New Year's Day (redirected from Neujahrstag)

New Year's Day, among ancient peoples the first day of the year frequently corresponded to the vernal or autumnal equinox, or to the summer or winter solstice. In the Middle Ages it was celebrated among Christians usually on Mar. 25. After the adoption of the Gregorian calendar that began in 1582, the day was observed on the first of January. The Jewish New Year is the first day of Tishri, which falls some time in September or in early October. The Chinese New Year (between Jan. 10 and Feb. 19 of the Gregorian calendar) is the most important of their festivals. The Muslim New Year falls on the first day of Muharram.

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New Year's Day

First day of the new year, celebrated with religious, cultural, and social observances around the world. It is usually marked by rites and ceremonies that symbolize casting off the old year and rejoicing in the new. Most of the world recognizes January 1 as the start of a new year because the Gregorian calendar, from its papal origin in 1582, has become the international reference for treaties, corporate contracts, and other legal documents. Nevertheless, numerous religious and national calendars have been retained. For example, in the Persian calendar (used in Iran and Afghanistan) New Year's Day falls on the spring equinox (March 20 or 21 in the Gregorian calendar). The more widely employed Islamic (Hijri) calendar is based on 12 lunar months of 29 or 30 days; thus, the Islamic New Year's Day gradually regresses through the longer Gregorian calendar. The Hindu new year starts on the day following the first new moon on or after the spring equinox. The Chinese new year begins at sunset on the new moon in the sign of Aquarius (late January or early February). The Hebrew calendar is based on 12 lunar months (13 in certain years) of 29 or 30 days; the Jewish New Year's Day, or Rosh Hashanah, can fall anytime from September 6 to October 5 in the Gregorian calendar.

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New Year's Day

January 1

Celebrating the first day of the year on the first day of January is a relatively modern practice. Although the Romans began marking the beginning of their civil year on January 1, the traditional springtime opening of the growing season and time for major military campaigns still held on as the popular New Year celebration.
William the Conqueror decreed that the New Year commence on January 1, but practice in England was still variable. Even after the Gregorian calendar was adopted by all Roman Catholic countries in 1582, Great Britain and the English colonies in America continued to begin the year on March 25 in accordance with the old Julian calendar. It wasn't until 1752 that Britain and its possessions adopted the New Style (Gregorian) calendar and accepted January 1 as the beginning of the year.
New Year's Day is a public holiday in the U.S. and in many other countries, and is traditionally a day for receiving visitors and recovering from New Year's Eve festivities. A favorite pastime in the United States is watching football games on television—especially the Rose Bowl game in Pasadena, California, the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas, the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, Louisiana, and the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida. A number of parades are also televised on New Year's Day, one of the most famous being the Mummers' Parade in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. New Year's is a time for making resolutions for the coming year—promises that are loudly proclaimed and then often forgotten.
See also Hogmanay; Lunar New Year; Oshogatsu; St. Basil, Feast of; Sol

SOURCES:
AmerBkDays-2000, pp. 2, 248
BkDays-1864, vol. I, p. 27
BkFest-1937, pp. 3, 14, 22, 29, 37, 51, 65, 77, 84, 94, 101, 110, 118, 131, 143, 157, 165, 178, 194, 203, 210, 218, 236, 240, 248, 266, 273, 288, 297, 307, 316, 326, 335
DaysCustFaith-1957, pp. 17, 355
DictFolkMyth-1984, pp. 181, 790, 791, 950, 1063
EncyChristmas-2003, pp. 509, 549
FestSaintDays-1915, pp. 1, 2, 4, 7
FestWestEur-1958, pp. 3, 22, 32, 54, 87, 105, 121, 150, 160, 188, 210, 225
FolkAmerHol-1999, p. 1
FolkWrldHol-1999, p. 1
OxYear-1999, p. 6

Celebration day: Jan 1

Celebrated in: Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Comoros, Costa Rica, Cote d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, England and Wales, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Germany, Ghana, Gibraltar, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Niue, North Korea, Northern Ireland, Norway, Oman, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Congo, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam, Zambia, Zimbabwe

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New Year's Day (Denmark) (Nytaarsdag)

January 1

In towns and cities throughout Denmark, the New Year marks the beginning of one of the most important social seasons in the calendar. Men and women attend church services and later call on relatives and friends to wish them a Happy New Year. These social calls only last about a half hour, but they go on for almost two weeks. Wine and small cookies are usually served during these visits.
Young people usher in the New Year by banging loudly on their friends' doors and throwing pieces of broken pottery that they have collected during the year against the sides of their houses.

CONTACTS:
Embassy of Denmark
3200 Whitehaven St. N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20008
202-234-4300; fax: 202-328-1470
www.ambwashington.um.dk

SOURCES:
BkFest-1937, p. 94
BkFestHolWrld-1970, p. 2
EncyChristmas-2003, p. 194
FestWestEur-1958, p. 22

Celebration day: Jan 1

Celebrated in: Denmark

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New Year's Day (France)

January 1

Known as Le Jour de l'An or Le Jour des Étrennes for the gifts that are exchanged on this day, New Year's Day in France is a time for family reunions, visits, and greeting cards or letters. Tradespeople traditionally send their errand boys or girls to deliver gifts to their patrons. The baker, for example, might send a brioche, while the butcher might send a chicken and the dairyman some eggs. Those who deliver the gifts are usually given wine or money. Servants and clerks often receive an extra month's pay as a New Year's gift, while family and friends give each other chocolates, flowers, preserved fruit, and marrons glacÉs, or candied chestnuts.
In the afternoon, men pay social calls on their women friends and young people visit their elders. In the evening, a formal dinner is usually held at the home of the family's eldest member. Since relatives come from far and wide to attend these reunions, they are usually very large and festive affairs.

SOURCES:
BkFest-1937, p. 188
EncyChristmas-2003, p. 265
FestWestEur-1958, p. 32
FolkWrldHol-1999, p. 2

Celebration day: Jan 1

Celebrated in: France

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New Year's Day (Germany)

January 1

According to German folk tradition, Neujahr is a time of new beginnings, and the first day of the year must be lived as you hope to live during the next 12 months. Housewives put forth an extra effort to make sure their homes are in order, and everyone wears new clothes. People avoid unpleasant tasks and try not to spend money, although they often jingle the coins in their pockets for good luck. People exchange greeting cards, but the giving of gifts is confined to those who have served the family throughout the year—for example, the mail carrier, janitor, and cleaning person.

SOURCES:
BkFest-1937, p. 131
BkFestHolWrld-1970, p. 3
FestWestEur-1958, p. 54

Celebration day: Jan 1

Celebrated in: Germany

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New Year's Day (Lithuania)

January 1

Lithuanians have nicknamed New Year's Eve "Little Christmas Eve," because the holidays are celebrated in comparable ways. After eating dinner people sit up to welcome the start of the new year. Like Christmas Eve, New Year's Eve furnishes Lithuanians with an important opportunity for fortune telling. Many New Year's Eve superstitions taught young men and women a wide variety of charms that would reveal something of their future mates.
People watch the weather on New Year's Day carefully, as it is believed to predict the weather for the coming year. Human activities are also viewed as indicators of future events. People try to smile and be kind to one another, as this means that they can expect the same throughout the year. People hope to hear good news when they rise on New Year's Day. The first piece of news they hear, whether good or bad, reveals the kind of news they will receive in the year to come.

SOURCES:
EncyChristmas-2003, p. 432

Celebration day: Jan 1

Celebrated in: Lithuania

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New Year's Day (Malta)

January 1

The Republic of Malta is a small country in the central Mediterranean that consists of seven islands. The Maltese Islands have a strong Catholic population that celebrates a wide variety of events throughout the religious year. Religious holidays are widely celebrated in Malta. Most Maltese families are very close-knit, and the holidays are a time to strengthen the sense of community and reinforce family bonds.
In Malta, the arrival of the New Year is celebrated on both a secular level and a religious level. Starting on New Year's Eve, most Maltese celebrate by going out for dinner and/or attending a party to ring in the New Year. For New Year's Day, most Maltese celebrate on a secular level by going out for lunch or organizing family lunches. On a religious level, many Maltese celebrate the Feast of Mary Mother of God. Across the country, religious new year celebrations are held in churches and chapels. Practicing Catholics in Malta are expected to observe the Feast of Mary Mother of God by attending mass on this day.

CONTACTS:
Malta Tourism Authority
Auberge D'Italie
Merchants St.
Valetta VLT 1170 Malta
www.visitmalta.com

Celebration day: Jan 1

Celebrated in: Malta

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New Year's Day (Netherlands) (Nieuwjaarsdag)

January 1

The first day of the New Year in the Netherlands is spent eating holiday cakes, breads, and waffles, visiting friends, and drinking slemp, a traditional New Year's hot beverage made with milk, tea, sugar, and spices. Traditional baked specialties include knijpertjes, or "clothespins," which have been popular since the Middle Ages, and a long decorative loaf known as duivekater . These and other holiday cakes and pastries are served with slemp, which was originally sold to skaters from stalls on the ice-covered canals.
In Zeeland, Overijssel, and other areas, boys go from house to house ringing bells and wishing people a Happy New Year. Sometimes they bang on a homemade drum called a rommelpot, or "rumble pot," and beg for pennies. It is possible that the rommelpot was originally intended to frighten away evil spirits at the start of the New Year.

SOURCES:
BkFest-1937, p. 240
FestWestEur-1958, p. 121
(c)

Celebration day: Jan 1

Celebrated in: Netherlands

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New Year's Day (Portugal) (Ano Novo)

January 1

In Portugal, the New Year begins with special church services. Afterward, friends and relatives visit each other's houses, greeting each other with "Boas Festas" (Happy Holidays) and exchanging good wishes. In addition, people often make promises about how they will live their lives in the coming year.
In northern Portugal, children go through the neighborhood singing old songs called janeiras ("January songs"), which are thought to bring luck in the coming year. Sometimes a band of local musicians will go through the streets, stopping to play a special selection when they pass the house of someone they know.
There are many traditions and folk beliefs concerning New Year's Day. People tend to mind their manners, believing that how they conduct themselves on this day foreshadows their behavior for the coming year. If they should pay off a debt on New Year's Day, they are likely to end up paying for the next 12 months. It is the custom in Portugal on New Year's Eve to choose 12 grapes from a bunch, and to eat them one after another just as the clock strikes 12, offering New Year's wishes to everyone in the room. This act is supposed to guarantee happiness in the coming year.

SOURCES:
BkFest-1937, p. 266
BkFestHolWrld-1970, pp. 3, 5
FestWestEur-1958, p. 160

Celebration day: Jan 1

Celebrated in: Portugal

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New Year's Day (Romania) (Anul Nou)

January 1

Children welcome the New Year in Romania with an ancient fertility rite called samanatul, or "sowing." They stuff their pockets with corn and go from house to house, throwing corn at people and greeting them with wishes for a long life. In some parts of Romania, the sorcova —a stick to which flowers are tied—is used instead of corn. The flowers are from twigs plucked on St. Andrew's Eve and forced into blossom by Christmas. Rather than throwing corn at people, the children brush their faces lightly with the sorcova. This custom may be a survival from ancient Roman times, when people saluted one another with laurel branches.
Romanians also celebrate New Year's Day by exchanging gifts. Servants, the poor, and the young often receive gifts of money.

SOURCES:
BkFest-1937, p. 273

Celebration day: Jan 1

Celebrated in: Romania

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New Year's Day (Russia)

January 1

Under the Communist system New Year's Day largely replaced Christmas as the major winter festival in the former Soviet Union ( see Russian Winter Festival). Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, however, this, or New Year's Eve, is still the day on which Grandfather Frost visits and brings gifts for children. Within the walls of Moscow's Kremlin, there was a huge party at the Palace of Congresses attended by as many as 50,000 children. Entertainment at the party included the arrival of D'yed Moroz, or Grandfather Frost, wearing a white beard, red robe, and a hat trimmed in white fur and riding a Sputnik-drawn sleigh or some other outlandish vehicle. There were also troops of folk dancers, magicians, clowns, and tumblers who performed for the children. Older Muscovites celebrated New Year's by attending dances at schools, clubs, theaters, and union halls. Outside of Moscow, the same festivities took place on a more modest scale.
Caviar, smoked fish, roast meats, and other treats were served in honor of the holiday. Among the many cakes and sweets served were babka, a yeast coffee cake made in a round pan, and kulich, a fancy fruitbread of Ukrainian origin made in three tiers to symbolize the Trinity.

SOURCES:
BkFest-1937, p. 288
EncyChristmas-2003, p. 653
FolkWrldHol-1999, p. 5

Celebration day: Jan 1

Celebrated in: Russian Federation

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New Year's Day (Switzerland) (Neujahrstag)

January 1

The Swiss celebrate New Year's Day with amateur dramatic performances, visits with friends, and feasting on roast goose with chestnut stuffing, New Year's bread, and birewegge, or pear pie, which looks like a shiny loaf of bread and has a rich filling of pears and raisins. Goose necks filled with ground giblets, seasoning, and other ingredients are a favorite delicacy when sliced thin and served as a between-meal snack. Although the holiday is generally a quiet one, children often hide on New Year's morning, startling their parents when they jump out to give them New Year's greetings.
According to Swiss folklore, the first day of January is full of omens and predictions. A red sky, for example, signifies storms, fire, and war in the coming year. Meeting a woman the first thing on New Year's Day is thought to bring bad luck, while encountering a man or a child is looked upon as a good sign.

SOURCES:
BkFest-1937, p. 316
FestWestEur-1958, p. 225
(c)

Celebration day: Jan 1

Celebrated in: Switzerland

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New Year’s Day 

the first day of the year. Since ancient times, New Year’s Day has been regarded as a major holiday by most peoples. It is celebrated at different times by different peoples, and its date has changed numerous times over the centuries. In all European countries and in many other countries, New Year’s Day falls on January 1. Where a lunar or lunisolar calendar is used, the beginning of the year may fall on various days of the solar year.

The welcoming of the new year is accompanied by various ceremonies that have evolved over many centuries. Many peoples greet the new year by arranging festive receptions and outdoor gatherings. The tradition of exchanging gifts and greetings has existed since antiquity. Among the rural inhabitants of Europe, New Year’s Day was part of the general winter holiday cycle and was accompanied, as were other days of the cycle, by various ceremonies and types of fortune-telling. Despite the variety of forms New Year’s Day rituals took among different peoples, their significance was the same everywhere: to divine what the new year would bring and to secure good fortune and happiness for the whole family through magic. Today, most of these New Year’s customs have either been forgotten or have lost their magical significance, becoming merely games or diversions.

In Russia, Peter the Great established in 1699 that January 1 would be the first day of the year. In his decree, he enjoined the inhabitants of Moscow to greet the new year by lighting bonfires on New Year’s eve, to decorate their homes with greenery, and to congratulate one another. In the USSR, New Year’s Day is a popular holiday, and new elements are combined with old traditions in its observance—the holiday feast, the decorated and brightly lit fir tree, the exchanging of gifts, and the allegorical figures of Grandfather Frost and the Snow Maiden.

I. N. GROZDOVA