New Years Eve in Berlin (aka Sylvester)

Slowly but surely, almost every stereotype we have of German people is proving itself to be an oversimplification or completely incorrect. Here are two to consider: German people are averse to risk. German people are reserved and hesitant to express emotion. More on this in a bit...

New Year’s Eve in Germany is called “Sylvester”. It is named after Saint Sylvester, a catholic pope who reputedly cured emperor Constantine I of leprosy. Sylvester died on December 31 in the year 335 AD and the day was made his feast day. For whatever reason, Germans use this as a great reason to party hardy.

We were invited to the home of new friends, Olaf and Katrine, to celebrate Sylvester. They live in the northern part of Berlin in a dense neighborhood of small single-family homes and duplexes. It is the kind of place where kids are in heaven, with tons of friends nearby to play with and networks of cul de sacs and quiet streets to explore. Olaf and Katrine have half of a very new and comfortable duplex. The new brick street is a bundle of houses like theirs, and on Sylvester, it felt like every house was filled with guests and celebration.

Our dinner was a delicious experience. Our three families of four (old friends were visiting Olaf and Katrine from Aachen) were treated to Raclette. Raclette is a Swiss dining experience. It originated as a simple Swiss farmer’s meal. They would take potatoes and cheese, throw them in a frying pan and melt the concoction over the coals in the fireplace. Now, it’s kind of like fondue with a suped up George Forman grill, and the meat loving Germans have added considerably to what you cook and how you cook it. Our menu included rindfleisch (ground beef), shrimp, salmon and bacon. Balancing out the meal where potatoes, pickles, apple and a selection of sliced cheese. Each of us had a little frying pan to fill with goodies and place in the shared broiling grills. The results were an individualized mix of yummy cheese covered dishes. We could then garnish them with tasty sauces, mustard or chutney.

After dinner, we all lounged in the living room. Katrine broke out her guitar and we sang songs for a while. Then we were treated to a very funny and surprising German Sylvester tradition: “Dinner for One”. “Dinner for One” is a one act play, filmed for television. It is about an elderly woman celebrating her birthday. It is kind of a combination of Monty Python and Benny Hill and it is VERY british. The elderly English woman is accompanied by only her butler, who must assume the roll of her long dead dinner companions. As funny and entertaining as the show is, the most humorous part of it for us was that it is completely incongruous with Germany and New Years. How an oddball English language one act comedy became a central part of the German Sylvester tradition is beyond imagination, yet it is.

OK, now about those German stereotypes… the next event in our evening was another surprise, FIREWORKS! The fireworks in Germany during Sylvester make the fourth of July at home look tame. It has been imbedded in my law abiding puritanical subconscious that fireworks are dangerous, illegal devices to be handled with utmost caution and care. When we do watch fireworks at home, it is always from a safe distance and they are set off over the beach and, if at all possible, water. The lighting bit is always done by adults and never, ever near houses! Well, in Berlin, those rules of behavior do not apply. The entire city was erupting in fireworks. They were coming from every driveway, every patio, every balcony and every street. And not just wimpy, spouty fireworks like in Connecticut. We are talking rockets here! Kids, adults, pyros of all ages, were going wild in a melee of explosions, dazzling light and sulfur smoke. So much for risk averse!

During this display of exuberance, as we cautiously tried to avoid being blown up by the bundles of firecrackers exploding all around us, Olaf and Katrine’s neighbors circulated through the crowd exchanging the greeting “Frohes Neues Jahr!” and heart felt hugs and kisses. The sparkling warmth of their smiles and twinkle in their eyes would have made an Irishman proud. So much for cool reservation and lack of emotion. It warmed my soul to experience their kindness.

Around one o’clock we bid Olaf and Katrine goodbye and rolled the kids into the car for the drive south through Wedding and home to Zehlendorf. It felt a bit like driving through Beruit. Bottle rockets careened over the car as the denizens of the neighborhoods staged what looked like mock turf battles. At times the smoke was so thick we practically needed fog lights. I was happy to be in a diesel car as I hear they are less apt to explode than gasoline engine cars. :-)

Within a day or so, the industrious street crews had finished cleaning up the aftermath. All the evidence of the events were neatly swept up and the streets returned to their normal tidy appearance. I hope that the fond memories of fun and friendship will not fade as fast as the smell of the sulfur. We will definitely have to transplant some of Sylvester’s traditions when we return so we can share them with friends and family at home.