"Süßes oder Saures" – it’s All Hallows' Eve (Eve of All Saints)!

I started celebrating Halloween only since I moved to California, in 2005 but, thanks also to my son, I was very soon seduced by the this festival and its historical aim to overcome the most ancient fears of death.

I am fascinated by this ancient tradition, in which the spirits of the departed are celebrated. They are thought to revisit their old homes, stalking in procession through every street, stopping at the front doors lighten with candles, and they are offered goods and candies.

I like the tradition of Trick or Treating ("Süßes oder Saures", literally "sweet or sour", as they say here in Germany), when souling children proceed from house to house singing carols and reciting poems, such that a soul is delivered each time a candy is offered. Of course, I don’t eat any of the treats but I enjoy taking part of it.

Halloween is indisputably one of the most successful celebrations in South Pasadena. 

Thus, when we moved here, I feared that we wouldn’t be able to take part of this traditional festivity any longer. In fact, I learned that Halloween was not popular in Germany prior to the 1990s. The main reason appears to be the opposition of the Lutheran Church, whose tenets were against scary costumes, as well as fear of spirits, ghosts, and the devil. Reformation Day was established on October 31, 1517, when Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the church door in Wittenberg protesting the sale of indulgence.

I still find a bit contradicting the selling of Lutherbonbons, orange candies in wrappers bearing Luther's portrait)… 

But things changed so much in the past years! The festivity was introduced in this country in 1991, when the state cancelled celebrations for the hugely popular Karnival, due to the First Gulf War. 

The German Association for the Toy Industry (Deutscher Verband der Spielwarenindustrie, DVSI) was forced to look for alternatives because the economic losses were huge. But which one?

Apparently the US 435th Transportation Squadron stationed at Rhine-Main Air Base had already started, since 1978, an annual Halloween festivity at the Frankenstein castle, near Darmstadt (the one who is believed to have inspired Mary Shelley's novel). 

The popularity of this event (it is now one of the biggest Halloween festivals in Europe), the need for the Germans to find another festivity to boost their economy and replace their losses together with a campaign promoted by the DVSI, all together helped spread Halloween across Germany. 

Since then, the capital Berlin organizes quite a variety of events for this increasingly popular event: you can experience ghosts and special horror effects in a former air-raid shelter of the Berliner Gruselkabinett, or visit the Berlin Dungeon, watch a selection of horror movies at the Fantasy Filmfest…or just go out in the street and have fun! That’s what we did. 

We live in the Dahlem, a western neighborhood in Berlin, which was part of the American zone during the Cold War and is still known for its American residents. Due to the strong US influence, the popularity of this event is huge here: thousands of children roam the streets, ringing the bell at their neighbors and ask for tricks or treats. Kids and parents dress up as ghosts, wizards and mummified corpses. We decided that we wouldn’t miss the opportunity. Josh invited a couple of American friends: we carved pumpkins and the guys dressed up while waiting for the sundown. 

  

We even had an unexpected visit by some kids, dressed in costumes, who knocked at our door…

Then we went strolling around the neighborhood. The streets were filled with people parading as zombies, vampires, ghosts and monsters. The homes were fully decorated with spooky spider webs, masks and skeletons while pumpkins adorned most of the windows and front porches. Some owners even offered us Glühwein (mulled wine)! Of course, some Germans, manly elderly, reportedly complain of vandalism in association with Halloween "Tricks" (eggs thrown at the windows, fireworks put through the letterboxes), but luckily we haven’t witnessed any of this. It was a spooktacular evening!!!!