I’m going across the country later today to visit a friend in Köln (Cologne) for Halloween–we’re going to a gay Halloween party and are dressing up as 80s fitness enthusiasts. Halloween in Germany apparently is a recent phenomenon. My German teacher said that 10 years ago, when her son was 9, no one except their American ex-pat neighbors celebrated Halloween. They introduced her son to trick-or-treating, wearing costumes and the like. Otherwise, Halloween was just something kids learned about in school in lessons on American culture.
But that’s changing. There are lots of ads for Halloween parties here in Berlin. There’s a costume store on the corner by my apartment that seems to be doing a big business (although it closed at 7 pm, as usual, every night this week, which I find incredible!). I don’t find this surprising–American culture has already spread so far throughout the world. You’d think a fun tradition like Halloween would be one of the first to be adopted.
Of course I don’t expect the same degree of merriment as in New York–especially on a Friday night, I imagine it will be crazy there. But it will be interesting to see how the Germans celebrate this American holiday.
