Polterabend

Wednesday, our friend Katja and her husband Andreas celebrated their wedding with a German tradition, Polterabend (literally - rumble evening). This tradition (first mentioned in 1517 in central Germany) usually occurs prior to the wedding, but in this case it was several months afterward. The tradition includes the guests bringing old porcelain, pottery, dishes and sometimes toilets to smash in celebration of the wedding. The clean-up at the end of the evening represents the first collaboration of effort between the new husband and wife. The party at the Platz house had the dish-smashing area outside, but we understood that some people have the festivities inside! We had a great time meeting new people, listening to Katja and her band, Selkie and eating bratwurst and other traditional German food. Here is a list of several German wedding traditions and info about wedding rings. The honeymoon, is rarely referred to as "Honigmond" but rather as "Flitterwochen" with a "Hochzeitsreise" (literally - high time travel). See the pictures here.