Laternelaufen – Walking with Lanterns

Growing up in Northern Germany, fall was always a beautiful and exciting time.  

I loved how the leaves changed their color, 

the chestnuts and acorns fell from the trees, the squirrels getting busy collecting the chestnuts and acorns to stow away for winter.  We would collect the fallen chestnuts and acorns and make little chestnut men, animals, and decorations (see my post "Dancing on the Ceiling? – Grandpa’s Delicious Pancakes").

Another fall custom I loved as a small child was “Laternelaufen” (translated: Walking with Lanterns). The origin of “Laternelaufen” is not clear.  Some equate it to the legend of Saint Martin.  He was a soldier who gave half of his coat to a beggar so the latter would not freeze to death. Later Saint Martin became a bishop in order to help the poor. Other legends point to celebrating Martin Luther’s birthday, with “Laternelaufen” symbolizing the act of bringing light to the world.

For us kids, though, “Laternelaufen” was exciting. First of all, we got to stay up later than usual.  Our normal bedtime was 7 pm.  Mom would buy each of us a colorful paper lantern with a rod, kind of like a mini fishing rod. 

Once the sun had set, we were warmly dressed for our evening walk and head on outside.  There, Mom would light a candle, and carefully place it inside the lantern. 

Then she would hook the rod onto the lantern frame.  Finally, she would instruct us to be super careful:  do not shake the rod, otherwise, candle flame would catch the side of the lantern and burn it.

After each kid’s lantern was lit, we would meet up with other children and families and together we would walk through the neighborhood singing traditional songs.  My favorite was:

Ich geh mit meiner Laterne
und meine Laterne mit mir.
Da oben leuchten die Sterne
und unten da leuchten wir.
Laternenlicht,
verlösch mir nicht!
rabimmel, rabammel, rabum.

Ich geh` mit meiner Laterne
und meine Laterne mit mir.
Da oben leuchten die Sterne
und unten da leuchten wir.
Mein Licht ist aus,
ich geh` nach Haus.
rabimmel, rabammel, rabumm

It translates as:

I’m walking with my lantern,
And my lantern comes with me.
Above us, the stars are shining,
And we shine here below.
Lantern light
Don't go out for me,
Rabimmel, rabammel, rabum.

I’m walking with my lantern,
And my lantern comes with me.
Above us, the stars are shining,
And we shine here below.
My light has gone out,
I’m going home,
Rabimmel, rabammel, rabum.

No matter what the origins, it was a lovely way to spend a fall evening, proudly carrying our lanterns, singing, and lighting the way.  The worst, and most disappointing of it would be when a sudden gust of wind would jostle the lantern.  Inevitably, the lantern would tilt, with the flame of the candle inside ever so slightly touching a side of the paper lantern and catching it on fire.

An adult would rush over, making sure the fire would not harm us kids.  That was followed by tears from the lantern owner.  The other kids would gather to console and comfort the child whose lantern was burning on the ground.  Selfless kindness was shown to the crying child, as others offered their lanterns to him/her, and we would continue our walk for the evening.  All too soon the magical lantern walk would end, and we headed home and off to bed, dreaming of the moon and the stars.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I invite you to subscribe to my blog by completing the "CONTACT US" form and entering "subscribe" in the message body. Feel free to refer your family, friends, and associates to my blog.  You may leave me your comments in the comment section.  However, any comments that contain links to other websites or are abusive will not be posted.

Thank you.