Silvester and Dinner for One
The German Festival Year
Course 1 · Chapter 3 · Christmas, Silvester and Dinner for One
In Germany the main Christmas celebration is on the evening of 24 December, not the morning of the 25th, and the year closes on 31 December with fireworks, doughnuts, lead pouring and, for millions of viewers, a short British comedy sketch in black and white. This chapter covers the days from Christmas Eve to New Year, then looks closely at Dinner for One, which is a more interesting case of "tradition" than most: a foreign sketch that became a German ritual. Names, dates and figures are from general knowledge and one web check, and flagged "check".
Christmas Eve and Christmas Day
Heiligabend
Holy Evening, 24 December, is the main event. Families often attend a church service, then exchange presents (Bescherung) in the evening, traditionally after the Christmas tree has been revealed to the children (check regional practice).
The two Christmas days
25 December is the first Christmas holiday and 26 December the second (zweiter Weihnachtsfeiertag), both public holidays in every state. They are usually spent with family and a large meal (check).
The food
Typical Christmas Eve dishes include potato salad with sausages, which is simple, and carp in some regions, with goose or roast meat on the 25th or 26th (check the regional habits, which differ a lot).
- "Stille Nacht." The carol Silent Night was first performed in 1818 at Oberndorf near Salzburg, in what is now Austria, with words by Joseph Mohr and music by Franz Xaver Gruber (check the details and the church where it was sung).
- A late arrival. The family-centred Christmas of the evening and the tree is largely a 19th-century development, as the previous chapter showed (check).
Silvester: New Year's Eve
| Custom (check each) | Note |
|---|---|
| The name | 31 December is St Sylvester's Day, after Pope Sylvester I, whose feast falls on that date. The German word Silvester means New Year's Eve. |
| Fireworks | Private fireworks are sold in the last days of the year and let off at midnight. Debates about injuries, air pollution and effects on pets have led to local restrictions and calls for a ban (check the current rules). |
| Bleigießen | Pouring melted lead into cold water and reading the shape as a prediction. Because lead is now restricted, wax or tin versions are common (check). |
| Doughnuts | Berliner or Pfannkuchen, the sugar-dusted doughnuts. A common joke is that one is filled with mustard instead of jam, so the unlucky eater is the "prankee" (check). |
| Luck charms | Lucky pigs, clover leaves and chimney sweeps are given as small gifts (check). |
| Food and drink | Sparkling wine, raclette, fondue or a cold buffet at home, with a toast of "Prosit Neujahr!" (check). |
| Public events | A large open-air party at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, and concerts on New Year's Day, such as the Vienna Philharmonic's, broadcast from Austria (check). |
Dinner for One
| Question (check each) | What the sources say |
|---|---|
| Who wrote it? | The English writer Lauri Wylie wrote the sketch in the 1930s (check). It was a staple of British music-hall and summer shows. |
| Who made the German recording? | The comedian Freddie Frinton played the butler and May Warden played Miss Sophie. Reports say a German producer or director saw them perform in Blackpool, and NDR recorded it before an audience in Hamburg in 1963 (check the details). The German title is Der 90. Geburtstag. |
| When did it become a ritual? | The New Year's Eve broadcast is dated by several sources to 1972, after earlier showings (check). Since then it has been shown again, in many regional channels, each year. |
| Why is it in English? | The recording is in English with a short German introduction. Part of its appeal is that the lines are quoted in English by German speakers, who say "the same procedure as every year" as a catchphrase. |
| Is it known in Britain? | Far less than in Germany. Reports say it was little known in Britain and was shown on British television for the first time only in recent years (check when). It is also a New Year's Eve ritual in Scandinavia and other countries (check which). |
| The record | Guinness World Records is reported to list it as the most repeated television programme (check the current wording). |
What Dinner for One Shows About Tradition
- A recent tradition. It is a ritual of the television age, established in the 1970s, not an ancient custom (check).
- Borrowed, not invented. It was adopted from abroad and made local through repetition, which is how many "traditions" form.
- The role of a broadcaster. A scheduling decision by a broadcaster, repeated each year, created a national habit. This is a modern form of what the previous chapters showed for clubs and tourist boards.
- Claims to test. "Everyone in Germany watches it" is a claim: audience figures from the broadcasters give actual numbers (check), and the share of people who watch each year is much less than "everyone".
Exercises
Compare German Christmas Eve with a Scottish Christmas Day: what happens, what is eaten and what is different in the order of the festival.
Use the six-question method (who, evidence, when, definition, who gains, what would change my mind) on the claim "Everyone in Germany watches Dinner for One on New Year's Eve".
Choose a custom that was borrowed from another country (Dinner for One, the Christmas market in Edinburgh or another) and explain how it became "local".
Quick Reference
- Heiligabend: 24 December evening; presents then; 25 and 26 are holidays
- Silvester: 31 December, after Pope Sylvester I; fireworks, doughnuts, lead or wax pouring
- Dinner for One: British sketch by Lauri Wylie; German recording 1963 (NDR); ritual from the 1970s (check)
- Catchphrase: "The same procedure as every year"
- Lesson: a borrowed, broadcaster-made tradition