We’ve experienced an amazing summer season in Northern Germany. The high temperatures continued for weeks resulting in lots of evenings spent by the Bürgerpark lake swimming and having BBQs, many glorious days lazing in the park and a long rain-free weekend camping at Deichbrand music festival. It’s quite difficult to let go of summer after the great time we’ve had but this week the realisation set in. Herbst (autumn) is here to stay. Well, until December that is.

The temperatures have dropped dramatically, it’s completely dark outside by 8pm and leaves have disguised the cycle paths. It’s all sounding rather depressing isn’t? However, there is no need to despair I tell myself. I have reminded myself how there is plenty to look forward to in Germany through autumn into winter.

First of all, I am grateful there will be no more wasps bothering me. If I choose to have my afternoon Kaffee und Kuchen outdoors, I won’t be besieged by wasps, hurrah. Perhaps they’re not so keen to hang around now the ice cream has been swapped for a steaming bowl of Kürbissuppe (pumpkin soup)? They’re missing out though.

Halloween comes to Heide Park Photo: Sarah E

I kicked off Herbst with a last minute trip to Heide park, a theme park in Soltau, Niedersachsen. We definitely experienced the benefits of going in autumn when it is low season. The queues for rides were significantly shorter so within around 10-20 minutes we had been on the ride and already moving on to the next adrenaline rush.  The park is open up until Halloween (closes 28th October) so it has been decorated with skeletons, cobwebs, and other frightening props. I was quite surprised to see this as I didn’t think that Halloween was popular in Germany but perhaps this is changing? I hope not though.

Although the world-famous Oktoberfest in Munich done and dusted for this year, there are plenty of other festivals to look forward to over the autumn months. Closely following Oktoberfest in size and stature is the Stuttgart Beer Festival, which you still have a few days left to catch as it disappears for another year after the 14th October. A relatively new festival compared with Freimarkt, that takes place here in Bremen and started in 1035, but it’s grown to be one of the world’s largest public festivals.

When making friends with new expats that have recently moved to Bremen, we ask ‘have you heard about Freimarkt?’. If you haven’t heard about it, you’re sure to find out as it is one of the busiest times in the cities calendar. I can’t wait for it to open on the 19th of October. Once again, we’re taking a group of our British friends and it’s nice to open their eyes to the traditions here in Germany. It’s our third year of going but I have no doubt that we’ll have as much fun soaking up the festival atmosphere, dancing in the Bierhalle and eating sweet treats like Lebkuchen, as we have had in previous years.

The beauty of living abroad and meeting people from other countries means you can share and swap traditions. A German friend recently shared with me how every year he spent many hours baking with his family as they created and decorated traditional Lebkuchen (German gingerbread) for the impending Christmas period. Yes, I did say the C word in October, I thought it would be ok now that it’s only eleven weeks away.  I certainly approve of my friends family activities, keeping warm in the kitchen and having plenty of delicious biscuits to show from it sounds like a good way to spend an autumnal day to me. In return for showing me how to make Lebkuchen, I am going to introduce my German friends to the British staple at Christmas, the mince pie. I make an awesome chocolate mince pie but I’m not giving away my secret recipe to anyone. Now that we won’t be swimming by the lake for another eight months at least, I have no problem with participating in as many German baking traditions as my sweet tooth can handle.

There is only so much BBQ food you can eat during summer so it’s a welcome change to return to comforting, rich and wholesome German food from October onwards.  I’m a big fan of a steaming dish of Goulasch with dumplings! Despite pumpkin not being native to Europe, it plays a big part during the autumn months, both entertaining and feeding the masses. Thousands head to Kürbisaustellung (pumpkin festival) in Ludwigsburg, which Alie explains more about, to see the displays of intricately carved squashes or giant award winning pumpkins. It’s not all about admiring them visually though, there’s plenty of dishes where pumpkin is the main ingredient, such as sweet and sour pickled pumpkin, Kürbisbrei and Spätzle. Other autumnal dishes include Kohlrouladen, Kartoffelundbiersuppe (potato and beer soup, which is popular in Munich during Oktoberfest, if you haven’t drunk enough beer!), and Apkelkuchen.

I’ll be spending a lot of time in the UK this November so will be missing out on the opening to Karneval season. Although there are many Karnevals taking place across Germany, the Kölner Karneval is legendary amongst carnivals in Germany. It will open at 11.11am on the 11th November and is a great day to dig out your craziest fancy dress outfit. The wilder the better to stand out amongst the crowds of 70,000+ revellers celebrating the opening to the carnival season.

After thinking about the above I definitely feel more prepared and excited for the months ahead. What about you? How are you going to spend your autumn in Germany?

-Sarah E