Those polled said they spent between 5 - although that was the exception - and 100 euros. Then you have to pay for the contents as well. The cone is pictured in 1925 in Berlin Image: picture-alliance/akg-images Three-quarters of those polled said they made the cone themselves, while one-quarter said they bought it.
I conducted a small and non-representative survey in Münster, which isn't one of the main regions for this tradition. For the cone alone, they spend between 3 and 40 euros ($3.40-45.30). People spend an incredible amount of money on it. How has the school cone tradition changed over the past few years?Īs with many things, it's been exaggerated. But we can see that this symbol for school beginners was so important that no one wanted to do without it.Įconomically speaking, Germany is doing relatively well right now. In one instance, I read that a wooden shoe was put in the bottom of the cone. That means that if I'm financially not in a position to fill up the cone with presents, I can fill it out with extras. And it's not opened at school but afterwards at home. The school cone is really just a container, which means you can't look inside of it. Of course during the World Wars it was problematic finding enough things to put in the cones - particularly for the poorer parts of the population. In the main regions where it's been practiced, people tried to continue with it because they placed a lot of value on the tradition. Was the tradition carried on continuously over the past couple of centuries despite the World Wars and other major historical interruptions? Watch: Dos and don'ts when celebrating a birthday in Germany Today, you'll find sweets, things to play with and school supplies. Then it was called "Zuckerzeug" - literally "sugar stuff," or basically candy. That shows that it's seen as a symbol for a new beginning.īack then, usually the same things that are put in the cones today. It's sometimes also presented to young adults starting vocational school as well. The cone itself is not a tradition, it's an element used in a tradition and it's also simply packaging. Those are also the regions in which very elaborate traditions have developed around the school cone. Those are the main areas where the tradition has spread - they form a kind of belt across the middle of Germany. The early references come from what is now central Germany in the regions of Thuringia, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and perhaps also Rhineland-Palatinate. Instead, people used the paper cones that were used in shops to wrap up sweets.
At that time, there were no pre-made cones. The first written references date back to the late 18th century.
Watch: German learners guess the meaning of these 5 funny idiomsĬan you explain when the school cone tradition began and why? Christiane Cantauw is a German folklore expert Image: C. This transition is associated with many changes for the child and for the family and that's what people want to emphasize with the ritual. Rather it's about making clear that a child's status is changing.
First day of kindergarten gifts full#
By far the most important is the so-called "Schultüte," literally school bag or cone." Folklore expert Christiane Cantauw told DW why the cone tradition began, what goes into them and how new refugee children are getting to participate in the tradition.ĭW: Is the thought of starting school so foreboding for Germans that they have to console themselves with gifts like the Schultüte - a paper cone full of sweets and presents?Ĭhristiane Cantauw: That's a good question, but that's not what the tradition is about. In the gallery above, find out which rituals are associated with starting elementary school. And that's enough reason to celebrate big time. Elementary schools here begin with grade one, not kindergarten or pre-K, so there's a clean break between daycare and the 12 or 13 years of education that follow. The first day of first-grade is a turning point in the life of every German child - and family.
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