Silvester
Silvester is the last day of the year, 31st December, known in English as New Year’s Eve.
Many people hold or visit parties on this evening, others spend the evening with their families at home.
Popular things to eat on this evening are raclette and fondue. At midnight everyone goes out onto the streets and lets of fireworks to celebrate the New Year.
A long running television programme is the Silvesterstadl shown on the public broadcast ARD, which runs for about 4 hours and contains traditional folk music as well as sketches and interviews, many of which are connected with Silvester traditions.
The most well-known television programme on this day must, however, surely be Dinner for One – a 20-minute sketch with Freddie Frinten and May Warden which is shown every year on several channels which over the years has become a traditional part of Silvester viewing for a large part of the German population.
To hear a simple explanation and a short discussion in German, listen to the podcast:
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November 4th, 2008 at 9:25 pm
[...] that many politicians want to avoid, as it would mean campaigning through the Christmas and New Year periods, when people are generally less interested in [...]
December 23rd, 2008 at 9:15 pm
[...] 27. Dezember kehrt dann etwas Normalität wieder ein, und man freut sich auf Silvester. Auch wenn dies in England gar nicht so groß gefeiert wird wie in Deutschland. Die große [...]
December 31st, 2008 at 11:40 am
[...] In this edition of German Words Explained we take a look at three traditions associated with New Year’s Eve. [...]