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Eight wonderful ways to celebrate spring in Germany

With warm weather having already descended upon Germany, here's a list of eight ways to relish the spring season.

Published: 12 April 2017 11:47 CEST
Updated: 16 April 2018 11:37 CEST

Eight wonderful ways to celebrate spring in Germany

Springtime in Bielefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia. Photo: DPA

1. Burn a witch

Photo: DPA

Many Germans like to celebrate the night of April 30th by lighting a bonfire, or Maifeuer, and jumping over it. The general idea is that it is supposed to ward off any witches that might be lurking, but in some areas they like to do it just for fun!

Other regions like Brandenburg like to make stick wooden figures of witches and burn them in the flames to ward off any evil-doers. It promises plenty of fun, if hot fires and witches are your thing!

2. Scoff some Spargel

A Spargel Queen. Photo: DPA

Germans love their weißen Spargel (white asparagus). They go completely crazy for it. So much so that every year some areas even crown a “Spargel Queen”. But their obsession is for a good reason: it's delicious! Unlike their green cousins, the white asparagus only sprouts for a shirt period between April and June, so stock up your supplies while you can, and enjoy the sweet taste of this most lecker of German traditions.

3. Get holy wasted on Ascension Day

Photo: DPA

For many Christians, Ascension Day, the 40th day of Easter, is a very important day of prayer. But for Germans, it's a day for heavy drinking, and outdoor celebrating. Many people load a wagon with beer and take to parks and gardens to enjoy their day off work, unless you're in Bavaria, where things are far more serious.

It falls on Fathers' Day, so while others around the world are giving their fathers ties and mugs, the Germans honour their dads with a booze-up. So, whatever your reasoning, crack open a beer and enjoy your day off.

4. Steal a very tall tree

Photo: DPA

The German Maibaum (May tree) is either erected on May 1st, a day of celebration across the country, or the day before. Residents in Bavaria, East Frisia in Lower Saxony, Baden-Württemberg and elsewhere celebrate this originally pagan ritual each year within their local communities.

The excitement comes when the towns try and raid their neighbours' villages to steal their tree and take it back as a prize! But of course it wouldn't be a proper German tradition without lots of beer and sausages, so there's plenty of that as well!

5. Wear fantastically bright clothing

Photo: DPA

Try and dress for the season you're looking forward to. It may still sometimes be chilly and there might be the occasional cold gust of wind, but get out those floaty summer dresses and floral prints, and guys, time for shorts. The gods might see sense and speed up summer's arrival sooner rather than later.

6. Chat to strangers

Photo: DPA

This might seem quite nerve-wracking to begin with, but everyone's happier when spring has just begun, so you're much more likely to have a really fulfilling conversation (in German!) at this time of year than at any other. Try starting with the bakery lady, and then perhaps strike up a chat with that person you always found pretty on your morning commute to work – spring works in mysterious ways.

7. Open up at an open-air music festival

Photo: DPA

It's spring, so that means the DJs emerge from their hibernation and come into the open to start the open-air season. All across Germany outdoor events will pop up, so crack out the sunnies, sip on some beer, and get ready to enjoy the techno-sunshine mix.

8. Let loose in a theme park

Photo: DPA

Having been laying dormant all winter, Germany's theme parks, from Heide Park in Lower Saxony to Europa-Park in Baden-Württemberg, will be starting to creak and splutter to life again. Let your hair down, and get the adrenaline rushing on one of many rollercoasters across the country.

Nine hip-hop tracks that will help you learn German

In fact, it’s a truth universally acknowledged that listening to hip-hop in German will boost your German language abilities tenfold.

Ok, so while that might not technically be entirely (read: at all) true, we reckon Jane Austen would have appreciated many German rappers’ way with words.

And with most clearly enunciating their words, and the rhythmic delivery helping with phrasing, the genre is a gift for language learners: it can help you get to grips with new words, sentence patterns and pronunciation, as well as gain an understanding of current phenomena.

We’ve chosen a selection of German hip-hop tracks – including some old-school gems – that are reasonable easy to understand, as well as a couple for more advanced learners who want to get to grips with the finer nuances of the language and word play.

Here are some songs to get you started.

Die Fantastischen Vier – Die Da

You can’t have an article about German hip hop without mentioning Die Fantastischen Vier (The Fantastic Four, often known as Die Fanta’ 4). Germany’s answer to the Beastie Boys, this Stuttgart band basically kicked off the German hip-hop scene in the late 80s and they’re still going today.

The catchy Die Da!? (Her over there!?) was a tongue-in-cheek hit in 1992 and we love it because the band’s clear articulation makes it easy to understand. Yes, it’s a bit silly – it’s about women the band are interested in, but spoiler: it ends up being the same woman – but it’s packed full of useful German slang.

Want to test your knowledge of German abbreviations? Check out their mfg (Mit freundlichen Grüssen, With best wishes)

Fettes Brot – Jein

Still on an old-school hip-hop vibe, Fettes Brot were a big part of the Hamburg scene.

‘Jein’ – a pleasing amalgamation of Ja and Nein was a big hit in the early 90s. Again, the delivery is clear, they rap slowly and the text is pretty straightforward. Here’s the chorus, for example:

Soll ich’s wirklich machen oder lass ich’s lieber sein / Jein / Ja, ja, oder nein /
Shall I really do it or would it be better to leave it / Jein / Yes, yes, or no

Perfect for the indecisive.

And for a taster of Hamburg dialect, have a listen to Nordisch by Nature.

One of the founder members Der Tobi later got together with another big name on the Hamburg scene – das Bo – and together with marcnesium and DJ Coolmann, they formed cheeky band Fünf Sterne Deluxe. Check out ‘Willst du mit mir geh’n‘ (Do you want to be my boyfriend/girlfriend?)

Mudi – Kind sein

The German rapper with Turkish and Lebanese roots is known for his storytelling that touches on key cultural issues. There’s less wordplay here and he raps slowly and clearly so, even for less confident German learners, the text is quite easy to understand (although some of his songs have a bit of Arabic, Turkish and Kurdish in them).

In 2016’s ‘Kind sein’ (being a child), he raps about feeling nostalgic for his childhood and the context makes it a breeze to put any new vocab into context.

He raps about missing the days when he was klein und so sorgenlos (small and so carefree) in contrast to now where heute sind die Sorgen gross / Krieg, der in den Herzen tobt (today the worries are great / war that rages in our hearts).

Cro – Ein Teil

Arguably more pop than rap (Cro himself calls the mixture raop), Cro is a pretty big deal in Germany.

‘Ein Teil’ is a great starter song as the lyrics are straightforward and it’s quite repetitive, helping with understanding and pronunciation. And while Cro mumbles a bit on some of his other tracks (he tends to eat some of his word endings), he’s quite clear on this track.

(And if you see him live, his penchant for wearing a panda mask on stage doesn’t necessarily help matters). Here’s a section of the refrain that’s repeated throughout:

Du bist und bleibst für immer ein Teil von mir

You are and will always be a part of me

Freundeskreis – A-N-N-A

More known for their socially conscious lyrics, the 90s/00s Stuttgart group had a hit with this slightly soppy but very catchy track.

Immer wenn es regnet / muss ich an dich denken / wie wir uns begegnet sind / und kann mich nicht ablenken

Whenever it rains / I have to think of you / How we met / I can’t stop thinking about it

Group member Max Herre also went on to have success as a solo artist and that’s also worth a listen. Try 1ste Liebe.

S. Castro – Krieger

For something with a more aggressive flow, try S. Castro.

His strong rhythmic delivery in this 2012 battle rap (Krieger means warrior) makes the lyrics fairly easy to understand.

The politically conscious rapper with Kurdish roots uses his raps to expose oppressive aspects of society and the system so there’s plenty of cultural insights to be gained too.

Deichkind – Leider Geil

This one – which translates as ‘unfortunately cool’ – really took off in the noughties with people describing everything as ‘leider geil’ for a while. It’s a really easy one to understand, too as it’s all in the present tense and the Hamburg group rap slowly and clearly.

Here’s a sample:

Es tut mir leid, doch ich muss leider gestehen / Es gibt Dinge auf der Welt, die sind (leider geil) / Autos machen Dreck, Umwelt geht kaputt / Doch ‘ne fette neue Karre ist (leider geil)

I’m sorry, but I’ve got to admit it, unfortunately / There are things in the world that are (unfortunately cool) / Cars are dirty, the environment’s going to hell / But getting an awesome new ride is (unfortunately cool)

Sabrina Setlur – Du liebst mich nicht

Setlur started out in the 90s and was one of the first German female rappers to achieve commercial success – this song went to number one.

Combining hard rap with a sung chorus, ‘You don’t love me’ is a heartfelt attack against a partner who doesn’t love her any more. Perfect for anyone who wants to improve their heartbreak vocab in German.

For a time her rap success was overshadowed by her then-relationship with Boris Becker, but her songs stand the test of time.

This one has since been covered by Ado Kojo featuring Hamburg-based rapper Shirin David.

Bodo Wartke – Barbaras Rhabarberbar

And we couldn’t not include this one. Rapper and cabaret performer Bodo Wartke achieved viral TikTok fame with this tongue-twister that tells the increasingly ludicrous tale of Barbara and her rhubarb bar.

As well as inspiring a dance, the catchy rap also sparked a huge interest in learning German which can never be a bad thing.

Wartke and friend and rapper Matti Fischer both have super-clear pronunciation. Plus it’s a great track for learning how easy it is to make compound nouns in German.

This is obviously just a selection, there are plenty more great hip-hop songs to help you with your German. Have we missed any of your favourites – let us know in the comments!

And if you want to see the lyrics while you listen to the songs, most texts are available on Genius.com and Songtexte.com.

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