Martin, Martin...wait... Who the heck is Martin?

For weeks I have listened to Fanny and Christoph sing songs that they have learned in Kindergarten. The main song goes something like "Martin, Martin hat einen grossen Mantel an....." I could never for the life of me figure out why they were singing about a man named Martin who has a big coat. But eventually I figured it out when I had to take the kids to a 'Martin's Fest' hosted by Fanny's and Christoph's kindergarten. (kindergarten here is more like pre-school or daycare) The fest consisted of all the kindergarten kids walking around a huge catholic church with little homemade lanterns and singing songs. After which they went to the front of the church and sang more songs about lanterns and Martin and presented a little production about the holy Saint Martin. And then at the all the parents (or au pairs) would go stand behind their kids, and the kids would take a piece of bread and 'ceremoniously' rip it half and share it with the parent (or au pair). :)

So naturally I was curious about this Holy Martin guy, therefore, I had to look it up.

Martin apparently started out as a Roman soldier. When he was an adult he was baptized a catholic and became a monk. He supposedly led a really simple life and was always kind and generous to everyone he met. But the story that made him famous is the story that he once ripped his large coat in half and gave half of it to a beggar during a really bad snowstorm to keep him from dying in the cold. Later that night Martin had a dream that Christ was wearing the half of the coat that he gave away. He heard Christ say to the angels, "here is Martin, the Roman soldier who is not baptized: he has clothed me."

So now St. Martin has an entire day dedicated to him and it is celebrated in many different ways throughout Europe. In Belgium, Germany, Netherland and here in Austria the day is celebrated on the evening of November 11. Children walk through the streets (or in our case huge catholic churches due to the rain) carrying lanterns and singing songs about lanterns and Martin. I still have no idea what the lanterns are supposed to mean, but the sharing of the bread is supposed to symbolize when Martin shared his coat.

Martins fest songs:

Ich gehe mit meiner Laterne

Ich gehe mit meiner Laterne

und meiner Laterne mit mir

Dort oben leuchten die Sterne

Mein Licht is aus,

wir gehen nach Haus

ra-bimmel, ra-bammel, ra-bumm

Martin's Lied

Martin, Martin hat einen grossen Mantel an

...oh dang it...now I can't remember the rest... :)

Laterne Laterne

Laterne, laterne

Sonne, Mond, und Sterne

Brenne auf, mein Licht

Brenne auf, mein Licht

Aber nur meine liebe Laterne nicht