Birthday Traditions Around the World: Germany

Children's birthday party traditions actually originated in Germany. These parties were called Kinderfestes, kinder meaning child and feste meaning festival or party. Kinderfestes originated back when families were much larger, with most families having between five and eight children and the villages they lived in were comprised of one to two hundred people, so there was always a birthday to celebrate and a party to be had.

In Germany, a child is never given homework or chores to do on their birthday. This tradition has since spread to many different countries throughout the world.

On a child's birthday, the house is decorated and a special wooden birthday wreath is placed on the dining table or in the kitchen. This wreath is comprised of small holes for candles and a larger candleholder is in the center of the wreath for the life candle. The life candle is a beautifully decorated, taller, larger candle and is lit each year of a child's birthday until the child reaches the age of twelve.

When it is someone's birthday, a member of their family will get up very early in the morning and light the candles on the birthday cake. There is one candle for every year old the person is, plus one extra candle for good luck. The candles on the cake are left burning all day. After dinner that night, the birthday person blows the candles out and then it is time for the presents to be opened and for the party to start.

If a man reaches the age of 30 and still does not have a girlfriend, the man's friends will throw trash on the stairs of the city hall and the man will have to sweep the stairs. This lets every woman know that the man has turned 30 and still isn't taken.

One type of birthday cake that used to be used in Germany was bread that was made in the shape of the baby Jesus' swaddling clothes. Geburtstagorten is another type of birthday cake that has been used for birthdays in Germany. It is a layered cake that tastes much sweeter than the bread type cake. Hundreds of years ago, it was customary in Germany to add small surprises to the birthday cake. When someone received a slice of cake, his or her surprise was used to predict the future. Such as, coins meant great wealth and a thimble meant you'd never marry. Today, many kids receive a cake called Gugelhupf covered in chocolate icing or smarties.

Most of these traditions still carry on throughout Germany today and some have even made their way to other countries around the world.