Wir Tanzen-German Folk Dance Group

From our families to yours, Wir Tanzen wants to wish you a happy St. Nikolaustag. Some of us had goodies filled in our shoes and some of us had stockings. How do you celebrate? Please send us your pictures!

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Earlier, we talked about Saint Nicholas and stocking and children behaving. But of course in German 🇩🇪 lore there is always a more twisted and dark side to accompany the good. If children 👧 👦 are naughty and have not heeded their parents warning they would then be visited, not by St. Nikolaus, but Krampus. This creature has horns and hoofs and puts naughty children in its sack to take away, among other things. To learn more check out the links below!⬇️ 👇

Who will visit your Haus tonight?

https://www.history.com/news/krampus-christmas-legend-origin

https://germangirlinamerica.com/krampus-in-german-

For many people, especially children, St. Nicholastag is a special highlight of the Advent season. Cheerful St. Nicholas songs, shoes, plates or stockings filled overnight and perhaps even a visit from St. Nicholas himself make the day magical. But where do these customs actually come from? And who was this Nicholas to whom this day is dedicated?

Saint Nicholas Day is on December 6th. In Germany and most other countries, this is not a public holiday, just a church day of remembrance. In Luxembourg, however, Saint Nicholas Day is an important day: children in preschool and primary school have no school and the Kleeschen (Saint Nicholas) brings gifts, in some places even more than on Christmas itself.

We generally celebrate Saint Nicholas Day in memory of Saint Nicholas of Myra. He is said to have died on December 6th and is one of the most famous and beloved saints in the Catholic Church. In Russia and other orthodox churches, St. Nicholas is still of particular importance today. He is worshiped there as an "angel on earth" or "savior of the world". In the western churches, the image of the benevolent bishop has prevailed.

There are only a few historically verified facts about the life of Nicholas of Myra. In some cases it does not seem clear whether it is a single person or whether the life stories of two people are mixed up: Bishop Nicholas of Myra (4th century), and Abbot Nicholas of Sion (6th century) . Both lived on the coast of Lycia in what is now Turkey. Nicholas of Myra was born between 270 and 286 AD in Patara, an ancient city about 100 kilometers southwest of present-day Antalya. According to tradition, Nicholas was ordained at the age of 19 and abboted in the monastery of Sion near Myra. According to the stories, he was captured in 310 during the persecution of Christians, after which he distributed his large inheritance among the poor. Nicholas became so popular because there are numerous legends about his person that paint the image of a generous and popular churchman. For example, he is said to have once appeared to sailors who were in distress at sea. Appearing as a man with supernatural powers, he steered the ship, setting the sails, and even calming the storm. The sailors recognized Nicholas when they later wanted to say a prayer of thanksgiving in the church of Myra. Therefore, Saint Nicholas is also considered the patron saint of seafarers

Nicholas was worshiped in the orthodox church as early as the 6th century. This is documented by the construction of a church around 550 which was dedicated to the earlier bishop. In the Middle Ages it became a tradition to give presents to children and the poor on December 6th - in the style of Saint Nicholas. But with the Reformation by Martin Luther around 1535, the tradition changed, especially for Protestants. From then on, the veneration of saints was rejected and the giving of presents on St Nicholas Eve was rejected. Instead, the "Holy Christ" or the Christ Child should bring gifts at Christmas. This custom also caught on among Catholics at the beginning of the 20th century. Nowadays there is often a little something for children on St. Nicholas Day, but there's no big present.

The American Santa Claus later developed from St. Nicholas, and the standard red suited man spread around the world. Santa Clauses sometimes visit Christmas markets, schools, kindergartens or other places in this disguise to distribute small gifts to children. In some places, however, St Nicholas is also traditionally disguised as a bishop.

The most popular custom is to put a plate or boot in front of the door on the eve of St Nicholas or to hang stockings on the fireplace so that St Nicholas can fill them up overnight. This tradition goes back to a legend about Saint Nicholas: A poor man could not afford the dowry for his three daughters and therefore could not marry them off. When Nicholas found out about this, he took gold from his personal fortune and threw something through the family's windows for three consecutive nights. On the third night, the father discovered the gift bringer and thanked him for his generosity. Nowadays, some people include gold foil wrapped chocolate coins, actual coins, or citrus fruit to represent that money.

It is also part of the tradition for Santa Claus to ask the children whether they have been good. In some countries, Santa Claus has a companion who can sometimes be quite frightening. While this is Knecht Ruprecht in much of Germany, Krampus is more common in Austria and parts of southern Germany. The assistant supports Santa Claus in distributing gifts or frightens the children who have not been good. December 5th is known in many places as Krampus Day, when people dressed up as Krampus parade noisily through the streets before they are finally tamed by good St. Nicholas in the evening or the next day.

Happy Thanksgiving from our families to yours!

We celebrated last night with our Friendsgiving! We went with something not very traditional and catered a taco bar for our members.

We want to wish everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving and a safe holiday with your family and friends. We are Thankful for our members and our followers!

Well Wir Tanzen has decided to host a workshop! No, it’s not a dance workshop, but a Trachtenjacke workshop!!
Those colder months have been creeping up on us but the performances on our calendar are still standing strong so we needed our ladies to have some protection while they dance.
This week our ladies attended their second night of three, making their own Tracht jackets. Wir Tanzen put together kits and the ladies chose their own material design so that it’s more unique to them. Some jackets will have thermal lining based on member preferences and others a flannel.
With the guidance of our President, Kat, and our Treasurer, Emily, we have been working away on these pieces. We are so excited to share with you the last night, in a couple weeks, of our finished results!!
Also if you are local, we will have some news to share on our last night of our Trachtenjacke workshop so be on the look out!

Looking for a chance to have your little one meet Santa and have an evening of food and entertainment? Check this one out! This event was shared with us so we want to share it with you!

We want to wish this beautiful lady a most wonderful birthday 🎉! Larissa is a caring mother of 2. Along with her husband they are at our events cheering her and us on! Let’s give a big Prost 🍻 shout out to her today!!

Please join us today at the St Mary of Victories Catholic Church for their Hungarian Picnic!
We will be performing at 2 o'clock but plan to hang out!
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You get home from work, you want to get comfortable, relax and put on comfortable haus shoes, have some dinner, and then you run out of the house and think you have everything for dance practice….you realize that when you arrive you are missing something. Dance shoes!! 🤣
Our President and Dance leader happened to have that moment. But dedication and comfort did not let them skip a beat!!


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Wishing a very happy birthday to our President Kat Schulte today! She is not only wonderful at all that she does and keeps up with for Wir Tanzen-German Folk Dance Group , but also a mama to little Timo, works part time and is expecting another child with her hubby Tim! She's very dedicated and passionate about everything she's involved in and we are all grateful and thankful for that and for all that she does!

Kat, Wir wünschen Dir Alles Liebe und Gute zum Geburtstag! 🎂🎁🎈

We would like to give a warm felt Happy Birthday 🎂 to our President, Kat Schulte. She works very hard at keeping Wir Tanzen going and we appreciate all that she does! Let’s raise our steins and give her a Prost 🍻!!!

It's been busy around here and we're all decompressing and recovering from the long weekend. Here are some photos from our recent events!

Last practice before Saint Charles Oktoberfest!
Come see us perform in the Hofbräu tent on Friday at 7:30p and 9p and on Saturday at 7:30p.

It's opening day for the Munich Oktoberfest!
The Wiesn in Munich is the very first and thus oldest Oktoberfest celebration. It is currently the largest Volksfest in the world, featuring both a beer festival and a carnival. Harvest festivals have been going on for hundereds of years all over the world but Oktoberfest most people know started in 1810 as the celebration of the wedding of Kronprinz Ludwig (later Koenig Ludwig I) and Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen, but included many events that are no longer seen at the festival like horseraces. The lands on which the festival was held was named "Theresienwiese" (Theresa's Meadow) and was once outside the city.
If you would like to learn more, head over to the offical Muich Oktoberfest website:
https://www.oktoberfest.de/en

Here's a cheese recipe to go with those warm soft pretzels we shared last week!

Obazda was invented in the early 1900s at the Weihenstephaner Bräustüberl in Freising. The innkeeper at the time (who is credited for the invention), Katharina Eisenreich, served as the innkeeper from 1920-1958. While there are older versions of cheese spread in the world, the most popular and common recipe found across the country today is some variation of this recipe.

The recipe we are sharing here is not that original Weihenstephaner recipe but it does have very similar ingredients. Including beer!

https://platedcravings.com/bavarian-beer-cheese-spread/

Do you have a recipe you would like us to share?? Send us a message!

Oktoberfest is just around the corner and you need something to go along with the crisp cold bier!

Here is a recipe you can try to make your own Bavarian pretzels 🥨

Let us know how they turned out by sending us a picture!

https://platedcravings.com/bavarian-pretzels/

🏆 Thrilled to share that we’ve been voted Best Breakfast by Hannibal Courier-Post & hannibal.net Readers’ Choice Awards! 🍳 A heartfelt thank you to our community for your unwavering support. ❤️🥓

Parking lot practice because the power is out in the mall.
Gotta do what we gotta do!

Yes we are a dance group, but we are also like a family. Since we didn’t have a dance commitment, we needed another reason to get together. Well, why not a float trip?!?! Unfortunately, not all of our members were able to attend, but for those who could, along with some friends and significant others, it was a good time. Some rain, some shine, and a good time had by all…minus a couple flips and sinks 😂.

Due to rain, we will not be performing at the Ferguson Farmers Market. We are playing some music and hanging out for a while so if you're in the area, come see us!
We will be rescheduling for a different day to come back and dance so keep an eye out for that announcement!
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We're going to the Farmers Market!
We have been invited to perform for the first time at the Farmers Market tomorrow! Their theme is Oktoberfest and we are looking forward to it. We dance at 10 am but that's not all that's going on. The Wurst Bavarian Band will be there to entertain you with German music before and after we perform! The Market runs from 8-12 and the band plays 9-11:30 minus when we dance.
And don't forget that we do public and private events of all kinds including birthday parties and office events! Just reach out to us for more information!

Enrollment is still open for the German school for both Adults and Children if anyone is interested!

Unsere Schule hat begonnen! Our School has started! It is not too late to enroll! Children and adult classes. www.germanschoolstl.org

At our practice last night, we had over 50% membership in attendance. Per our bylaws, that is enough to call for a meeting. The following was discussed and the information will be shared with all of our current members. If anyone else would like a copy of the meeting minutes, please send us an email at [email protected].
Upcoming events:
-Ferguson Farmers Market
-Belleville Oktoberfest
-St Charles Oktoberfest
-Webster Groves Community Oktoberfest (private event)
-Bellerive Country Club Oktoberfest (private event)
Current and Upcoming new dances
-Hony Viter
-Dreisteirer
Role of Prodigy members

If you are interested in attending one of our practices and possibly joining our group, please don't hesitate to reach out to us either through one of our social media pages or the email listed above.

We would like to thank Steffi Schiro, for stepping up and filling the shoes of secretary on such short notice. She has come in during our busiest season so we will be helping her out till she is settled in. She has some shoes to fill.

Let’s welcome her to the board!!

Today is the first day of the annual men's birthday week! THREE of our gentlemen have birthdays this week and we want to wsh them all a very happy birthday!
Neal Thompson is today
Tim Schulte is Tueday
Steve Ballew is Wednesday
Raise a glass to them and another year of dancing!

We would like to give a heartfelt shout out to Jaci Wallace!
Jaci has served as our club secretary for 3 years and is the one responsible for all of our meeting agendas, answering the majority of our emails, and writing and sending our contracts. She has been a huge part in the operation and integral to the success of our club over that course of time.
While she will continue to dance with us, she will be stepping down from her role as our secretary due to the success of her personal business and other endeavors in life.
If anyone is currently pregnant or planning to be and is looking for a local doula who will take very good care of you and your family, we highly suggest reaching out to her at Jaclyn Wallace Doula Services on Facebook or Instagram or visiting her website jwdoulaservices.com!

St Charles Oktoberfest is creeping up on us! Don't forget to mark your calendars and come see us dance on Friday and Saturday evenings!

We have yet another wonderful birthday to celebrate this month! Stephanie (Steffi) has been involved in her German cultural all her life. She is a co-instructor of a German Jugendgruppe and also helps some of our members practice the language. Everyone give a shout out! Happy birthday, girlie!

We want to wish one of our members, Denise Ballew, a most wonderful happy birthday! She has been and still is a very active member in her German culture. Let’s wish her the best day!

Happiest of birthdays to our member: Jennelle Owens!

Alles Gute zum nachträglichen Geburtstag Jennelle! 🎈

Happy Father’s Day to all!

Another year of Quincy Germanfest is in the books! We had a great time and are so happy that the people of Quincy wanted to host us for a second time. The people here are wonderful and the event is tons of fun!
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It's dark and our photos are blurry but we're going strong at Quincy Germanfest ! We're having a wonderful time and our performances went great! Even teaching some new friends how to dance.
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Happy Memorial Day & a huge thank you to all of the men and women who’ve made the ultimate sacrifice fighting for our country.

Did you know:
Memorial Day is an American holiday, observed on the last Monday of May, honoring the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military. Memorial Day 2023 will occur on Monday, May 29.

Originally known as Decoration Day, it originated in the years following the Civil War and became an official federal holiday in 1971. Many Americans observe Memorial Day by visiting cemeteries or memorials, holding family gatherings and participating in parades. Unofficially, it marks the beginning of the summer season.

To find out more about the history and meaning of Memorial Day check out https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/memorial-day-history

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The whole weekend will be a lot of fun! Come out and see us!

Enjoy!

May Day, and time for Maibaumfeste. A tradition going back to the 16th century symbolising fertility, an end to the cold season and welcome to spring.

And all Maibäume, May Trees, are unique. Decorated with ribbons, wreaths or shields illustrating the local trades and guilds... from the brewery to a lawyer.

And this is the maypole in Munich Viktualienmarkt, one of its most famous landmarks.

Dating from the days of general illiteracy, maypoles represented a village or, as in the case of this maypole, a borough and its trades. For travelling salesmen, or travelling craftsmen looking for a new master.

Music, singing and dancing around the poles lasts well into the night. Even this May Day when it is cold and wet in a lot of regions.

Accompanied by a brass band... of course.

Traditional seasonal beer, brewed specially for May and springtime, and "Brezeln und Würste", pretzels and sausages, provide the energy for all that partying.

Munich's maypole is a gift from the city's six major traditional breweries to the city and its citizens, and in Bavaria the poles are usually painted blue and white.

In other regions the poles are red and white, or left as a polished bare tree trunk.

And regular celebrations can be counted on, as wear, tear, and the weather, mean they must be replaced after four or five years.

Photo credit: Viktualienmarkt May Pole, Munich, Bavaria, by holzijue via Pixabay