New year cookies
The New Year pastries , in older parlance as Neujährchen is called in German-speaking usually a from wheat flour existing yeast pastries, which traditionally the year is baked and has different regional characteristics. Because of the different shapes, the yeast pastry is one of the formed breads . They are baked as trees, rabbits, deer, pigs, pretzels or braids.
meaning
The New Year's biscuits in the form of bread, cakes, tarts or waffles, which are considered good luck charms , are popular pastries that are given away on New Year's morning and in many places also eaten together. In its original meaning the pastry was supposed to protect against illness, misfortune and hunger. Also symbolize z. B. the pretzel and the wreath bond and are supposed to bring happiness and health.
Some of the leftover pastries were fed to farm animals to protect them from harm. It was also customary to dry a further part of the pastry leftovers, to chop it and to distribute it with the seeds in the fields for a rich harvest.
Regional
Rhineland / Bergisches Land
In the Rhineland , in the Bergisches Land and on the Moselle , giving presents from family members and friends, and in former times also servants, is a tradition and can be traced back to the 15th century in Bonn , for example . Gifts were given in kind or in cash.
The New Year's biscuits in the form of wreaths, clover leaves or animals were originally a gift for children who received them from their godparents on New Year's morning. This custom is still practiced in Winningen . The boys receive bread in the shape of a horse, the girls receive a wreath. In the 19th century, among other things, children were given the baked goods during so-called Heischegänge when they went from door to door and recited a poem.
In the 19th century it was the custom in the Eifel to give away yeast bread in the form of pressed sculptures. Pretzels (Wängel) and S-shaped pastries, the Nöijjöarkes, were popular on the Lower Rhine. In the Oberbergisches Land, flatbread-like oatmeal waffles made with carrot juice were a popular New Year's pastry.
On the Ahr , in the Bonn area and in the Upper Bergisches Land, it was sometimes the custom of young men or boys to play cards in taverns over pastries on New Year's Eve until the early hours of the morning . On the Lower Rhine, the pastries were bowled over .
North Rhine-Westphalia / Münsterland
The New Year's wreath is a yeast pastry braided from three different strands of dough, which is traditionally baked in the Münsterland at the turn of the year and given away to acquaintances and friends who you meet on New Year's Day. It should give the recipient a good start into the new year.
other areas
- In Baden-Württemberg , New Year's croissants are croissants made from thin waffles, pretzels or “New Year's Men”, which in turn are part of the bread rolls.
- The East Frisian New Year's tokens are baked in a special waffle iron and then immediately formed into small rolls.
- In the Rhine-Main area , mainly in Rheinhessen, there are the so-called New Years Bopp . In Frankfurt people prefer the stutzweck .
- In Franconia, at least in Upper Franconia, the turn of the year is a typical time for donuts in addition to the carnival season .
Other countries
- In France it is customary to cut the galette , a cake-like puff pastry with or without a marzipan filling, until Epiphany (in France the first Sunday after New Year) .
- The Basil Bread and vasilopita (New Year cake) with baked-coins are in Greece New Year pastries.
- In England it is sometimes the custom to visit your neighbors for cake and wine on New Year's Day and give away triangular tarts filled with minced meat.
- In Scotland , a fruit cake is consumed at Hogmanay , the Scottish New Year celebrations traditionally Black Bun .
literature
- Alois Döring: New Year . In: Landschaftsverband Rheinland, Office for Rhenish regional studies Bonn (Hrsg.): Rhenish customs through the year . Greven Verlag, Cologne 2006, ISBN 3-7743-0377-0 , p. 43 ff .