Germany is land that produced legends of literature and philosophy like Fredrick Nietzsche, Albert Einstein, Arthur Schopenhauer and Franz Kafka. It is the soil which wrote the epics of blood, bravery and chaos. In Quentin Tarantino’s landmark movie “Pulp Fiction’, Marcellus Wallace says to Buch, the boxer “Pride hurts, it never helps’. It was Hitler’s pride hurt Germany’s pride in front of the world. Being a land of culture, Germany is home to the third-largest number of international migrants worldwide. German Winters are mild and summers tend to be cool, though temperatures can exceed 30 °C, at times. Germany’s contribution in philosophy and Psychology is unmatchable. The whole epic of highly refined human psychology and the concept of individualism had written by Germany through Sigmund Freud, Nietzsche, Frank Kafka, Schopenhauer, Immanuel Kant and Gottfried Leibniz. Valentine’s Day is celebrated on February 14 but not in a large extend. After World War 2, it has gained much popularity in the recent decades.
Valentine’s Day Traditions In Germany
Folklore
Valentine’s Day folklore bristles in this land of bravery. There are stories about the bravery of love, knitted together with the day. One story goes, there was a peasant revolt led by Duke Welf against King Conrad 3. King had got great army which threw the Duke’s fighters away. As a result, peasants found themselves under siege. Lady Elizabeth, the wife of the Duke requested the king to let her and other wives leave the castle with whatever they could carry on their backs. The King agreed but got surprised to see them carry their husbands on their back on that Valentine’s Day. This is one of those interesting folklore of Germany.
Celebrations
Contrary to popular belief, Germans are actually quite romantic; especially when it comes to a world love fest day like Valentine’s Day Red is considered as the color of love from ancient times. As people celebrate Valentine’s Day with Red rose’s bouquets worldwide, Germany also follow it. In Germany it has become a ritual for the young men who were courting to gift his beloved flowers on Valentine’s Day. This ancient symbol of love still has high impact on the teenagers of this post modern age too. Silhouettes are also very popular in German Valentine’s Day functions, especially among children. They like to make circles of hearts for their teachers, parents or classmates. In Germany, gifts which got shaped like love tokens would be given with lovely messages. This kind of gift looks lovely and funny at the same time.
Unlike countries like United Sates of America and United Kingdom, Valentine’s Day is celebrated as a mature people’s festival in Germany. No half trouser clad little boy gives cute little heart shaped card to his girlfriend in school. As in any other country, Gift baskets and rare chocolate candies are common in Germany on Valentine’s Day. German stores get filled with all kind of gifts on Valentine’s Day. Most of those gifts are colored in red and pink. Youngsters also experiments with photo collage and love maps. People from different part of Germany use internet as way to send their love message to their beloved ones. The Valentine’s Day celebration in Germany may not be grant and loud like that is in Brazil or America but it is elegant.
