Vatertag, Herrentag, Männertag, Christi Himmelfahrt: Germany's many names for Ascension Day

Few holidays go by as many different names as Ascension Day in Germany.

Interestingly, an analysis of these four different names, and why and when they were introduced, shows that Germany is spiritual, hearty, caring, and complex.

Here's the history of the many German names for the public holiday in brief:

(As an aside, it’s worth noting that there’s no settled explanation in Germany for why and how three quite distinct traditions ended up merging into one, or on the exact order of events which led to this outcome).

Christi Himmelfahrt (Christ’s Ascension)

Christi Himmelfahrt is basically the German translation of Ascension Day -- it literally means Christ’s Ascension (or even more literally 'Christ goes to sky').

A fun word to say (particularly for English-speaking children) and an important religious celebration, Christi Himmelfahrt is always on a Thursday because it always takes place exactly 40 days after Easter Sunday.

According to the Gospel, after he came back to life, Jesus Christ spent 40 days visiting his disciples and sharing the news of his miraculous resurrection, and then at the end of this period, he ascended bodily into heaven – along with his mother, Mary, he was one of only two to ever accomplish this feat.

Christi Himmelfahrt has been a holiday in Germany since the Middle Ages, when people went into the fields to pray for a good harvest.

Interestingly, it has also been associated with excessive alcohol consumption for very nearly as long, because after praying, the faithful tended to celebrate with a serious feast, and for a good feast there should also be good drink. 

In some Catholic regions, processions into the fields continue to take place. While the holiday retains its religious character in much of western and southern Germany, the situation is rather different in northern and eastern Germany.

Herrentag (Gentlemen’s Day)

At some point during the 18^th century, these processions began evolving -- or perhaps reverting to earlier, more pagan traditions.

In a celebration of fertility and masculinity, men would arrive in the village square in decorated wagons and whoever had fathered the most children would be presented with a ham (or an similar prize).

The tradition evolved again at the end of the nineteenth century, when working men from Berlin started getting together for a daytrip into the countryside on Ascension Day, accompanied by a cart filled to bursting with food and beer. This development seems to have been prompted by the introduction of Mother’s Day in Germany, inspiring men to cast about for a day of their own.

Vatertag (Father's Day)

At some point, it seems that people started wondering about the wisdom of encouraging male-only beer and testosterone-fuelled excursions into the countryside.

READ ALSO: Why Germans get wholly wasted on Ascension Day

In 1910, American Sonora Louisa Dodd established Father's Day in honour of her father, a war veteran who raised her and her five siblings on his own after his wife’s death. The idea arrived in Europe in the 1920s and efforts were made to rebrand Herrentag as Vatertag (with a view to replacing drunken male revelry in the woods with wholesome quality time at home).

German men have been impressively stubborn in their allegiance to the traditions of Herrentag, however, with many still clinging to their wagons of beer in preference to spending quality time with their children.

Männertag (Men’s Day)

The terms Herrentag and Männertag are generally used interchangeably (Herrentag is more common in eastern Germany). Optimistically, they also seem to gesture at a general trend towards greater inclusivity across the centuries.

Christi Himmelfahrt was a holiday for nearly everyone when it was first introduced. Back then nearly everyone in Germany was a Catholic. But still, it was notably a holiday designed to celebrate just one man.

Herrentag let more people in on the action, but only men of a certain class. Herr literally means “sir” or “lord”.

Vatertag is arguably a step more inclusive, because there are no class barriers to becoming a father.

Now, under the auspices of Männertag, participants no longer need to be divine, or a gentleman, or a father. They just need to be men who enjoy time with their friends, large quantities of beer, and elaborately decorated handcarts!

Even further, increasingly some German families choose to observe the holiday altogether, finally casting out the idea that the day should belong only to the men.