Ascension Day, known in Germany as Himmelfahrt or Männer Tag

Bank holidays in Germany, like Sundays are, well strange. In my part of Germany at least anyway. They are, in some ways a return to a time that has been lost in Britain. For starters on bank holidays and Sundays in Germany, nothing is open, and I mean, nothing. No supermarkets, no shopping centres no clothes shops, nothing. Cafes, museums and restaurants are open aplenty, and you can still get stuff from a petrol station if you're really desperate. But those things aside, things are pretty dead on Sundays and bank holidays here. There has recently been a change in the law to allow shops and such things to open on Sundays, similar to the Sunday trading legislation that was passed in Britain about 10 to 15 years ago. But as of yet, in Dresden at any rate, there has been little change, the shops are still shut.

Now after living in a city in Britain for so long(well 2 years), I'd kind of gotten used to things being open on a Sunday. It was convenient, meant you could be disorganised. If I am honest it did grate when I first arrived in Germany, but now I have gotten used to it, it isn't so bad. In an age when we're consuming more and more, and planet has less and less, maybe having one day a week when aren't after the latest DVD, computer game, CD, size 34-D bra or blow up sex doll isn't such a bad idea. Granted people have freedom etc, and there's an argument for having food shops more open than they are in Germany, but there is also the argument that, there things in life other than buy buy buy! My only objection to it being Sunday, is that that is based on Christian reasoning, and is the church's decision, not the people's. The change in the law here in Germany (and 10 years ago in Britain) pushed through amidst howls of protests from the churches.

So what do Germans do on Sundays, if they are not shopping or working? Well some will go to church, but as in any western country church attendance is declining. What does seem to be the done thing here in Germany is to go out walking on Sundays. The amount of times I have left my house on a Sunday, or even just looked out of my window, and seen groups of middle aged people with the full walking gear going past. When I say full walking gear, I mean the anoraks, the boots, and the posh walking sticks, even if it is for an afternoon stroll.

Bank holidays are much the same, and yesterday was no exception. I left the house (for reasons see previous blog entry) and hadn't gone for more than a minuter before I saw my first group of walkers. I walked a bit further, and came across a slightly different prospect, a group of young men, drinking just on the path, with a small pull-trolley full of beer. For this my friends, was Ascension Day, German translation Himmelfahrt, or the colloqiual name, Männer Tag. It is a perfect example of a religious holiday being given a new meaning by the people. Because dear readers, on Männer Tag (literally translated Men day) men go off into the woods with their mates and a trolley full of beer, and get drunk, returning home in the early evening. It is technically a walk, stopping every so often to drink, but there is no doubt that the drinking is more important than the drinking, the route seemingly irrelevant.

As I travelled on the bus, another group of men got on already quite drunk (and bearing in mind this was not even 12pm yet!) . They weren't violent or dangerous, just a little boisterous. They started singing, "Eins hoch auf unserer Busfahrer Busfahrer Busfahrer, eins hoch auf unserer Busfahrer Busfahrer Busfahrer, among other things. Literal translation, "Raise your glasses to the bus driver, bus driver, bus driver, raise your glasses to the bus driver, bus driver bus driver." To the tune of "Hail to the bus driver!" About to leave town on the return journey, I saw another group of men with a trolley, it had a posh mosquito net thing over it no less, end of the day saying goodbye to each other. Ah German bank holidays and Sundays, you've gotta love em!