation and a short discussion in German, listen to the podcast:
(Press the “play” button to listen to the podcast)
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