Sundays in my city....I thought I'd tell you about a few of the curious customs/traditions we have come across.
Often you will pass the Cathedral steps and find a young man wearing a top hat and sweeping the church steps. The steps are filled with hundreds of beer bottle caps and a party of friends and family cheering and drinking, sometimes singing all the while he sweeps and waits. He is there because he has turned 30 years old and is unmarried, this is his penance! He is waiting to be released of his sweeping duties by the kiss of an unknown young lady. For the ladies that are unmarried at thirty they polish the church door knobs until receiving a kiss from an unknown young man.On this day I came upon the sweeper it was really fun and exciting to see, it went on for some time and out of no where a young girl walked up the steps kissed his cheek and kept walking. A roar cheers and laughter and possible begging for her to come back. The birthday boy cracked open a beer and his friends finished cleaning up the Cathedral steps. I have never witnessed a girl celebrating her 30th, but have watched many 30 year old boys sweep the steps.
Time to celebrate!
Friends finishing the clean up!
This is not so much as a tradition or custom but something you always find going on in the city. Various artist and music performers entertaining the crowds for small change or more. I love this part of my city, it makes me feel like I'm on vacation.
This was a first for me, we came upon him when I was showing my sisters around the city. This is an unmarried man at 40! Wow he is dressed in a donkey suit following a carrot, pulling a cart of beer behind him, with family and friends partying around him. Lots of laughter and mocking...not sure what releases him of his penance.
Hope you enjoyed a few of the entertaining qualities of my city!
Do you know Unknown Mami? She's awesome and she created a fun Sunday theme inviting you to get out and take pictures of your city to share with the rest of us.
27 comments:
such a funny custom....i loved the story! hope your sunday is peaceful.....
xo
I LOVED the turning 30 custom!! thats too funny..While in Amsterdam they had those same type of artists there and I loved it!
Have a great Sunday!
Well I've learned something new there - I've never heard of this before. What fun!
Oh poor unmarried 40-year old! Not because he is unmarried at 40, that makes him lucky, but the donkey suit...not so lucky.
I had never heard of this tradition either.Thanks for sharing.
Party on!! What fun traditions and thanks for showing us part of life in Bremen. I clicked on each photo to see all the fun (those churches are gorgeous). There were so many bottle caps on the steps!!!! I looked a very long time at the gray man, he at first looked like a statute, and his gray-ness accentuated your pretty-ness!! xoxo
Not just any unknown young lady - she's also supposed to be a virgin, but I don't think they ask for proof! We have a really cute little city hall in our town and you'll often see people sweeping or polishing away.
(BTW -Thanks for visiting my blog the other day - I had no idea you were in Bremen. Practically up the road from us.)
Wow, I learned something new today! Thanks for sharing! Great pics!
I love it when you share the customs of the city/country, the beautiful pictures. Thank you for giving me a glimpse into your world.
Blessings, andrea
Oh my word! That sounds so fun : ) What a creative way to celebrate the loss of youth! : ) Of course I don't think girls would be proud to be out there : ) Boys probably think it is the coolest thing int he world that they have ESCAPED marriage thus far : ) Right?
Awesome post!
What a fun custom for 30 year olds-- I think it's better than online dating, although when I was 30 and single I'm not sure I'd have had the nerve to do it myself. THANKS for sharing your city.
xo
What a unique custom. I'm glad you captured the moments and explained it so well.
That is a really interesting tradition.
I'm not sure I'd want to polish door knobs through (but I didn't make it 30 single so I guess I don't need to worry about that one).
What a great post! Such a quaint tradition, but so entertaining. I wonder if they do that here in Munich? I will have to keep an eye out now that I know what it is.
I love that kind of stuff!!! It just makes life so much more fun.
I adore customs of ole involving folklore!
We have nothing like this, but we do have some other fun things that I shall post one fine Sunday, from my "village!"
pve
What a fun custom. You have a nice Sunday city there. You are really making the most of where you're living right now and I think it's wonderful. I enjoy your comments with my coffee early each morning.
Bremen seems so full of enchanting customs and culture! I would love to visit one day.
Love this story! xo
Oooooh, I love a great field trip!!!
loved it.
Love the sweeper story. Thanks for sharing. It would be cool if we had such customs. Um, Maybe. LOL.
do you have any idea how many of those donkeys would be found sitting behind the wheel of a BMW driving in Los Angeles?
Thanks for showing off your city! Loved your post!
I'm guessing the reason you've never seen 30 year old women is because they don't want to be a public old maid. Men don't care.
oh those are cool photo hunts and funny stories... I just miss all of that atmosphere in general.
Hey nice...I grew up down the road from a place called the Bremen Hotel, which was owned by (duh) people from Bremen :)`
always fascinated by all these quirky customs & traditions...Thanks Frau!
xo*
Thanks for sharing. I bet if this were a custom here in the US, there would be more married people. Haha. I think people would marry before stooping to sweep public steps!
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