American Women's Club of Hamburg Currents Magazine November/December 2013 | Page 10

FEATURE Halloween M arches to Hamburg by Shelly S. While visiting the United States eleven years ago, my four year old son discovered Halloween. We were invited to several children’s parties, a Halloween parade at the children’s museum and even the Denver Zoo had an elephant smashing the largest pumpkin in the world under its feet. As the fall leaves turn bright red and orange, we passed houses lined along the street, each of which were cleverly decorated with coffins, flying witches, and other frightening decorations; just enough to send shivers down your back in the dark.  My son was happy to choose and dress up in his new Cookie Monster outfit from Sesame Street while clinging to his plastic pumpkin head filled with candy. He looked like he had just won the local lottery.   The next year I had to visit the neighbors ahead of time in order to organize trick or treat in our building. Halloween in Hamburg at that time was nonexistent. In fact I made Halloween cookies for the kids at the kindergarten when they had their Laternenfest, which happens to be on November 11. The kindergarten teacher told me, “We don’t want to mix up the kids with foreign holidays!” handing back to me the box of cookies.  I gave them back to her and said, “Okay but these are just cookies!”  The Laternenfest is in celebration of St. Martin’s Day which is, in essence, celebrating the completion of the harvest.  Many countries celebrate this holiday but in different ways. In Germany there is usually a bonfire and the children parade in a procession carrying paper lanterns on a stick.  My son has never forgotten that Halloween experience and so as the years have passed, we have taken to the streets to ring people’s doorbells.  It was a cold-call sales approach and we had many doors slam in our face but we were also rewarded by those who did give Adrian something and we had nice cross-cultural conversations with many of our neighbors who later became some of our good friends. Years later we participated in the Halloween Street that Tracy Moede organized in her area since it had that small neighborhood feeling to it as opposed to that of the high rise buildings of Eimsbüttel.  This old form of going house to house was dying out in the US while here in Germany it was growing.  It has also taken on a new form; the costumes are always scary and the children are now singing songs, reciting poems to get candy in return.  I am proud to say that I have the craziest decorated house in our neighborhood and have over 40 children ringing my bell on Halloween.  It has helped me reach out and get to know my community and I am very happy that Halloween has finally hit Hamburg. David Opperman Certified Public Accountant Specializing in U.S. income tax preparation for Americans abroad I am an American CPA located in Hamburg, Germany Telephone: [phone] E Mail: [email protected] 10 American Women’s Club of Hamburg e.V.