Characters disguised as witches or skeletons, cheeky grinning pumpkins and lots of ghosts:on October 31st there will be a haunting. But where does the festival of horror actually come from? And since when is it also popular in Germany? Here you can find out everything about Halloween and what makes this night so special.
Pagan origins or Christian invention?
There's a bit of both in Halloween. The origins of Halloween can be found in pre-Christian Ireland. The Celts celebrated Samhain there - a festival that is close in meaning to today's New Year's Eve. Samhain is one of the four major Irish Celtic festivals. It was believed that people had access to beings of the mystical "Other World" during these days. Samhain is still celebrated today, for example by followers of the Wiccan movement.
According to Celtic mythology, on the evening of October 31, the dead set out to look for the living who would die the following year. To ward off evil spirits, people disguised themselves and took the form of hideous monsters. The offerings placed on the doorstep were meant to appease the spirits.
The name Halloween is a lot younger than the festival itself and came about in the course of the Christianization of Ireland. The church referred to the pagan festival on the eve of All Saints' Day as "All Hallows Eve," which over time became "Halloween." It is also interesting that October 31st is celebrated as Reformation Day in parts of Germany.
From Ireland to America and back to England
It was Irish emigrants who brought the Halloween tradition to the United States. Especially on the east coast of the USA, where most emigrants from the British Isles had settled, these traditions fell on fertile ground and were expanded over the decades. It wasn't until the 1990s that American Halloween customs found their way back to the "Old World." The spooky fun was particularly popular in England:Today, the spooky festival is celebrated extensively in all regions of England. Halloween has been very popular in Germany for a number of years now.
Scary carnival
Today, Halloween is above all a good reason to have a great party. And with the extensive range of sweets and drinks that smile at you from the store shelves, this is easy to do. The modern Halloween should neither scare away ghosts nor be contemplative, because here the focus is on fun. So you can confidently reach for brain-shaped jelly and bat chocolate. In order for the party to be a success, the right decoration is also necessary:black cloths and cobwebs look particularly authentic. Trick-or-treating is popular among children. The little ones parade around the houses in costume and threaten pranks if they are not given sweets. Adults also like to wear costumes, although the spectrum has expanded enormously in recent years. It's been a long time since people came to the Halloween party just as a witch or ghost - just think of popular series or films and the creative costume ideas that result from them.
What about the pumpkin?
The custom of carving lanterns out of pumpkins on Halloween goes back to an old Irish legend. A villain named Jack O is said to have once lived in Ireland. He outwitted the devil and caught him so he couldn't get in his way. When Jack O died, he was denied entry to heaven. But the devil didn't want him in hell either. However, this time the devil showed himself full of mercy and handed Jack O a turnip and a piece of glowing coal. With that, Jack was supposed to wander through the dark, looking for a place to stay. Although the saga mentions a turnip, it soon became a gourd thanks to the abundance of gourds available in the United States.