CELEBRATION OF ST. MARTINSTAG IN ERMLAND, PRUSSIA
My mother, Margarete was born in East Prussia in 1923. Her homeland is located in the north eastern portion of what is now Poland. Historically in recent centuries this is a predominantly catholic part of the world. The traditions and observances are a rich mix of blending Christian systems with ancient pagan customs and ritual. During my mother’s childhood she knew of no one who wasn’t catholic and grew up being told and believing that anyone not of the catholic faith would look like a monster. She was very surprised and happy when she ventured forth in the world that this was not true.
My mother grew up in a very different time, ripe with old, observed customs and traditions that shaped their lives. I am fascinated by the stories she tells me of life back then. It is really quite remarkable how recently this way of life was lived and yet it seems like a life from a century and time much older than my mother.
A few weeks ago I asked her to tell me about some significant memory she might still have about Christmas. Well, well, well, little did I know what a fascinating tale she was about to enter me into.
St. Martinstag, November 11. As a child she remembers living in a kind of excited anticipation and fear of this day. A man on a white horse carrying a switch brought children apples, nuts and sweets. So why the fear? I will tell you all later as the history of this day unfolds.
My Tante Trudi, mother’s sister in Germany has privileged me with quite detailed memories which she and my uncle have written down for me and sent me by email. They gave me an incredible insight to some of the customs and traditions that were observed during the Christmas time. With the help of friends and internet to assist with some of the more difficult translations I have been able to piece together some insights and understanding to the unbelievably rich and colourful practices that were part of life back in the days. Life may not have been easy but it was deep with traditions and rituals that guided how the year was lived.
St. Martin was a saint who existed from c.317 – 397. A roman soldier who legend has it became significant for his kindness to a beggar. Story told that he took his red cloak and cut it in half to share with the beggar who was freezing in a snowstorm. Feeling unworthy of becoming a bishop Martin hid in a stable full of geese that made such a cackle that the people of Tours found him and consecrated him as a bishop. This is why the eating of goose became tradition in Germany and other European countries at Christmas time. My aunt wrote that the slaughtering of the geese on St.Martinstag was a significant event in each village and household on this day. Every part of the goose was made into something delectable. A favourite was “Blutflinsen” (pickled web feet) of the goose. Some of the geese were hung in the frost to cure in time for Christmas dinners. Geese were also used to pay taxes and wages and leases and more. What?? Please explain.
St. Martinstag marked the end and beginning of the “natural” year. It indicated the end of harvest, the completion of the farming cycle. It clearly became the “natural” day on which to pay taxes, sign and renew leases, begin and end employment contracts. Not many people actually had money so much was paid in what was called “Naturalien”, goods that were naturally produced. It was also the one day a year you could leave your employment and you would be given a goose as a bonus. New maids, helpers, farm workers were hired on this day as well. Young women were always accompanied by their fathers or head of household to the new employ and were given coffee and bread and the father even a Schnapps! Once business was taken care of the slaughtering of the geese began and was the “high point” of this festive day! Delving into some of the mysteries behind these customs reveals connections to pagan rituals of animal sacrifices from long, long ago. There were also sacrifices to the wine. This was the day on which the Martinsminne was drunk. The first wine drunk from the vintage year. It was believed that this wine taken at Martinmas would bring beauty and strength to all who took it. Needless to say the young men and women imbibed! The traditional toast was “ Raise the glass at Martinmas, Drink wine all through the year. “It was a time to drink, eat and celebrate before the strict observance of the 40 days of Lent and fasting before Christmas.
November 11, Martinmas made it officially winter and lamps and candles could now be lit so the spinning and weaving and knitting could begin. The women and girls would work feverishly until Christmas to complete pullovers, socks, gloves and scarves in time for gift giving. All gifts had to be practical and needed. The men set about making spoons and bowls and other useful items. Spinning and weaving traditionally carried on until February 2 and then stopped. Candlemas, the end of winter and a new season of cultivation and harvest would begin.
So now we are getting to the story of my mother being frightened on St. Martinstag. When it snows on St.Martinstag (which it usually did), the saint would ride in on a white horse. The Schimmel reiter would appear. The ghost horse rider. In my mother’s region he was more ominous than other parts of Europe. He was called the Peltzmartin, the Skin Martin. He would have a blackened face and wore a cow bell on him and he would run around wildly along with the symbolic bear and stork and they would nip at the heels of the children and snap the beak at the children’s faces and rap their feet with the birch tree sticks. The symbolic chimney sweep would have his hands in the kachel ofen and with his smeared hands blacken the faces of the hausfrauen, wives and women. Use your imagination, how frightening this would be. They would finish by leaving the children apples, nuts and Pfefferkuchen, a traditional sweet.
This annual visit and custom is more reminiscent of ancient pagan rituals than a visit from a Christian bishop. The folk ritual of using boughs and branches from sacred trees to hit the children with were not forms of punishment but a way of driving away evil influences. The birch endowed the qualities of purity, light and new beginnings. Farmers traditionally flogged, slapped and beat everything with young birch branches in the spring that was to flourish. So in a cultural sense children were being blessed with these qualities. These “loving” floggings were a symbolic form of making a physical connection with the life-giving virtues of the tree. In this way the treats the children were given in the form of apples and nuts were a way “ingesting” and “internalizing” the nature spirit and virtues of the sacred tree.
So today, in modern times St. Martinstag is observed as a children’s affair throughout Germany, Austria and a few other countries. The children wear costumes and make lanterns to light the way. This evening procession is often led by the red cloaked rider on a white horse. These processions usually culminate with a Martinsfeuer, a huge bonfire at the end of the parade. Everyone is merry with food, singing and dancing. Christmas is coming soon and not far off.
Little thought is given to what we do and how we do it. It seems like it has always just been done that way but everything had a “first time.” Those first times are steeped in culture and ancient knowledge of why a thing must be done. For myself the unearthing and discoveries of these exquisite morsels of experiences connect me to myself, my family and my ancestors. I am those people, those traditions, those experiences. They are passed on to each and every one of us in vitro and flow through us and our spirit each and every day. What is so astonishing is when we find the stories that reveal us to our past.
“Thank you Mom for sharing your fears.”
