Little pieces of German can be found in a lot of places. With over 42 million German Americans
in the US, you don’t have to look too far for a German person, custom, or something that may
now be a precious memory for you and has made a part of your personal history German. Just
look at the city of New York, for example, where you can find German traces and influences at
almost every street corner. Indianapolis, Philadelphia, Cincinnati and many other towns and
cities have strong German traditions and festivals. Please share with us the local German
history and traditions of your area. Tell us how German culture and people have contributed to
your life and maybe made it a bit more special. And we all know that special things come in all
shapes and sizes, so please don’t think your story has to be the size of New York.
I’ll always remember my shoes filled with candy on the 6th of December – it’s Nikolaus Day. My grandma who grew up in Germany had me clean my boot on the night of the 5th and I always tried to stay awake to see the Nikolaus but I never succeeded, of course. The next morning when I woke up the boot would be filled with candy. That way my shoes got cleaned at least once a year.
Oh! I also know this tradition. My parents always filled my boot when I was younger. When I was 18 I spent a year abroad and actually missed this tradition when the day came up. I told my hostmom about it and when I came back home from school that day, not only one shoe was filled with candy, but all of my shoes!!! That was so great!