GCSE German students host festivities for Karneval – the Germanic tradition to mark the end of winter.
The origin of Karneval was to mark the end of winter, chase away evil winter spirits and to indulge in food and sweet treats before the fasting period of Lent begins. This year, it started on 12 February and finishes on Shrove Monday. It is celebrated in Germany, Austria and Switzerland by having large parades with people dressing up and indulging in Karneval food. This year at SHSK, we decided to have our own celebration for Karneval. We started by having a delicious German lunch of Bratwurst and then finishing off with a ‘Berliner’ (a jam-filled donut) for a traditional dessert.
The GCSE German students then held lots of fun activities in Old School Hall for the rest of the school to take part in. There was face painting, mask decorating and lots of Karneval games with sweet prizes to be won. At the end of lunch, a group of students put on funny hats and glasses and went up to the balcony above the rest of the school, we did a big count down and then we threw packs of sweets for everyone to catch. Thank you to the catering team and Frau Ireland for making it happen. We all had a great time.
