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A German Father’s Day

© Sylvia Cochran

While Mother's Day in Germany got off to a rocky start, due in large part to its being embraced by Hitler and the other minions of the Third Reich, (see my article entitled A German Mother's Day), Father's Day (Vatertag) has a tradition that goes back much further and thus offers a wider scope of activites. What was originally known as the Lord's Day (Herrentag), this original father's day celebration sought to honor God the Father, on the occasion of Christ's ascension into heaven (Christi Himmelfahrt). With colorful parades featuring horse-drawn carriages (Kutschen) and traditional walks commemorating the walking of Christ's apostles, men and women would remember God, and also celebrate the return of His son.

Gradually society incorporated the honoring of earthly dads into the celebration, and all went well, until sometime in the roaring 1920's Father's Day in Germany turned into a "booze day". Gone were the pious intentions and religious overtones; replaced with (originally) good-natured carousing.

Since then, Vatertag is less of an "honoring dad" (much less God) celebration the whole family enjoys, and more of a "guys' night out." Hence it has been referred to as "men's bar tour" (Männerrunde) and "boozing day" (Sauftag). Loosely modeled after the original parades, some fathers these days band together and the noisy hordes set out on foot (zu Fuß) or on bicycles (Fahrrädern) to visit the local watering holes, or to get back to nature with a group of friends and a keg or two.

Additionally, the father's day presents of today are not your father's Father's Day presents anymore either. Granted, children still labor, cut and glue to present dad with homemade cards and little gifts, but these gifts are now taking a backseat. Don't believe me?

• Well, take a look at Biotix GmbH's offering for the holiday honoring dad: a Father's Day discount (Sonderrabatt zum Vatertag) on paternity testing! In a shocking statistic it has been estimated that one in ten German children is being raised by a man who is not her/his natural father, and who is not aware of this turn of events. The company is hoping that this gimmick in time for Father's Day will fill up the company coffers. In addition to this, however, is the sobering realization that the German family is falling apart, and Father's Day is a good as any day to admit to this process.
• Or how about Alkomat; the company advertises an alcohol measuring device (Alkoholmessgerät) that will tell any drinking dad just how much too much he had to drink!

Who knew?

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