Some Wiki-information: Polterabend is a German wedding custom in which on the night before the wedding the guests break porcelain to bring luck to the couple's marriage. The belief in the effectiveness of this custom is expressed by the old adage: "Shards bring luck".
We were invited to such an event due to the upcoming wedding of Roland's colleague. Her parents are local farmers, and therefore the whole thing took place on a typical Black Forest farm in the village of Oberentersbach. Guests came from places as far as Frankfurt staying at local hotels, so Roland provided Taxi service for the night, and therefore skipped alcohol for once...
A typical Polterabend starts with "Poltern" (rumble might be a fitting translation) where the guests bring old porcelain and throw it in front of the house. The wedding couple's job is to sweep it all up and discard it, while more arriving guest throw even more of it. This whole thing lasts an hour and is indeed strenuous work. At some point some of the guests usually start throwing wash tables and toilets, and indeed this happened here as well.
A nice addition to the usual setup was the brass band (the bride plays saxophone in the local band) that played some traditional tunes for cheering on the busy couple.
The picture above shows a typical Black Forest farm with the overhanging roof. These farm buildings are usually built against a hill, and therefore provide a rear access to a barn that is on top of the living area.
A picture of the barn that was prepared for this event over almost six months! It was the perfect location for a feast, and of course smoking was strictly prohibited!
Part of the buffet, partially provided by the guests. Sonja had prepared even two salads (the first and the third from left on the right table), and they were so good that they were gone within minutes!
Sonja talking to Roland's boss
Alcohol-free Weizen-Beer!
The band returned one more time for an in-house session.
A sophisticated drum set...
Instruments all over the place!
It was a wonderful (albeit at 10C very cold) summer night! We left around 1 AM (again: taxi service duties), though some of the other guests stayed until 7 AM in the morning. Needless to say that we needed some couch time the following day!
Fun!! What an interesting tradition.
ReplyDeleteAnd the food looks great too.
It was indeed great! And even a lot of vegan salads for Sonja, too!
DeleteThat's where the Greek's get it from then.....
ReplyDeleteI did not know that the Greeks have this tradition as well. So there ARE things that unite Greece and Germany! :-)
DeleteGreat tradition! Seems like a lot of fun, for the guests anyways....
ReplyDeleteIt was! If you can bear German "Schlager"-Musik which is sort of a light Easy Listening Version of Easy Listening Music...
DeleteWhat a tradition…
ReplyDeleteThat looks like a wonderful location for an event!
The location was fantastic, and there were many requests for renting the place for future events by lots of the guests! But I fear that within a few weeks the barn will be full of farming equipment again. In the end this is still an active farm!
Deletethat looks so awesome, and love the Dirndls (besides all the food). You guys have a quite a good time in Germany :-). Roland's boss looks very young. Hopefully we'll see some of the wedding pictures too?
ReplyDeleteActually I am starting to like Dirndls, too. Does this mean that I am getting old? Or is it just related to the pretty young girls that are wearing the Dirndls? No idea, but is is surprising that in this area people really wear this kind of clothing, at least when there is a holiday or another kind of event.
DeleteWhat a gorgeous barn.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely gorgeous! Plus we saw the place a few months before (lots and lots of stuff in it) and were really amazed by the job they had done on it!
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