St. Martin’s Day

On 11 November each year, the Catholic Church commemorates St. Martin of Tours. Many parishes organize a St. Martin's procession for children and young people, in which the participants, led by a St. Martin on horseback, parade through the streets with lanterns and sing St. Martin's songs.

The procession commemorates two stages in the life of the saint from modern-day France: on the one hand, as a Roman soldier on horseback, he is said to have shared his coat with a beggar when the latter was in danger of freezing to death. On the other side, the lanterns commemorate the return of the saint to his episcopal city of Tours, which is said to have been illuminated by torches. In various regions, the custom of eating a St. Martin's goose has also been preserved and is used to mark the start of the pre-Christmas period of fasting. This custom recalls that the geese are said to have betrayed the saint with their cackling when he was hiding to avoid being appointed bishop. St. Martin's Day also marked the end of the farming year, which is why those animals that could not be brought through the winter were slaughtered.