Vatertag, Herrentag, Männertag, Christi Himmelfahrt: Germany's many names for Ascension Day
Few holidays go by as many different names as Ascension Day in Germany.
Interestingly, an analysis of these four different names, and why and when they were introduced, shows that Germany is spiritual, hearty, caring, and complex.
Here's the history of the many German names for the public holiday in brief:
(As an aside, it's worth noting that there's no settled explanation in Germany for why and how three quite distinct traditions ended up merging into one, or on the exact order of events which led to this outcome).
Christi Himmelfahrt
(Christ's Ascension)
Christi Himmelfahrt
is basically the German translation of Ascension Day -- it literally means Christ's Ascension (or even more literally 'Christ goes to sky').
A fun word to say (particularly for English-speaking children) and an important religious celebration,
Christi Himmelfahrt
is always on a Thursday because it always takes place exactly 40 days after Easter Sunday.
According to the Gospel, after he came back to life, Jesus Christ spent 40 days visiting his disciples and sharing the news of his miraculous resurrection, and then at the end of this period, he ascended bodily into heaven – along with his mother, Mary, he was one of only two to ever accomplish this feat.
Christi Himmelfahrt
has been a holiday in Germany since the Middle Ages, when people went into the fields to pray for a good harvest.
Interestingly, it has also been associated with excessive alcohol consumption for very nearly as long, because after praying, the faithful tended to celebrate with a serious feast, and for a good feast there should also be good drink.
Advertisement
In some Catholic regions, processions into the fields continue to take place. While the holiday retains its religious character in much of western and southern Germany, the situation is rather different in northern and eastern Germany.
Herrentag
(Gentlemen's Day)
At some point during the 18
th
century, these processions began evolving -- or perhaps reverting to earlier, more pagan traditions.
In a celebration of fertility and masculinity, men would arrive in the village square in decorated wagons and whoever had fathered the most children would be presented with a ham (or an similar prize).
The tradition evolved again at the end of the nineteenth century, when working men from Berlin started getting together for a daytrip into the countryside on Ascension Day, accompanied by a cart filled to bursting with food and beer. This development seems to have been prompted by the introduction of Mother's Day in Germany, inspiring men to cast about for a day of their own.
People meet on Father's Day in Cottbus. Outside the churches, the day of Ascension is nicknamed 'Father's Day' in Germany. Its notorious for men's parties and drinking bouts, but is increasingly also a family day. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Frank Hammerschmidt
Vatertag
(Father's Day)
At some point, it seems that people started wondering about the wisdom of encouraging male-only beer and testosterone-fuelled excursions into the countryside.
READ ALSO:
Why Germans get wholly wasted on Ascension Day
In 1910, American Sonora Louisa Dodd established Father's Day in honour of her father, a war veteran who raised her and her five siblings on his own after his wife's death. The idea arrived in Europe in the 1920s and efforts were made to rebrand
Herrentag
as
Vatertag
(with a view to replacing drunken male revelry in the woods with wholesome quality time at home).
Advertisement
German men have been impressively stubborn in their allegiance to the traditions of
Herrentag
, however, with many still clinging to their wagons of beer in preference to spending quality time with their children.
Männertag
(Men's Day)
The terms
Herrentag
and
Männertag
are generally used interchangeably (
Herrentag
is more common in eastern Germany). Optimistically, they also seem to gesture at a general trend towards greater inclusivity across the centuries.
Christi Himmelfahrt
was a holiday for nearly everyone when it was first introduced. Back then nearly everyone in Germany was a Catholic. But still, it was notably a holiday designed to celebrate just one man.
Herrentag
let more people in on the action, but only men of a certain class.
Herr
literally means 'sir' or 'lord'.
Vatertag
is arguably a step more inclusive, because there are no class barriers to becoming a father.
Now, under the auspices of
Männertag
, participants no longer need to be divine, or a gentleman, or a father. They just need to be men who enjoy time with their friends, large quantities of beer, and elaborately decorated handcarts!
Even further, increasingly some German families choose to observe the holiday altogether, finally casting out the idea that the day should belong only to the men.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Local Germany
a day ago
- Local Germany
German word of the day: Freimütig
Why do I need to know freimütig ? Arguably, there isn't another word in German with the same ability to go straight to the heart of why German speakers and English speakers occasionally rub each other up the wrong way. So this is a good term to understand when you're discussing cultural differences, or even while navigating them yourself. What does it mean? The literal translation for freimütig – pronounced like this – is frank, candid, or unreserved. The word fr eimütig (from der Freimut ) is comprised of the German words for 'free' and 'courageous'. The Duden German language dictionary defines it as follows: Adjective: expressing one's opinion without fear or false consideration; open . Superficially, the meaning of freimütig and 'frank' may be identical, but the respective images they conjure could hardly be more different – and these differences are crucial to understanding why conversations between German speakers and English speakers can end with both participants lost in a maze of baffled frustration. In Germany, freimütig conjures an image of selfless, disinterested heroism. 'Frank', on the other hand, carries connotations of overstepping in English. The word is really only used when a person wants to invite someone to 'be frank' – with the implication that this is something which should never be attempted without prior encouragement. Anyone who has spent time in both Germany and Britain will know that most Germans are f reimütig as a matter of course, whereas most Brits are only ever reluctantly and cautiously frank. Which is why a conversation with a German can feel like being kicked in the balls to someone from Britain. And why a conversation with a Brit can feel like being stroked to death with an overpriced and soft toy to someone from Germany. It's also why I've been told – frankly und mit Freimut – that I'm a terrible person for failing to attend a party I said I would attend. Whereas, for my part, I was left confused and mortified, because I was certain I had declined the invitation. After all, any self-respecting Englishman would have understood the phrase: 'I hope to be there, but I'm not 100% sure I'll make it,' as a clear and unequivocal 'No!' Advertisement Interestingly, the English word 'frank' actually derives from the name of the Germanic tribe, the Franks, who lived around the lower Rhine from the 3rd century CE and later conquered much of what is now France and western Germany. While the origin of the tribal name is debated, one theory suggests it came from frankon , the Germanic name for their weapon of choice, a javelin or lance – which seems perfectly on point. Use it like this: Sie hat sich sehr freimütig geäußert. She expressed herself very frankly. Er antwortete freimütig auf meine Fragen, ohne etwas zu verheimlichen. He answered my questions frankly, without hiding anything. Advertisement Die freimütige Diskussion über die politischen Probleme führte zu einem besseren Verständnis. The frank discussion about the political problems led to a better understanding. Warum reden die Engländer immer um den heißen Brei herum? Warum können sie nicht freimütiger sein? Why do the English always beat around the bush? Why can't they be franker?
DW
2 days ago
- DW
Germany: Cologne evacuation lifted after WWII bombs defused
Large areas of the city center of Cologne were closed off on Wednesday as experts defused three bombs left over from World War II, which ended 80 years ago. The evacuation operation in Cologne, which has seen plenty of them over the years, was one of the largest to ever be carried out in the city since World War II, with some 20,000 people ordered to leave the affected area. What do we know about the evacuation? The process of defusing the bombs had to be delayed at one point because of a resident refusing to evacuate, according to a city spokesperson. An individual living in the old town resisted orders to leave their apartment, with public order officials, police, and the fire department enforcing removal measures. Kai Kulschewski, head of explosive ordnance disposal in the nearby city of Düsseldorf, who is coordinating the disposal, had earlier said everything was going to plan. He had added that the defusing operation had yet to begin as of the afternoon because not everyone had been evacuated yet. "We can only start when the last person is out," he said. Hotels, care homes evacuated The evacuated area included the entire old part of the city, 58 hotels, three Rhine bridges, the town hall, the railway station in the district of Deutz, which lies across the Rhine from the city center, museums, a hospital and two care homes. The city's major landmark, Cologne Cathedral, was, however, situated just outside the danger area. Germany's national rail operator, Deutsche Bahn, had warned that many trains will be diverted or even canceled, and road traffic has was severely disrupted. The weapons — two 2000-pound (900-kilogram) bombs and one 1000-pound bomb, all manufactured in the US — were discovered in Deutz on Monday. In a statement on its website, the City of Cologne said, "The evacuation is the largest such measure since the end of World War II. Everyone involved hopes that the defusal can be completed in the course of Wednesday." Bomb defusals are nothing new in Cologne, as it was one of the major bombing targets for Allied forces during the Second World War. Among other attacks, the British Royal Air Force targeted Cologne with its first "thousand-bomber raid" on a German city overnight to May 31, 1942, dropping 1,455 tons of bombs and destroying or damaging thousands of buildings.
DW
2 days ago
- DW
The world is full of unexploded bombs – DW – 06/04/2025
Three bombs dating back to World War II were defused in Cologne this week. Evacuations to allow ordnance disposal experts to defuse bombs are a frequent occurrence in Germany, as well as all over the world. Fifteen couples had been looking forward to the special moment when they would say "I do" for weeks. But their weddings at Cologne's historic town hall on June 4 were cancelled, since the building was right in the middle of an evacuation zone. But they were still able to get married, in a district town hall instead. Three bombs left over from World War II were responsible for the massive evacuation, the biggest since 1945. They were found during preparations for construction work on the city's Deutz Bridge. The US-made bombs — one 100-pound (45-kilogram) and two 200-pound bombs — both had impact fuses and could not be moved for safety reasons. They had to be defused on site, and thus it was necessary to evacuate several districts of the city in North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany. Thousands evacuated Around 20,500 people had to leave their homes on Wednesday. Hospitals and retirement homes were evacuated, with people being moved to other facilities. Almost 60 hotels shut down, with guests being accommodated elsewhere. Bomb disposal is a mammoth logistical task, but Germany is very familiar with it. More than 1,600 bombs were defused last year in North Rhine-Westphalia alone. As construction work increases in the city, for example to put in new fiber optic cables, renovate bridges or improve the road network, excavations are bringing to light unexploded aerial ordnance that dates back to the 1930s and '40s. Major problem in Hamburg, Verdun, Poland Metropolitan regions such as Hamburg and Berlin were some of the main targets of Allied bombing during World War II. These places also saw civilian infrastructure targeted and so are particularly affected. In addition to the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Brandenburg is heavily contaminated. In 2024, explosive ordnance clearers found 90 mines, 48,000 grenades, 500 firebombs and 450 bombs weighing more than 11 pounds, as well as around 330,000 shells. The problem is also omnipresent in many neighboring countries. Unexploded ordnance from the two world wars is often found in France and Belgium, and particularly from World War I in the regions of Verdun and the Somme. Three years ago, the drought in Italy's Po Valley revealed unexploded bombs. In the UK in 2021, a German 2,200-pound aerial bomb was detonated in a controlled explosion in the southwestern city of Exeter and more than 250 buildings were damaged. The situation in Poland and the Czech Republic, where there are tons of unexploded ordnance from the two world wars in the ground, is also critical. In 2020, a 5-ton British-made Tallboy bomb was defused in the northwestern Polish town of Swinoujscie. Recently, there have even been fatal accidents in the Czech Republic. And in the Balkans, lives are in danger from unexploded ordnance that dates back to the wars of the 1990s and evacuations are a frequent occurrence. Deadly hazards in Vietnam, Laos, Gaza On the world's other continents, the situation is also critical. Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, people continue to be killed by US-made cluster bombs that were used in the 1960s and '70s. According to the UN, 80 million unexploded ordnances remain in the ground in Laos, from 500,000 US attacks conducted covertly between 1964 and 1973. There are also tons of unexploded ordnance in Syria and Iraq, where masses of people are at risk of being killed or wounded. In neither country have ordnance disposal structures been developed sufficiently. The UN says that unexploded ordnance in the war-torn Palestinian territory of Gaza has already left behind deadly hazards, even as Israel continues to bomb the strip. Cluster bombs remain a deadly hazard in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia Image: Sebastian Bozada/dpa/picture alliance A quarter of Ukraine contaminated The situation in Ukraine is dramatic. Since Russia's full-scale invasion of 2022, about a quarter of the country is thought to be contaminated with mines, cluster bombs and other explosive devices. Over half a million explosive devices have already been defused, but millions more remain. The humanitarian and economic consequences are enormous: hundreds of civilians have died, large areas of agricultural land are unusable, and crop failures are exacerbating the economic crisis. When the war ends, demining will be one of the tasks of the coming years. The munition searchers combing North Sea sands for WWII duds , To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video German federal states bear brunt of costs In Germany, where most of the bombs that are defused are from World War II and were made by the Allies, it is the federal states that bear the majority of the costs of their disposal. It is the German state that is responsible for German-made bombs going back to the era of the German Reich (1871 – 1945). Attempts to make it responsible for all the unexploded bombs in Germany have so far been unsuccessful. Last year, explosive ordnance disposal cost North Rhine-Westphalia €20 million ($23 million). While the costs rise, the technology used for bomb disposal has evolved. While in the 1990s, clearers still used their own hands, hammers, chisels and water pump pliers, today abrasive waterjet cutting is used to neutralize explosive devices. A waterjet cutter that is operated at a safe distance can cut through the explosive device and remove its fuse. Experts believe that there are tens of thousands of unexploded explosive devices, weighing up to 100,000 tons, in Germany alone. Cologne residents were forced to leave their homes in the biggest evacuation of the city since 1945 Image: Björn Kietzmann/DW Even though modern probing and detection techniques and digitized aerial photographs can help to minimize the risk, every bomb disposal operation is a race against time. The older a bomb is, the greater the risk of corrosion and explosion. It is also more difficult to defuse an older bomb because of the chemical changes that occur over time inside the bomb itself, between the casing and the fuse. The defusing of the three bombs in Cologne is not just an operation that has disrupted weddings and people's daily routines but it bears witness once again to the destruction of war, whether in Germany or France, Vietnam or Laos, Syria, Ukraine or Gaza. This article was translated from German.
