CELEBRATIONS

There are many similarities between the holidays in Germany and in the States. Most holidays have a religious (Christian) origin, Easter and Christmas being at the top of the list. Easter has a higher importance in Germany than in the US. Good Friday and the Monday after Easter-Sunday are national holidays. Since the Children also get about two weeks vacation from school, this time is a very popular travel time.

Most of the holidays are celebrated with the family with home-cooked feasts and the ubiquitous "Kaffee und Kuchen".

Birthdays are celebrated very similarly to the ones here, although Germans don't know Party favors for kids and don't write thank-you letters to all the guests after the festivity.

There are no baby showers or wedding showers, although the expectant mothers and brides get the same kind and amount of gifts, just not in such an organized fashion.

Weddings are generally less formal than here in the States. The preparation time is much shorter - an engagement last for an average of three to six months, and the decorum is not quiet so strictly "regulated". It is much more popular for German couples to have a small wedding with 20 to 50 people, or one without a church celebration, conducted by the German equivalent of the Justice of the Peace -the "Standesamt"- than it is here.