Ascension Day

[Colin, Germany]

Today is Ascension Day, known in Germany as Christi Himmelfahrt and also as Vatertag. It is a public holiday in Germany and in a number of other countries. Many men go for a drinking binge, and even more people take the following day off as a day's holiday. I am staying at home today, although I did go jogging as usual this morning.

[Halifax Lass]

 

I remember being in Austria a number of years ago on Ascension Day. We were woken up by church bells ringing and guns being fired at around 7 am. Later in the day there were religious processions and parties going on well into the night. Many of the people were in their national costume. The men in leather shorts!!!!!

[The Invisible Man]

What a hideous thought.

 

Now, chicks in leather hotpants, that's a completely different kettle of fish!

[Big J R]

Strange thought that, Invis !

 

Women in leather hot-pants likened to a kettle of fish.

 

I bet Urchinette will have something to say on the subject !

 

(However - I promise not to CARP about it !!)

[Halifax Lass]

 

It's time you men learnt your plaice!! <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

[Big J R]

Get back on your PERCH, H.L !!

[Stu B]

For cods sake,will you lot just shut up!

[Mark (Flag) Braintree]

Trying to go from Memory as left Belgium in 1997, but their Ascension Day i think was something like the 6th November.

 

Correct me if I have confused this holiday for another. Enjoy your holiday Colin.

[Mr Happy]

Quote:

Fleet boy said:
For cods sake,will you lot just shut up!

Reminds me of a good gag:

there are two parrots sitting on a perch. One says to the other "Can you smell fish"!

[The Invisible Man]

So, what was the good gag? <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

[Colin, Germany]

Quote:

Mark (Flag) Braintree said:
Trying to go from Memory as left Belgium in 1997, but their Ascension Day i think was something like the 6th November.

Correct me if I have confused this holiday for another. Enjoy your holiday Colin.

Thank you for your good wishes, Mark.

Belgium has 1st November, which is All Saints' Day, and this is also celebrated in a number of German Länder in the South. It also has 11th November, which is Armistice Day, the anniversary of the Armistice which was signed in the Forest of Compiegne by the Allies and the Germans in 1918, ending World War I, after four years of conflict.

Ascension Day is a public holiday in Belgium as it is in Germany.

So you may have got mixed up between all the public holidays, or there might have been some local celebration.

[Mark (Flag) Braintree]

I remember having a holiday in November, children also celebrating Saint Nicholas day in November, (No Holiday was given for this day) this might just be a Belgium thing, do Germany do this too? The children receive their presents in November instead of over Christmas.

 

I got alot more holidays over in Belgium, about 12, uk gets about 7 ish. The only one which I noticed not getting was 26th December, went back to work after 1 day off for Christmas.

 

 

[Colin, Germany]

Saint Nicholas Day is 6th December. Nowadays, children in Germany receive presents on 6th December and 24th December! It is not a public holiday in Germany, either. I know that the same is true in the Netherlands, but I don't know how widely this tradition is kept.

 

Remember when comparing public holidays from one country to another that UK moves holidays which happen to fall at the weekend to the next working day. This is not done in Germany, so that in the average year North Germany (Hamburg, Bremen, Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein) only get less than one public holiday a year more than UK. This year, for instance, 1st May, 3rd October, 25th December and 26th December are all at the weekend, and people in Germany do not get another day instead.

 

Germany has 26th December as a public holiday. Scotland, as far as I know, does not.