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Seven events you can’t miss in October 2019 in Germany

Whether harvest festivals, historical exhibits, or book (and beer) bonanzas, there is something for everyone this month.

Published: 4 October 2019 15:58 CEST
Seven events you can't miss in October 2019 in Germany
The opening day of Weimar's Onion Festival in 2018. Photo: DPA

German Grape Harvest Festival, Neustadt, October 2nd-14th

The Neustadt parade is the largest wine parade in the world. Photo: DPA

This festival takes place at the heart of the German wine route on the first and second weekend of October every year. It is the second largest wine festival in the world.

The main attraction of the festival is the winemakers parade which first wound its way around the streets of Neustadt in 1909. Now, 100,000 visitors are expected to attend the parade which will also see the celebration of the crowning of a new Palatinate wine queen and a new German wine queen.

Through its vast size and extended programme, the Neustadt wine festival shows that Germany takes wine, not just beer, seriously.

Exhibit: Prenzlauer Berg before, during and after the Mauerfall, Berlin, starting October 4th

The Ernst Thälmann memorial, one of the sites featured in the exhibit. Photo: DPA

It’s hard to tell that the increasingly posh Berlin neighbourhood of Prenzlauer Berg once belonged to former East Germany. Yet, as Germany celebrates 30 years of the fall of the Berlin Wall this November 9th, a new exhibit has opened to show how the central Kiez was a catalyst for change, starting from the 1970s on.

Museum Pankow’s permanent exhibition, which opened on Friday, shows where and how counter movements to communism started, leading visitors outside to many buildings, parks and open spaces where ordinary people peacefully pushed for the landmark events of 1989. 

Ludwigsburg Pumpkin Festival, Now-November 3rd

Every year “Germany's largest pumkin” is honoured at the festival. Photo: DPA

Set in the beautiful grounds of Ludwigsburg Palace, this is the largest Pumpkin Festival in the world. It is not only a festival for children, but for adults too, with gourmet food and drinks (all with the seasonal squash as an ingredient, of course) alongside children's entertainment and activities such as storytelling and a Halloween carving tent.

There are more than 450,000 pumpkins on display at the festival alongside an extended programme of events. Sadly the pumpkin canoe regatta has already taken place, but there is still much more to come throughout October including the all important pumpkin weigh offs and and giant pumpkin carving competitions.

Weimar Onion Festival, October 11th-13th

A video by the city of Weimar for the famous 'Zwiebelmarkt'.

This year marks the  the 366th edition of the Weimar Zwiebelmarkt, the oldest folk festival in Thürigen. There are about 600 stalls selling various onion related wares, alongside a whole programme of music and events.

Highlights of the festival include trying the special onion cake, the crowning of the Zwiebelmarkt Queen, and the display and sale of Zwiebelzöpfe, braids made of onions and decorated with flowers. On the Saturday of the festival there is even a city run including a children's race, a 10km race and a half marathon. The route runs right through – not surprisingly – the middle of the Zwiebelmarkt.

Cannstatter Volksfest, Stuttgart, Now-October 13th

A tent inside the Cannstatter Volksfest. Photo: DPA

Munich’s Oktoberfest is no doubt the most well-known beer extravaganza. But if you miss it before its final weekend this Sunday, October 6th, why not check out a (slightly) more laid-back festival in southern Germany: Stuttgart’s Cannstatter Volksfest. 

READ ALSO: Forget Oktoberfest. Here's why you should visit Cannstatter Volksfest instead

Running through mid-October, it offers a variety of amusement park rides for kids and adults alike. Keeping the southern German spirit alive, there are also a variety of themed tents with long tables, serving a variety of brews in impressively large mugs. Check out the Schwabenwelt for a taste of Baden-Württemberg’s famously rich cuisine or the Almhürttendorf tent for a bit of Alpine ambiance. 

Frankfurt Book Fair, Frankfurt am Main, October 16th-19th

A visitor to the Frankfurt book fair in 2017. Photo: DPA

The perfect match for Germany's book lovers, the Frankfurt Book Fair is the world's largest book trade fair. The first three days of the festival are only open to those in the business, but the weekend at the end of the festival is open to the public and is well worth a visit.

The first book fair in Frankfurt was held in 1454, and it remains to this day one of the most significant book fairs in the world. Along with the fair, there will be a book festival throughout the city, including readings and poetry slams at venues such as the English Theatre.

Burg Frankenstein Haunted Castle, Darmstadt, October 25th-November 10th

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

 
 

 
 
 

 
 

A post shared by Halloween Burg Frankenstein (@halloween.burgfrankenstein) on Sep 30, 2019 at 11:30am PDT

By now, most of us know have the date of October 31st in mind for the UK’s planned departure from the EU. But there’s another event – that many people would argue is even scarier – taking place on this day: Halloween.

At ‘Burg Frankenstein’, you can feel creeped out in a 1000 year old castle ruin, complete with 12 “scare zones” and 100 costomed creatures. While Halloween has only been picking up in popularity over the past few years in Germany, this scary spectacle has spooked out guests since 1977. The well-known castle stands on a 370 metre high foothill of Langenberg near Darmstadt.

READ ALSO: Following Frankenstein's footsteps in Ingolstadt

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Five signs you’ve settled into life in Switzerland

Getting adjusted to Swiss ways is not always easy for foreign nationals, but with a lot of perseverance it can be done. This is how you know you’ve assimilated.

Published: 30 September 2021 16:50 CEST
Updated: 14 August 2022 07:05 CEST
Five signs you've settled into life in Switzerland
No lint: Following laundry room rules is a sign of integration in Switzerland. Photo by Sara Chai from Pexels

Much has been said about Switzerland’s quirkiness, but when you think about it, this country’s idiosyncrasies are not more or less weird than any other nation’s — except for the fact that they are expressed in at least three languages which, admittedly, can complicate matters a bit.

However, once you master the intricacies and nuances of Swiss life, you will feel like you belong here.

This is when you know you’ve “made it”.

You speak one of the national languages, even if badly

It irritates the Swiss to no end when a foreigner, and particularly an English-speaking foreigner, doesn’t make an effort to learn the language of a region in which he or she lives, insisting instead that everyone communicates to them in their language.

So speaking the local language will go a long way to being accepted and making you feel settled in your new home.

You get a Swiss watch and live by it

Punctuality is a virtue here, while tardiness is a definite no-no.

If you want to ingratiate yourself to the Swiss, be on time. Being even a minute late  may cause you to miss your bus, but also fail in the cultural integration.

‘The pleasure of punctuality’: Why are the Swiss so obsessed with being on time?

Using an excuse like “my train was late” may be valid in other countries, but not in Switzerland.

The only exception to this rule is if a herd of cows or goats blocks your path, causing you to be late.

A close-up of a Rolex watch in Switzerland.

Owning a Rolex is a sure sign you’re rich enough to live in Switzerland. Photo by Adam Bignell on Unsplash

You sort and recycle your trash

The Swiss are meticulous when it comes to waste disposal and, not surprisingly, they have strict regulations on how to throw away trash in an environmentally correct manner.

Throwing away all your waste in a trash bag without separating it first — for instance, mixing PET bottles with tin cans or paper — is an offence in Switzerland which can result in heavy fines, the amount of which is determined by each individual commune.

In fact, the more assiduous residents separate every possible waste item — not just paper, cardboard, batteries and bottles (sorted by colour), but also coffee capsules, yogurt containers, scrap iron and steel, organic waste, carpets, and electronics.

In fact, with their well-organised communal dumpsters or recycling bins in neighbourhoods, the Swiss have taken the mundane act of throwing out one’s garbage to a whole new level of efficiency.

So one of the best ways to fit in is to be as trash-oriented as the Swiss.

READ MORE: Eight ways you might be annoying your neighbours (and not realising it) in Switzerland

You trim your hedges with a ruler

How your garden looks says a lot about you.

If it’s unkempt and overgrown with weeds, you are clearly a foreigner (though likely not German or Austrian).

But if your grass is cut neatly and your hedges trimmed with military-like precision (except on Sundays), and some of your bushes and shrubs are shaped like poodles,  you will definitely fit in.

You follow the laundry room rules

If you live in an apartment building, chances are there is a communal laundry room in the basement that is shared by all the residents.

As everything else in Switzerland, these facilities are regulated by a …laundry list of “dos” and “don’ts” that you’d well to commit to memory and adhere to meticulously.

These rules relate to everything from adhering to the assigned time slot to removing lint from the dryer.

Following each rule to the letter, and not trying to wash your laundry in someone else’s time slot, is a sign of successful integration.

Voilà, the five signs you are “at home” in Switzerland.

READ MORE: French-speaking Switzerland: Seven life hacks that will make you feel like a local

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