6 Things NOT Actually German That Americans THINK ARE German...
Вставка
- Опубліковано 9 лип 2024
- There are many things in the US that Americans think are German or think are authentic German traditions, but after moving to Germany, we found to not be true at all or not completely true... 😊Today we show you 6 of these things and some of their true origins! 😃
1:39 - Video Theme
1:47 - Wiener Schnitzel
3:28 - Beer Vessels
6:18 - Das Boot
8:49 - German Chocolate Cake
10:55 - Christmas Pickle
13:48 - Belsnickel
18:31 - Bloopers
Filmed: Kaiserslautern / Ramstein / Spreewald, Germany - June 2020
_____________________________________________________
PATREON: / passporttwo
INSTAGRAM: @passport_two
/ passport_two
TWITTTER: @PassportTwo
/ passporttwo
_____________________________________________________
💻 Get 3 FREE MONTHS, unlock every countries' Netflix and protect your private information online with ExpressVPN here: www.expressvpn.com/passporttwo
🛏 Get $40+ off of your first AirBnB by using the following link!!
www.airbnb.com/c/aubreya242?c...
🎵Music: from epidemicsound.com
Check them out here: bit.ly/2Q51IkH
🎒Our Gear (Affiliate Links):
Camera: amzn.to/3fwXUUD
Zoom Lens: amzn.to/3777yJM
Wide Angle Lens: amzn.to/35ZgT7l
Travel Mic: amzn.to/2HyMLGu
Studio Lights: amzn.to/3fsKE3g
Tripodn: amzn.to/3nPcv0G
Drone: amzn.to/33ex8eZ
GoPro: amzn.to/35X1152
GoPro Accessories: amzn.to/2JazJiA
Camera Backpack: amzn.to/3pVRkvP
Camera Battery Charger: amzn.to/2JagaHd
External Hard Drive: amzn.to/33bUpxT
Hard Drive Backup: amzn.to/3fsqzu4
USB Adapter: amzn.to/35ZgWzR
Laptop for Editing: amzn.to/37iCabF
_____________________________________________________
❤️Aubrey was a Speech-Language Pathologist, Donnie was a graphic designer, but we both had a dream to travel the world and experience cultures. After three years of being married and dreaming about if something like this great adventure would be possible, we decided to quit the rat race and take on the world. We sold everything we had, quit our jobs, and took off! After 9 months of aimless and nonstop travel, we now get to fulfill our dreams of living abroad as expats as we move to Germany!
Update: We have been made well aware that we in fact show a “Weizenbier glass” and not a “Pils Glass.” Neither of us have much beer knowledge so relied on the trusty internet to teach us what was what and apparently this time it let us down...😔😉 But thankfully you all didn’t and taught us what both actually are! Thanks! 😃
Will there be a video from your Dresden trip soon?
And I just wondered what you would think is a Pilsner glass. BTW, there is a special glass for Pilsner called »Tulpe«, means tulip, because is has the shape of a tulip.
In Austria we just call it "Krug" although if it is made out of stone then it´s a "Steinkrug" if it´s made out of tin then it´s a "Zinnkrug" mainly artificial made as objects to collect and barly used. The size is here by the way for 0,5 liters. The reason why is that in Austria for the most part the beer is slightly stronger than in Germany. In Germany the avarage is from 4,0% till 5,2% alcohol content (= Pils = most drunken beer in Germany) while in Austria the avarage is 5% till 5,5% acohol content (= Märzen/Lager = most drunken beers in Austria) I say "avarage" of course depending of the most drunken beers ...there are also some lighter beers as like as stronger beers as well depending on the brewing procedure respectively on the beer type and I guess in Germany too of course.
You showed in your vlog a "Gösser" ceramic jug which is an Austrian beer for instance the type is a Märzen-beer brewed in Göss/Styria with 5,2%.
By the way when you order beer in Austria there are just 3 sizes
0,5 liter called "Krügerl" literaly "little jug"
0,3 liter called "Seidel"..."Seidel" is an old medi eval measurement for 0,3 liter
and round about half of an Seidel = 0,15 - 0,17liter called "Pfiff" literaly "whistle/toot"
We also have "Bier-Stiefel" as well but that is just a party gag exclusively for drinking games usually beer- liquor mixtures and the sizes here in Austria are till 5 liters. By the way we in Austria have historical evidence from the celtic times for "Stiefel drinking"..not as a specific story but as actual relicts found in local celtic graves...
By the way the filmposter you showed was not from "Das Boot Original" from 1981 a very thrilling movie and highly appreciated to watch but from the Remake 2019 -? which actually has 2 seasons for now (different boat/different Protagonists) also worth to watch. By the way directed by the Austrian Andreas Prohaska who also made a Western style revenge movie but playing in the Tyrolian Alps in an tyrolean village called "Das finstere Tal/the dark valley" ua-cam.com/video/Q-8_FUnX0V0/v-deo.html which made it to the foreign Oscars but didn´t win unfortunately but also worth to watch as well..some references called it the austrian answer to Clint Eastwood´s "Unforgiven"....although there is an english dubbed version I truely recommend the subtitled version..because the english dubbing is not as good not to say horrible.
In fact the "Weizenbier" glass (or "Weißbier" in Bavaria) holds half a liter while the "Pils Tulpe" is usually for 0.3 liters.
back when the wienershcnizel was "invented" there wasent a germany !!! there where a lot of german states of witch austria was one. So yes a Wiener schnizel is german.
I've never heard of Belschnickel? But in my part of Germany (Baden Württemberg), Saint Nikolaus' mean sidekick is called Knecht Ruprecht
Same
Same for Rheinhessen.
Here in Bavaria it can be Knecht Ruprecht or Krampus. But I have never heard of Belsnickel im my life!!!!!!!
Same in Nordrhein-Westfalen.
Knecht Ruprecht had a heavy chain making terible noise and a root to punish bad kids, mainly the boys. Saint Nikolaus had a nice bell and a bag with gifts for the nice ones. It was a tradition in our marching bands clup to have them at the annual chrismas meeting. Knecht Ruprecht became rare as modern germans believe fear should not be used for education.
It seems that the words Belshnickel and Belzenickel are composed of two components: Belz=high german Pelz (english fur) and Nickel, a short form of Nikolaus. In some german regions Pelznickel used to be the hairy or furry companion of Nikolaus, whose job it was on December 6 to frighten and sometimes punish unruly children. In Silesia he is called Pelzmärtel, in Bavaria and Austria Krampus and in other areas Knecht Ruprecht.
In the east of germany its just Nikolaus who does the punishment or giving gifts based on if you cleaned your shoes on the night before December 6th.
He is also called Knecht Ruprecht in southern Baden-Württemberg and (northern?) Switzerland
@@skayofox in the German-speaking part of Switzerland, he is actually known as Schmutzli.
@@laesseV oh, right. I heard both of these there, but forgot about that one. :)
I come from the (Vorder)Pfalz region and I heard about Belshnickel, I know him as "Belzenickel". It's not something that is really celebrated anymore. So I think it's a lost tradition The christmas market in Bobenheim am Berg is still called Belzenickelmarkt, though. They do sell craft Belzenickel there. So if you want an authententic one, you have to go there. It's only one weekend in December though.
My father used the word basically as a friendly insult" Du alter Belzenickel" - "You old Belshnickel"
Belz = pelt in Pfälzisch so Belzenickel basically means "pelted St. Nicholas" (Nickel being short for Nikolaus)
No wonder this is a Pennsylvania Dutch tradition, Pennsylvania Dutch is basically the same as Pfälzisch
Total interessant! Danke für die Erklärung!
Half way through your explanation i thought of the belze-bub, which is just another name for the devil afaik
The closest to that concept is the typical KATERFRÜHSTÜCK at New Year Morning. It is usually pickled Hering in the form of Rollmops or Bismarkhering With Pellkartoffeln. Heringssalat would also be an option on that day. In the rolled Heringsfilet there is usually a sour pickle
And the STEIN is REALY a South West German concept. it became popular by the Musical THE STUDENT PRINCE with the dubbed singing voice of Mario Lanza. Once That had been world wide very popular. My mother had the DRINKING SONG on three different records. UA-cam: DRINKING SONG; put on the Net by essgee007 But of course this is just a regional Habit to call the drinking vessle STEIN, so you are somewhat right there
2:31 WIENER SCHNITZEL: Sorry, actually it is Italien. The famous General RadetzkY got it served in a restaurant in Milan and had brought the recepy to Vienna; after him the RADETZKY MARSCH is named always played by the Vienna Synphonics at NEW YEAR.
Jup, so kenn ich das auch, komme von Neustadt a.d. Weinstraße, dort gabs vor Knecht Ruprecht auch den Belzenickel
@@BeardedSkunk This similarity in name is entirely coincidental. "Belsnickel" derives from west middle German "pelzen" which means "to beat", referring to the supposed function of the Belsnickel. Whereas the first syllable of "Belzebub" denotes Baal, a pagan deity from an entirely different culture and linguistic origin.
As an Austrian I have to say, thank you for correcting this.
Gerne ☺️
Well arent you Germans as well? ;)
Love from Bavaria brother/sister
@@MrNebelschatten ein Bayer der sich Deutscher nennt? :)
@@whybutwhy Inzwischen äußerst ungern. Aber Deutsch ist ja eine Identität unter vielen Germanischen Völkern (z.B. Dutch). Und ja, wären es die Preußen nicht gewesen, dann hätte Österreich vermutlich die Führung der deutschen Staaten übernommen.
Trotzdem natürlich immer Bavaria zuerst ;)
@@MrNebelschatten Dies ist mir zu nationalistisch dann schon.
17:40 Aubrey nails it! Consider 40+ sovereign states in 19th century Germany and a language which would change from village to village - source of many differences!
Never seen any Gurken in Trees, never even head of Belschnickel.
Also here around Hamburg Beer is mostly drink out of some kind of smal glas Mugs. Krüge - not a thing over here.
yee
Belzenickel is a Palatine (Pfälzer) tradition, what they call St Nicholas.
@@erictrumpler9652 Wheras Nickel is common a short name for Nicholas...
Snippy Hamburch ist ja zum größten Teil nördlich der Elbe, also noch Deutschland 🤣
@@MrJanml
I don't think so. The Nickel is quite similar to the cobold. That even is the reason, the two elements have their names: nickel = nickel, cobold = cobalt.
As a German I think you got most things right, very accurate. Well done! Just one minor thing: That was not a beer glas for Pilsner beer. You showed the typical one for Weißbier aka Weizenbier (wheat beer).
So, being from Nuremberg, I still remember being frightened by this dude dressing up as pelzmärtel, or pelznickel or, as Franconians would call him, because we do not know how to pronounce hard consonants: belznickel (/-märtel). The official explanation of of the name is that it's some Mish mash from st. Nicolas's fur (pelz, Google the story) and the märtel comes from 'st. Martin'. It's basically the same figure as Krampus (which is Austrian) and knecht Rupprecht, which is northern German. It's no wonder that this tradition cannot be verified anymore because it's basically died out. When I was a child we would go on train rides with father Christmas and belzmärtel, we'd have them visit kindergartens and schools and basically any sort of event. For some reason, this just doesn't happen anymore. I don't know when this disconnect happend, but my own cousins' children don't know anything about this tradition.
EXCELLENT RESPONSE which did a good job explaining ALL of it!!!
Funny side note: the actor Jürgen Prochnow plays is the original movie "Das Boot" and also in Beerfest. There is also a reference in the film where the Germans observe the current situation from a submarine.
Well... coconut and pecan are absolutely no typical German ingredients... at least not in the past so It is obviously not a German recipe.🤓
Maybe it’s just because I’m old but I always knew the origin of the name of the cake came from the brand of chocolate that originated the recipe. I never thought it was actually a German recipe.
Thank you for the last Part. I think many people don‘t know about the diversity of traditions based on the regions in Germany. I live in the north of Germany and we hate it if someone thinks that all germans are wearing lederhosen.
I have never heard about christmas pickle before - must be a local tradition.
Hey,
I've really enjoyed your video and learned a bunch of new things!
Keep on your great work, I especially loved the outtakes. 😊
That was the wrong movie poster of "Das Boot". 😉 You showed the artwork of the 2018 remake.
Thanks, that was exactly my first thought - but hey, it happens^^
I'm from the US but I've never seen that version of a 'German' chocolate cake. This whole time, I thought it was the same thing as black forest cake with cherries! That's what my grandma used to make.
I realy appreciate your research, learned a lot today. Thx and greetings 🖐🙂
Hihi, really interesting video again! Thanks for offering all that to us! ;)
I've never head of Belschnickel, but when someone in the comments pointed out that the beginning of the name was a variation of the word Pelz, I rememberd something similar - Pelzermärdl. I'm from Nürnberg, Bavaria and in my childhood, on Dez. 6th either Saint Nicholas (catholic tradidtion) or the Pelzermärdl (protestant tradition) visited and brought gifts. If I'm not mistaken the tradion of Pelzermärdl is the same as the one of Belschnickel. I found a german wickipedia article on Pelzmärtel, which explains the relation of these traditions and the different names. Nickel is a diminutive for Staint Nicholas and märtel or märdl is a diminutive for Saint Martin.
de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelzm%C3%A4rtel
"Maß" actually means "masuring unit" wich references to 1litre
Right... short version of "Maßeinheit"
My father (born 1907 close to Frankfurt) sometimes used "Belsenickel" instead of "Knecht Ruprecht".
In Austria it is a christmas tradition with what you called Belshnickel, we call it "krampus" or "percht" he comes with the Nikolaus to punish the bad children. The krampus will not do this when some family's got visited by the Nikolaus and the krampus .. but we got really huge events with them in the citys in Austria and large groups with them, spitting fire and fighting each other for the show. They will punch other people with "ponytails or rods" :D
It's really cool to see this.
Hi Donnie!Nice video.We in the Niederrhein region call a normal size of a beer glas:
Stängchen or Tulpe, depending on the shape of the glass if it´s straight or bulbous.
the 0,5 Liter are called Humpen or Krug.
The big sized Stiefel is difficult to drink, without chuckle.We don´t know
Belsnickel we call the bad guy who comes with Nikolaus the
Knecht Ruprecht.The dutch call him de zwarte Piet.
All our regions a diverse.I live in the Niederrhein region next to
the Netherlands and really love it,but I also like the North and east regions.
I´m looking forward to your next videos and send all best wishes.
Belschnickel must be Knecht Ruprecht. It seems that Americans only have another name for him.
Yeah, sounds like we're talking about Knecht Ruprecht.
But Knecht Ruprecht does not give gifts to good kids, only punishes those who were bad. At least that's the way I know him. Nikolaus (Saint Nicholas) and Knecht Ruprecht - good cop and bad cop.
I'm pretty sure there are regional differences regarding their roles. Sometimes it's only the Nikolaus giving gift to good kids only. Sometimes they're good cop and bad cop. And sometimes there might be just Knecht Ruprecht, giving gifts only to the good kids, as well. And that may even vary from village to village.
Wrong...I am from the Palatinate and I can asure that it is a real thing. Belsenickel is Belsenickel...and he is acompanied by Knecht Ruprecht. In Alsace he is acompanied by "Hans Trapp "
Der Pelzmärtel (auch Pelzemärtel, Pelzermärtel, Pelzamärdl oder Pelzmartin) ist ein in Teilen Frankens (Süddeutschland) verbreiteter Name für den vorweihnachtlichen Gabenbringer. Regional tritt er auch als Pelznickel auf. ... jetzt hast noch einen der nuschelt und des p als b spricht.. aber gehört hatte ich da auch noch nicht von. bei uns hats an krampus;)
In Franconia we do not call him Belsnickel, we call him "Pelzermärtel" and is part of Christmas, but not so popular as the "Christkind"
i am living close to you, right next to garrison baumholder and also never heard about belsnickel. americans think, the christmaspickle thing is german, but its unknown where its coming from. the glas at 8.27 is a weizenglas, not a pilsglas ;-)
both of you are very sympathetic to me and i always enjoy watching your videos.
keep your good work up and stay healthy.
They have been known to call the stoneware vessel with the metal lid a stein. That was the only one I heard called that. The 1L I heard called a glas.
Thanks for sharing your experiences in Germany. :) Never heard of Belschnickel before, but just like some others here already commented, I have heard of "Knecht Ruprecht" which seems to be the same character, just a different name. It is still a tradition to tell children to be nice especially around Christmas time because orherwise he will come to you instead of Santa. I remember my brother and me being quite worried about that as kids. ;)
this was the overdue-estest of all youtube videos
it feels like earth re-entered its original orbit
**sighofrelief**
In Austria the "Belzenickel" (never heard of it before) is called Krampus (de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krampus, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krampus) and his day is generally the 5th of December. We also have something called Perchten (de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percht) and a Perchtenlauf (ua-cam.com/video/P2a_mzLRT5U/v-deo.html) which is like cute, and a litte bit boring, nowadays because the Perchten are only allowed to hit you softly and aren't drunk anymore.
Thanks so much for that topic! Two things I have to clarify: in German, when you try to pronounce "Das Boot", please don't do it the English way. It's more like "boht" with a long "o". So many Americans pronounce it the wrong way... 😉
And the other thing: as you showed a typical German Pils glass, it was actually a glass for wheet beer, called Weißbierglas or Weizenglas...
Mayby it seems I'm to precise with it, but that one is probably a German thing that's really important 😉😬
I’m glad we put the disclaimer that you won’t be happy with our pronunciations 😉 But thanks for the help!
And not being beer drinkers ourselves, we definitely don’t know these things so we had to rely on the internet to not lead us astray and maybe it did on this one...haha
Genau darum geht es. Nur beim Film von Petersen könnte man sagen, dass Boot falsch ausgesprochen wurde. Im Englischen oder in den USA sagt man Das Boot, ausgesprochen wie der Stiefel (Buut), weil das Glas ja ein Stiefel ist. Der Artikel Das ist lediglich falsch und lässt einen Deutschsprachigen an ein Boot denken. Hat mich auch verwirrt, was jetzt wo Boot bzw. Buut ist. Zumindest verstehe ich es so.
Christoph,... you are so german 😂😉
@@PassportTwo you should also work on pronouncing "Maß" . Most non-bavarian people do it the wrong way. Its sounds more like the english word "must" without "t" Germans mostly do the same mistake and it sounds so wrong for a bavarian ear :)
@@Alexander-dt2eq The short a in that word is a Bavarian specialty, though. Here on Upper Swabia, e. g., we use these glasses during our festival, and they are always called "Maßkrug" and "eine Maß", with a long a.
Interesting and well researched video once again.
I, a German, have never heard of Belsnickel, the pickle ornaments nor the German chocolate cake. Funny how some things start becoming a tradition in other countries, believed to originated somewhere else.
I grew up in the north of Germany and moved to the are where Belsnickel seems to be a thing. However I didn't know anything about him. There is something similar to him in German Christmas traditions though: Knecht Ruprecht. He is wider known for sure but better clad than Belsnickel. He has the same attributes though.
We used to drink from the Stiefel when we were younger as a game of sorts. Yes, when I say younger, I mean between 16 - 18yo.
It is a "tradition" that whoever drinks from the Stiefel last and "es blubbert" (it bubbles), meaning bubbles form in the heel of the Stiefel when it eventually empties. I heard, that Americans call some drinking vessels "Steins" and always wondered why. I'd simply call it a "Krug".
When I visited the US I came across several misconceptions what would be typical German. One of them you already covered, but if you want to use the other ones, feel free to do so:
- I frequently was asked where the Autobahn is, because it was believed that it would be one big road throughout the country.
- Some people in a bar offered me a cold beer and told me I might not like it, since "you Germans" would only drink warm beer. I've never heard of that before and I never had a warm beer either. Maybe you guys could research, why some people think Germans would drink warm beer. My thinking was that it it's considered an affront to cool beer with ice cubes.
- I asked a guy in Detroit for directions and he asked where we (Me and a female friend) were from. When we replied, we were German, he answered amazed that it would be like a modern fairy tell. "Germany is separated right? So are you (me) from the south and you (she) from the north?" Not only was he barely old enough to be born before 1990, but also did he get his directions confused.
The Krug is from Steingut, that's the name of the material. So maybe that's why they call it "Stein"?
Hi, I'm from Brandenburg near by Berlin and i've never ever heard of Belsnickel! This thing with the pickle at the tree, we do. I bought it some years ago, but just cause I heard, that is a funny tradition from your country!!! My nephews were still little kids and we decide in this way, who of them picked the first present.
And the part of the beerglasses shows me again, that you had experience much more of the east and the north of germany. There are so many beautiful spots, interesting traditions etc. they has nothing to do with the west and south parts of germany. For example the beerglass: Do you ever heard of the Biertulpe??
Greetings from the sunny northeast side of germany. 🌞😉
Das Boot picture you used is from the newer continuation of the 1981 clasic :) ;)
German criticism aside though, you should watch the 81 classic for it is available spoken In English without big dubbed. The German actors actually recorded their own voices for he English version of the movie, really differentiating it and making it worth watching in English.
13:09 Wool's Worth, is that another company that changed its name when it came to Germany? I am familiar with Woolworth stores. Bellschnickel(sp?) sounds Jiddisch to me. And I have never heard of it. Krampus (only learned a few years back of him), Knecht Ruprecht, Nikolaus are the known characters.
That was a fun video to watch.. Yes, I found out the hard way about German chocolate cake a few years back when I walked into a bakery and asked about German Chocolate cake and got all kinds of looks lol :) :). Thanks for explaining the "Pickle" tradition lol.
haha, I'm glad we learned before going in and asking in a real German shop for German chocolate 😂
@@PassportTwo HEeeehehehehe :)
Wiener Schnitzel: wenn nicht aus Kalbfleisch dann wird das "Schnitzel Wiener Art" genannt.
Ich nenne meinen Bierkrug einfach Bierkrug.
Bierstiefel hatten wir in meiner Jugend. Einer gab einen Stiefel aus dann wurde Reihum getrunken mit der Spitze nach oben. Wer den Schwall abbekommen hat zahlt den nächsten Stiefel. Ach ja die Jugendzeit.
Ein Stück Kuchen ist kein Nachtisch. Das hat mich in meiner Zeit in den USA immer irritiert, man fragt nach Nachtisch im Restaurant und bekommt eine Kuchenauswahl. Die einzige Alternative ist meist Creme Brullee.
Wir haben ein Christmas Pickle, vor 4 Jahren in NJ gekauft und vorher noch nie davon gehört.
Belshnickel? Noch nie gehört und ich komme aus dem Südwesten.
In most parts of Germany its "Knecht Ruprecht" that companies "Nikolaus" on the 6th of December.
In southern Bavaria a salt-glased stoneware half-litre mug is called "Keferloher".
8:27 ...seems to me as Weizen in a Weizenglas. 😅 Regards from Hamburg.
When I googled “Pils Glas” I got a lot of different things and not being beer drinkers, we took the internet’s word that they were right...😅
I know a Pilsglas as a glass similar to a wineglass, but thinner (with a stem). The one shown is a Weizenglas imo.
Agree. Definitely more like a weizen. The classic vessel for pils is the stem glass "Tulpe" (tulip). There are non-stem pils glasses around nowadays, but they tend to open towards the top in a straight line, rather than a curve.
There are reasons for those different shapes. Kölsch will quickly go stale in anything larger than those "test tubes", stems are there so you don't warm up the pils with your hands, weizenbier glasses will retain the bubbles longer.
@@Akkaren79 confirmed
In our region (northwest of Nuermberg) Belsnickel is called Pelzmärtel and he comes on St. Martins Day November 11th.
The "Steinkrüge" were used in past also in pubs on at the Oktoberfest. The problem was that it is not possible to see how much beer is really in it. So to be able to check the volume of content, in restaurants, pubs and festivals, glass is used. And the glasses have a mark up to which the glass must be filled.
In private situations, at home some people still prefer to use Steinkrüge. In summer you can put them into the fridge first. Then, beeing freezed, pour the beer.
I remember that in Munich in the breweries, in former times VIP customers had their own beer mugs that were stored on a special shelf. Those were from stonewear, not glass. And with that ornamental lid. But basically its something from the past. Nowadays glass is cheap and easier to clean. So we use glass mugs or glasses.
I really enjoy your videos and I learned a lot about my country! However, for stereotypical German correctness: Your picture for the movie "Das Boot" was actually from the (mostly unknown) 2018 remake, not from the famous 1984 original. And of course I also missed the beer tulip, the typical glass for Pilsener.
the original Wiener Schnitzel is made out of calf meat and the breading is fluffy, doesn't glue to the meat. We do have those mentioned drinking vassels or Krüge but it's a traditional thing from bavaria, another state where you live in. I've never heard of any christmas pickle tradition in germany in my live. the "Belshnickel" is called "Knecht Ruprecht" across Germany. He is a companion of St. Nikolaus and catches the bad children
First heard about the Christmas pickle in Frankenmuth, Michigan At Bronner’s Christmas store. Asked my Frau and she said there was no such thing in Bavaria but maybe up Northern Germany somewhere. As far as the beer vessels it’s a Maß or a halbe (1/2 liter) and no Belsnickel.
Enjoy your time in Germany!
I read the Wikipedia article about Belschnickel and it seems to be another form of Pelzmärtel. And I can definitely tell you, that Pelzmärtel is still very well known in some Central Franconian towns not far from my place. My uncle was born in that region and every year he visits his family in his birth town for the Pelzmärtel fest and brings some presents to the kids there.
Great video as always! Just a small mistake. The Pilsner Glas you show is actually a Weizen or Weißbier Glas.
Never heard of something called Belsnickel. And I'm literally part of a Perchtenverein, which focuses on these kinds of Christmas traditions.
A small, boot shaped glass, was a popular vessel for beer among elderly people here in Northern Italy, when I was a child, especially in the countryside. So popular, actually, that the term "smallboot/shoe" remained to indicate any small quantity of beer, even when it comes in a more usual shaped glass.
I'd never heard about 'Belsnickel' before watching your video. Where I am from in Baden, the presents at Christmas are brought either by the "Weihnachtsmann" (Christmas Man, basically Santa (thanks, Coca-Cola)) or by the "Christkind" (Christ child), which was supposed to be Baby Jesus, but is seen as female by many people for some reason. Which one of them brings your presents depends on your parents' tradition.
On the 6th of December, we have "Nikolaustag" (Day of Saint Nicolaus, a Catholic saint). He brings small presents in a sack to good children or sends "Knecht Ruprecht" (Knecht = farm hand or servant) to beat them up if they have been bad.
Sometimes Nikolaus presents are also hidden by parents in the kids' shoes over night to be found in the morning. It's usually just small things like chocolate.
Dear Aubrey and Donnie,
you drew blanks about "Belsnickel" in the Palatinate because ii's pronounced and written differently. I'm from the Ludwigshafen area and all my family came from the Donnersberg region, so I'm pretty sure I know what I'm talking about.
Beelzenickel ("bel" like in Bel Air but the "e" a little longer - "tse" - "nickel" like the 5 ct coin): the word is a contraction of "Beelzebub" and "St.Nikolaus". Beelzebub is another (Palatinatean word for the devil or satan, which derives from the old Kanaanitan main god "Baal" or "Beel". The person of the Beelzenickel is indeed a judge about kid's behaviour in the past year. He carries around a "golden book" with the names of all the decent, good-behaving kids written in it. They get a gift out of his huge sack. And then there is the "black book" with the names of all the not so good-mannered kids. Those kids don't receive gifts, they get a lashing with a rod. It was a way to discipline your kids in the day, I suppose. I was a not so well behaved kid (my nickname was "Hex" - witch) but I never got a lashing.
The Palatiante's Beelzenickel was the inspiration for Thomas Nast's Santa Claus. He was from Landau in the Palatinate before he emigrated to the US, and I highly recommend you visiting the Thomas Nast Christmas Market in Landau. It's one of the most beautiful in all of Germany.
In Bavaria and Austria, you have those personalities of the Beelzenickel in two persons St. Nikolaus accompanied by Krampus. The big difference is. that Krampus gives the brats "coal" as a gift, he doesn't whip them, as far as I'm aware of.
CU twinmama
Btw: "Wiener Schnitzel" is the Austrian knock-off of "Costoletta Milanese".
Hi! I am living in Rhineland-Palatinate in the beautiful city Koblenz! Here the belznickel is known as "Beelzebub". I was always scared and afraid of him when I was a child. Like any other kid, I guess. Maybe that's the reason, why this creature only appears very seldom these days.
As half an Austrian I also know him as Krampus.
Nice video. Stay healthy and have a nice weekend.
Belzebub is another word for devil ... in my opinion
Ich komme zwar nicht aus Koblenz aber aus'm Hunsrück und ich kenne keinen belznickel
The term "stone" is very old and regional to the Palatinate and adjacent areas of the "West Middle High German dialect family".
German immigrants brought it to America.
During the 18th and early 19th century, most German-speaking immigrants came from the Palatinate region, including today's Saarland and parts of Baden, Alsace-Lorraine, and the Swiss region of Basel. This regional term somehow found it's way into the American-English language and became a common loan word...
I appreciate the research you do.
Even Germans can learn from you. I have no friggin clue about half the things you mention because the part of Germany I live in is very different.
re: Das Boot, Beerstiefel
You can find a few in student fraternities (where they exist) and the more old-fashioned Vereine.
Happy 4th of July !
Never heard of the pickle ornament until now. The belsnickel reminded me of the early santa clause that wasn't Coca-Cola red yet. In my upbringing it was told that he'd wip you with his 'Rute' if you've been a bad kid that year. I always thought our old santa to be named knecht ruprecht but apparently he was just a side-kick to St Nicholas.
Knecht Ruprecht accompanies Sankt Nikolaus
Ketchup and Mayo in one tube to buy. Also around Christas there was the Knecht Ruprecht or in the more southern regions the Krampusse.
For the next video:
As a german, I feel that from watching american movies I might have a weird understanding on how the life in american schools is like.
With things like: Prom-night is the most important day of your life, sports are way more important than learning, everyone is organized in social groups (the cheerleaders, the nerds...), etc.
Maybe you can tell how much of this is just cliche.
We could do that in a video for sure but I can pretty much confirm those cliches you mention are pretty accurate actually...haha
@@PassportTwo oh Gott!... ...das erklärt einiges...
Austrians use veal for their Wiener Schnitzel (as fat-free as possible, mostly from the back of a calf). If you go to Vienna, you should visit the restaurant "Figlmüller" (in Wollzeile 5), they make the most popular Wiener Schnitzel of the town. In Vienna you can double your weight in only two days, the Austrian food is fantastic (Backhendl, Salzburger Nockerln, Eiernudeln, Linzer Torte...). ;-)
I don't think they mispronounced das boot. Never heard of it before, but it seems to me Americans just took the English word for stiefel (boot) and put a "das" in front of it to make it sound German 🤔
Boot in the sense of boat wouldn't make any sense here after all...
In this case in German "das Boot" is the short respectively colloquial form for "das Unterseeboot" or "das U-Boot". In comparison: "the sub" versus "the submarine". Btw, not only the movie, but also the novel by Lothar-Günther Buchheim (published in 1973) is
great. Buchheim was a "Sonderführer" in a propaganda unit of the "Kriegsmarine" in the Second World War, writing as a war correspondent about his experiences on minesweepers, destroyers and submarines. "Das Boot" was turned into a film in 1981, featuring Jürgen Prochnow as the captain. Director Wolfgang Petersen and Buchheim fell out after the author was not allowed to write the script. Fun fact: Prochnow is also starring in that moronic "Beerfest" movie.
FiveOClockTea The shout “Das Boot” is totally unknown to me. Being raised in a German rural area, I know the tradition of “Stiefel trinken”: A boot-shaped glass is filled with beer and everybody takes a sip. If you make a noise while drinking, which is almost inevitable, you have to pay a drink for everyone. This game is used to rip off newbies or tourists. Because there is a trick, how to avoid the sound.
I’m absolutely sure that NO ONE in germany knows this „DasBoot“ tradition. It looks like this was created in the US as a german modern myth. I also think that they combined the words „das“ (german) and „Boot“ (english for Stiefel), it makes to a native german absolutely no sense.
What we have in germany is a small tradition to drink beer out of the „BierStiefel“ (Glasses that are designed like a Stiefel (boot))
The kick is, if you drink it from the wrong side, the beer is swapping out directly in your face. So you may laugh at all that don‘t know how to correctly drink out of a bier stiefel.
@@wondermansgameworld5375 I have also primarily seen this as a tradition in a "Festzelt" usually done by the members of the local Junggesellenverein (JGV).
Maybe that's just very specific to my region?
Where are you from?
@@jhkcreates8462 do you mean drinking out of Bierstiefel? Or calling it „das Boot“? First one yes it‘s done in germany, but I would say it‘s not anymore common. Second one is surely a US myth.
A (bier)stein, as in the drinking vessel we call "Mok" as in "Mug" (not your face mug, but drinking vessel mug) though this also refers to more general stone drinking vessels
ne gurke am Tanne`baum? höre ich zum ersten mal :D
When I was on the university I have been in a so called 'Burschenschaft'
We've never been like many unions that are shown in TV etc. but one point fitted: The so called "Stiefeltrinken" (drinking a boot).
We had one boot in our favorite 'Kneipe' (pub) that made the round on a long long table. It holded something about three litres. Everyone may take a nip for free by taking the boot with the toes in direction to the table.
That goes on until the first bubble of air enters the toes. The poor guy who caused that had to empty the complete rest of beer without stopping swallowing while the rest of us sang "Stiefel muss sterben" (the boot has to die) and had to pay the next "Stiefel" when he didn't finish before us.
Another game in a 'Maß' was 'Laternchen trinken' (drinking a lantern). That was mostly started by one of our girls. A "Laternchen" is a 1 litre-Maß with a mix of white-wine and sparkling water. In there on the bottom there is a small shot glass of either a cherry-liqueur or, if someone had to be surpriced 'Jägermeister', a liqueur made of herbs. The behavior was nearly the same. The Maß made it's rounds around the table very carefully because the liqueur had to stay in the shot glass. If someone messed this up he/she had to empty the rest 'auf ex' (at once).
hey i'm comming from Sachen-Anhalt and now live in Sachen and have never heard of pickles in trees or of Belschnickel.
The Christmay Pickel, we saw at a friends house in america and they said its a german tradition, but we never heard of it in germany, so we looked it up and it was an very old tradition and we thougt it was nice so we readopted it^^
I live and grew up not very far from Cologne and your video was the very first time I ever heard the word "Belsnickel".
When I was an exchange student many years ago, my host mother (with german ancestors) was very proud to serve me some xmas-stollen she baked using a family recipe. It was some nice cake with dried fruits - but I must say, that cake had nothing to do with a german stollen (when back home, I sent her some genuine Dresdner Stollen and she agreed that this was a completely different thing). I suppose, you wouldn't even find some of the necessarily ingredients in the US.
There are several regional versions of a sidekick of St Nicholas - a figure that goes around on December 6th to judge the children and fill boots with candy and nuts. While St Nicholas is traditionally depicted as the bishop he was in real life 4th century AD, he often has a Santa Clause like appearance (the name is a derivative). His sidekick is supposed to punish the ill-behaved children instead, usually with a rod, and always looks terrifying, uncouth, sometimes demonic. The most common one is Knecht (=serf, servant) Ruprecht. Belschnickel might indeed be a Palatine oder Badensian version the Pennsylvania Dutch took with them.
In my hometown, we had a St Nicholas come by our place on the 6th (it was some dressed up neighbour), he would ask about the children's behaviour, and usually the kids would be made to say a poem or play a song on the flute before getting their reward. Beatings were obviously never handed out in reality.
I do have Bierstein at home and 30 years ago we called it Stein.
I live in Rheinland Pfalz too, very close to the Saarland but I never heard about Belschnickel and I don't know anybody who has a pickel as a Xmas ornament.
In Austria we call all Schnitzel (no matter from which animal) Wiener Schnitzel if it has a lemon on top and potatoes/fries/potato salad with it :D Never really made a distinction. In a restaurant you often have Wiener Schnitzen on the menu and then you get a choice of meats (or non-meats)
I'm originally from Northrhine-Westphalia, but living in Rhineland-Palatinate for over 12 years now. I've never ever heard about "Belschnickel" my entire life. Maybe it's simply a very localized variation of Knecht Ruprecht (rather in the north) and/or Krampus (in the south), which are both much more common as the nasty sidekick to Santa.
... I just looked it up. There are many names, but the more standard German one for this specific character is "Pelzmärtel", and seems to be largely limited to the Franconia region /northern Bavaria. If it's still used there nowadays at all, that is. And yes, many similarities with the other folkloric figures mentioned above. Based on this, I highly doubt many Germans know about him. However, watching the clip from The Office immediately made me think of Knecht Ruprecht. So I guess in a broader sense, most Germans know at least some version of this tradition, just not in conjunction with that specific name.
Regarding that Bels... Belsh... whatever :D My background is, I moved from Thuringia (Thüringen) to Nürnberg. Back in the days, we had St. Nicolaus and his sidekick Knecht Ruprecht, who punished the children been bad.
In Nürnberg, they don't celebrate Nikolaustag (Dec 6th), but St. Martin instead, with a similar meaning (actually St. Nicolaus and St. Martin became pretty much the same person with the same story I guess? Sharing their coat with a person in desperate need, by ripping it apart). So whatever, here in Nürnberg and the area St Martin is referred to as something like "Pelzmärtl" or "Belzermärtl" (sorry, don't even get that right after 14 years, but maybe there's where it comes from), which is basically the same as Nikolaus as it is celebrated in other parts of the country (bringing treats for the good, while punishing the bad with a "Rute" (birch), the latter often done by Knecht Ruprecht).
From what I have seen and heard, there is a mixture of ancient tradition, catholic and protestant beliefes, all put together, stirred up and then spread and adopted in the opposite part of the country.
See... St. Nicolaus, a catholic Saint is celebrated in the protestant part of Germany today, whereas "Christkind" which was the protestant counterpart to bringing presents on christmas eve compared to St. Nicolaus of the catholics now brings the presents in the catholic part... oh my... I'm lost here...
As a conclusion: The appearance (based on The Office) including the birch actually might be German. The name is not, might be roughly based on whatever St. Martin is called in the Nürnberg Area I guess
I as a german (from the Spreewald) do have this christmas pickle but it's just for fun because it looks funny. I've never heard of this little 'game' tho.
It has been called "Das Boot" in Wisconsin, USA since at least the early 1980's. A restaurant called The Essen Haus in Madison, WI has had them since then. On top of that I pretty sure they didn't invent the glass or term.
The German chocolate cake you're probably thinking of is the Bavarian Black Forest cake aka Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte
If you want to experience Knecht Ruprecht, he is the sidekick who accompanies St. Martin on St. Martins Day. Celebrated in early December on the name saints day of Martin. This is also the day when early in the evening, families parade thru the towns with their children holding colorful lit lanterns. There is a lot of singing, and everyone meets up at some point in town where the towns young folk have built a huge bonfire. The kids guard their pile from teens of neighboring towns, who try to destroy the piles of others. St. Martin arrives on a white horse and gives out small bags of fruit, sweet dough 'Buben' and sweets to the children. You should try to experience it, it is really unique to German culture.
Whut? Where is this happening? There is no Knecht Ruprecht with St. Martin over here. Or sweets. Over here they just walk with their laterns to the bonfire and everyone sings the Martinslied while St. Martin cuts his coat and gives half of it to the beggar. I mean, naturally there are Martinsbrezel and Bratwurst, but no sweets.
The thing about ancient traditions in europe, just as christmas traditions, you have unique names and traditions for almost every village or region and they change over time or vanish and pick up new fashions.
Your example of the belshnickel is like Krampus, a traditional Figure bound to specific locations, representing the same concept. I grew up with the Knecht Ruprecht, which looks similar to Belshnickel and serves the same functions. It was said, that if you were a bad kid, he would bring you charcoal or spank you with his birch twig bundle. (fun fact: when i was little we would get birch bundels with candy tied to them on st. Niklaus day the 6th of December. you could get those in all local super markets at that time)
Same thing with Frau Holle or Domina Perchta (first one the name for a mask figure of pre christian folklore north of frankonia and the second name south of and in frankonia assoiated with other mask figures like Krampus, Nikolaus and Christkind - she is as Holle or Hulda or Holla the orogin of the famous fairytail "Frau Holle" and most probably derived from Hel, the germanic goddess of Hell, but not in a christianised evil way, rather than an otherworldly ambivalent way, bringing the gift of spring and harvest as well as bringing ice and death (her World Helheim was supposed to be an icy realm for the shadows of the deceased who did not make it to Walhalla, similar to Hades and Elysium in greek mythology.) Pagan Origins of many Fests and Festive figures are an interesting Theme to dig in!
The horror flick "Krampus" is actually not too bad in giving an idea about the whole situation, but being a horror movie missing out on the ambivalent characteristics of the whole myth and its creatures.
#endoflecture ;)
I live in the Eifel, near Bitburg, and here he is named "Pelzenickel" or "Pelzebock"
We had Knecht Rupprecht and Nikolaus coming to our house when I was young. Usually ur grandpa or Uncle costumed up for that day. Knecht Rupprecht is like the scary looking guy with a route and basically there is the story that if u werent polite enough this year he would put you in his sack ( bag ). If u were kind and nice you would get gifts. Im from southern germany in bavaria. But this is different from family to family and my grandpa actually did this for a few friends this night or even schools.
Very different tho from family to family and region to region and even religous belief which varies ofcourse all over the world. :)
Its a fun thing to do and I was scared as fk when he came. And Nikolaus would please you to stand in front of him when he came and read out all the things u did bad this year and then the good things and ur strengts u did well this year. In the end you ofc got your gifts but it was impressive when u are 3-6. Then u got to school and learn bad words, easter bunny is a lie and nikolaus was ur grandpa-. :D
Sorry, as a Rheinland-Pfälzer, I never heard anyone call a Bierkrug a Stein. And normally we don't drink the beer in 1 liter mugs. 1/3 or 1/2 liter glasses are common here. But, maybe some small village in the Pfalz (which belonged to Bavaria in the past) call it Stein. ;) Also, the Belzschnickel seems to be the local term for Knecht Ruprecht or even the Krampus who is the companion of St. Niklas that carries the gifts for the children in a bag and also punishes the bad kids with a bundle of twigs. That said, he never comes alone, and the Horror Krampus which got popular in the last years in the US, doesn't exist!
And what has this thread on Wiener Schnitzel got to do with Knecht Ruprecht?
I never heard of 'Belsnickel', but my great-grandfather wrote a song for Christmas about 'Knecht Ruprecht'.
Bald nun ist Weihnachtszeit, fröhliche Zeit,
Nun ist der Weihnachtsmann gar nimmer weit,
Nun ist der Weihnachtsmann gar nimmer weit.
Horcht nur der Alte klopft draußen ans Tor,
Mit seinem Schimmel so steht er davor,
Mit seinem Schimmel so steht er davor.
Leg ich dem Schimmelchen Heu vor das Haus,
Packt gleich Knecht Ruprecht den großen Sack aus,
Packt gleich Knecht Ruprecht den großen Sack aus.
Pfeffernüß, Äpfelchen, Mandeln, Korinth,
All das, dass schenkt er dem artigen Kind,
All das, dass schenkt er dem artigen Kind.
Aber dem bösen Kind schenkt er die Rut,
Hoffentlich wird es im nächsten Jahr gut,
Hoffentlich wird es im nächsten Jahr gut.
I think it is not very different from 'Belsnickel', but I never heard of it, besides of this Christmas Song...
'Zigeunerschnitzel' has to be called since a few years 'Paprikaschnitzel'
I am from the south of Germany and have never heard of the Belshnickel. However, based on what you said about him he reminds me of Knecht Ruprecht. On the night of December 6th we put our shoes in front of the door and Nikolaus comes and brings gifts to the children who were well behaved in the past year. If a child doesn't behave well, according to the story, Knecht Ruprecht ist the companion of Nikolaus and brings wooden rods to those children (in the stories I was told the children would be beaten up with the wooden rods but in some other regions he supposedly eats children in terrible ways).
In reality however, I have never actually seen anyone dressed up as Knecht Ruprecht and it was only a story they told us when we were in kindergarten. It's one of those cautionary tales that children are told, like for example the Struwwelpeter, in an effort to get them to behave well.
Hi you two, we love your channel very much. But we often have te feeling that you and the most other americans who came to germany just visit the southern part . As you say germany is very diverse and as someone who grew up in Brandenburg and Lower Saxony and lives 8 years in Baden württemberg we would love to invite you to our Flat in Hamburg and show you all the amazing things German has to give
best regards Sabine and Julius
That is very kind of you 😊 We have actually travelled all over Germany! We have been from Berlin to Cologne, from Berchtesgaden to Schwerin, and much more inbetween! If you haven’t seen our full story, I (Donnie) studied abroad in college in Bonn and travelled all over Germany and then we spent one week in Berlin at the end of our studies. Then Aubrey and I travelled extensively in Germany during the winter of 2018-2019 for a couple of months including a visit to Hamburg 😃 The main regions we haven’t visited yet are the far north parts near Denmark and the beaches/islands or the very middle of the country. We did only do a day trip to Hamburg when we were traveling throughout north Germany so we would love to see more some time! 👍🏼
sure, we would love to show you around. we traveled Asia for almost 3 years and we know how it is to be new in a country and to be foreigner
Hey guys, coming from the district of kusel I can confirm the belznickel thing as some kind of a tradition in the time of „Advent“. As youngsters we put out a boot in the evening of the 5th of december and would find it filled with treats the next morning. It was told that Nikolaus or Knecht Ruprecht filled the boot: My Grandparents of course called that mysterious figure „Belznickel“. It seems that Thomas Nast, inventing santa claus as a modern symbol in 1863 for „Harpers weekly“, grew up in palatinate and created an Image that was influced by the tradition of the „Belznickel“.
This video was very interesting. I'm from northern Germany and I have never heard of any of these things 🙂 But we have the same thing with things we think that originated in the US and they weren't. Like Hawaii-Toast 🙂
About Belsnickel: We in Germany only have "Knecht Ruprecht" who comes together with "Nikolaus" (Dec. 06.) Knecht Ruprecht punishes the bad kids and even takes them with him, if they are too bad, whereas Nikolaus brings gifts to the good children. That is because a holy man can't be bad, so he needs a "punisher".
The Christmas market in the village Bobenheim am Berg celebrates Belzenickel....and is one of the more quaint Christmas markets in the region: www.bobenheim.de/content/belze.html
Trinkstiefel ("das boot") are definitely a thing here. Might not be exclusively German and they've become quite rare over the years, but people wouldn't think you're weird if you were to drink from one.
Personally, I own three mug-sized ones and two in shot size.
Ich habe noch nie etwas vom Bellschnickel (?) gehört 😅
@@nettcologne9186 Knecht Ruprecht ist nicht Belschnickel!
I was born and raised in Germany and have been living in the US for decades. I have family and friends all over Germany. I never heard of the pickle in the Christmas tree until I came to the US. None of the German friends and family I surveyed have heard of it, either.
Belshnickel? Never heard before. Greetings from Koblenz.
top!!!👍👍👍👍👍
I've never heard of Belsnickel
There is Knecht Ruprecht (Krampus) but I'd say he's a character in christmas stories for children but otherwise not a part of any Christmas traditions
I'm from Saarland but I'm not sure of other regions (I believe it may be more of a tradition in Bavaria)
the woolworth story sounds legit
The common type of Schnitzel in Germany is actually the "Schnitzel Wiener Art" (Vienna Style Schnitzel), which is like a Wiener Schitzel, but made from pork.
I never heard about Belshnickel, but there is something called "Knecht Ruprecht" he beats you if you was a bad kid in the last year, in some parts of Germany he brings you charcoal as a present.
In Berchtesgaden kommt am 5. und 6. Dezember Nikolaus und die Buttnmandl (Stoh) oder Krampus (Fell). Außerdem gibt es noch den Perchtenlauf im neuen Jahr.