Martinstag - St Martin's Day
November 11th is a special day in the U.K, the U.S., Canada, and German-speaking Europe, but when the British and North Americans are observing Veterans Day/Remembrance Day, most Austrians and German Catholics are celebrating a different kind of holiday. The Feast of Saint Martin, the Germanic Martinstag celebration, is more like Halloween and Thanksgiving rolled into one. Martinstag or Martini commemorates Sankt Martin (c. 317-397), Bishop of Tours, one of the most revered European saints. The best-known legend connected with Saint Martin is the dividing of the cloak (die Mantelteilung), when Martin, then a soldier in the Roman army, tore his cloak in two to share it with a freezing beggar at Amiens.
November 11th is a special day in the U.K, the U.S., Canada, and German-speaking Europe, but when the British and North Americans are observing Veterans Day/Remembrance Day, most Austrians and German Catholics are celebrating a different kind of holiday. The Feast of Saint Martin, the Germanic Martinstag celebration, is more like Halloween and Thanksgiving rolled into one. Martinstag or Martini commemorates Sankt Martin (c. 317-397), Bishop of Tours, one of the most revered European saints. The best-known legend connected with Saint Martin is the dividing of the cloak (die Mantelteilung), when Martin, then a soldier in the Roman army, tore his cloak in two to share it with a freezing beggar at Amiens.
In the past, Martinstag was celebrated as the end of the harvest season (thanksgiving). For workers and the poor it was a time when they had a chance to enjoy some of the bounty and get a few crumbs from the nobles' table (“einige Krümel vom reichgedeckten Tisch”). Today in many parts of Europe the feast is still celebrated by processions of children with candle-lit lanterns (Martinslaternen - see the German children's song "Ich geh mit meiner Laterne") and a banquet of roast goose (die Martinsgans). In former times, Martini was the “official” start of winter and the 40-day Christmas fast.
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