Sankt Martin ritt durch Schnee und Wind
Saint Martin rode through snow and wind – Celebrating Saint Martin's Day
Happy November! As the days are getting darker and colder here in Germany, one traditional celebration shines bright amidst the wait for Glühwein and Christmas markets – Saint Martin’s Day.
Martinstag honors Martin of Tours, a Roman soldier and Catholic bishop who was known for his kind heart and good deeds. Martin is best remembered for a “good Samaritan”-type tale of kindness in which he cuts his own cloak in half to offer warmth to a ragged beggar in the depths of winter.
Saint Martin’s Day celebrations are hard to miss in Germany’s more Catholic regions, where processions (or Martinsumzüge) of children and adults carrying colorful lanterns can be seen parading down main streets after sundown on or around November 11, often following a horseback figure representing Saint Martin.
I’ve been surprised by the sheer number of German songs dedicated to Saint Martin and the time-honored tradition of Laternelaufen (I’ll link to a few extra Martinslieder below), but the classic German Volkslied “Sankt Martin ritt durch Schnee und Wind” succinctly shares Saint Martin’s story:
Sankt Martin, Sankt Martin
Saint Martin, Saint Martin
Sankt Martin ritt durch Schnee und Wind
Saint Martin rode through snow and wind
Sein Ross, das trug ihn fort, geschwind
His steed carried him swiftly away
Sankt Martin ritt mit leichtem Mut
Saint Martin rode with light courage
Sein Mantel deckt ihn warm und gut
His cloak covered him warmly and wellIm Schnee saß, im Schnee saß
In the snow sat, in the snow sat
Im Schnee, da saß ein armer Mann
In the snow, there sat a poor man
Hatt Kleider nicht, hatt Lumpen an
Had no clothes, had rags on
"Oh, helft mir doch in meiner Not
“Oh, help me please in my need
Sonst ist der bittre Frost mein Tod"
Otherwise the bitter frost will be the death of me”
The German language has multiple verb tenses for expressing events in the past, with the Past Perfect (das Perfekt) being the one most often encountered in everyday spoken conversation:
Meine Tochter hat eine Laterne für den Martinstag gebastelt.
My daughter made a lantern for Saint Martin’s Day.
(Check out the Sprachmelodie post on “Oft gefragt” by AnnenMayKantereit for a full breakdown of das Perfekt.)
But the past can also be described using the Simple Past (also known as das Präteritum or das Imperfekt), a tense often used in written text and storytelling. The narrative style of “Sankt Martin ritt durch Schnee und Wind” makes it a likely place to find many great examples of das Präteritum:
Sankt Martin ritt durch Schnee und Wind
St. Martin rode through snow and windIm Schnee, da saß ein armer Mann
In the snow, there sat a poor manSankt Martin zog die Zügel an
St. Martin pulled on the reinsSankt Martin gab den Halben still
St. Martin quietly gave the half (cloak)
While there is a standard way to conjugate regular verbs in the Simple Past, das Präteritum also contains a wide range of irregular verbs forms which must (unfortunately) be memorized. Interestingly, many of these irregular Präteritum verb forms show a strong connection to the English language:
beginnen (to begin) → ich begann (I began)
rennen (to run) → ich rannte (I ran)
sehen (to see) → ich sah (I saw)
singen (to sing) → ich sang (I sang)
stehen (to stand) → ich stand (I stood)
For a full breakdown of how to use and form German’s Simple Past tense, check out this article from Lingoda.
If you’re looking for more German language practice related to Saint Martin, check out this short animated video with more information about his life and legacy. And if you need more music for your own Saint Martin’s Day celebrations, here are a few more Martinstag classics:
Liebe Grüße und fröhlichen Martinstag!
Jessica
P.S. – If you enjoyed this post, please consider clicking “like” and/or sharing it with someone else who may be interested in German music, language, and culture! Ganz lieben Dank!
From the Sprachmelodie Archives 🎵
For more about past tenses in German, check out “Oft gefragt” by AnnenMayKantereit. And discover more posts related to German culture and holidays in the Sprachmelodie archives.
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Check out Sprachmelodie's Spotify and Youtube accounts for playlists of all songs featured so far on the blog.
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