Different Dates, Different Traditions

The modern Mother’s Day observance, in Germany and most of the Western world, has its origins in the United States. The most common date for the observance (in 96 countries), the second Sunday in May, is also rooted in the 1907 efforts of Anna Maria Jarvis (1864-1948), who organized the first Mother’s Day service at Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church in Grafton, West Virginia.

A German Mother’s Day marzipan cake. PHOTO: Wikimedia Commons

While special days or celebrations to honor mothers and motherhood are documented in many ancient cultures, including in ancient Greece and the Roman Empire, the modern Mother’s Day holiday in most of the world today has little to do with those traditions. Even today’s secular Mother’s Day observance in the United Kingdom (on the fourth Sunday of Lent) is based on the Mothering Sunday observance, a Christian religious holiday that dates from the Middle Ages. The original religious observance honors mother churches, the church where one is baptized. The English author Constance Adelaide Smith pushed for the lenten Mother’s Day, but it only caught on in the UK, Ireland, and a few Commonwealth countries. France has yet another tradition, observing its Fête des Mères on the last Sunday in May, unless Pentecost falls on that date, in which case Mother’s Day moves to the first Sunday in June.

Anna Jarvis began her campaign to officially honor mothers in 1905, the year her own mother died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where Anna and her brother had been caring for their mother. She was inspired by the earlier efforts of her social activist mother, Ann Reeves Jarvis, who founded Mothers’ Day Work Clubs for Civil War veterans. Anna Jarvis’s efforts also followed an earlier campaign by Julia Ward Howe (1819-1910), a peace activist and author of the “Battle Hymn of the Republic.” Howe was behind the 1870 pacifist Mother’s Day Proclamation, originally called “Appeal to womanhood throughout the world,” which was a disarmament reaction to the carnage of the American Civil War and the Franco-Prussian War. The basic idea was that mothers should not have to see their sons die in senseless wars.

In 1912 Anna Jarvis trademarked the phrase “Second Sunday in May, Mother’s Day, Anna Jarvis, Founder,” and created the Mother’s Day International Association. She specified that “Mother’s” should “be a singular possessive, for each family to honor its own mother, not a plural possessive commemorating all mothers in the world.” In 1914 her efforts were rewarded when President Woodrow Wilson signed a measure establishing the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day. But Jarvis never profited from her holiday, and later even tried to get it abolished because of what she viewed as excessive commercialism. But her special day spread largely because of the efforts of the floral, candy, and greeting card interests. Anna Jarvis herself never married or had any children.

Mother’s Day in German-Speaking Europe
As in the US and Canada, the second Sunday in May is the date for Mother’s Day in Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland. Namibia, a former German colony, observes Mother’s Day on that date as well. Luxembourg, which also has a German-speaking population, has its Mother’s Day on the second Sunday in June. Some 19 nations, mostly in the former Eastern Bloc and Russia, celebrate Mother’s Day in connection with International Women’s Day on 8 March. (In the city-state of Berlin, International Women’s Day is an official public holiday.)

As is so often the case with German history, we have to mention the influence of the Nazi years on Mother’s Day in Germany and Austria. The original Mother’s Day observances in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and other European nations were inspired by Anna Jarvis’s efforts and her 1912 Mother’s Day International Association. Soon Mother’s Day observations on various dates began in Switzerland (1917), Finland and Norway (1918), Sweden (1919), Germany (1923), and Austria (1924). Jarvis’s cause was helped to various degrees by the florist and greeting card industry in each country, an aspect that she personally opposed.

Mother’s Day in Germany
It was no different in Germany. Even before 1923, German florist shops were promoting Muttertag with signs in their windows stating “Ehret die Mutter” (“honor your mother”). In other words, buy flowers for your mother. Soon the second Sunday in May was gaining ground as a day to honor moms with flowers, candy, and cards. It all remained largely unpolitical until 1933. The new Nazi government wanted to tie Mother’s Day to promoting the “German master race” and the encouragement of motherhood and mothers who could produce lots of German babies. In 1934 the third Sunday in May was declared Gedenk- und Ehrentag der deutschen Mütter (“Day of Memorial and Honor for German Mothers”). At the same time, a ceremonial Mütterweihe (“Ordination of Mothers”) was introduced. By 1939 the first Mutterkreuz (“Mother’s Cross of Honor”) ceremony was held on Muttertag (21 May).

After the Second World War and the creation of the two German nations, East and West, Muttertag underwent some changes. In the three Allied zones, Mother’s Day was observed on 8 May 1949, which was the second Sunday in May. In the eastern GDR/DDR, Mother’s Day was no longer observed separately, ceding to International Women’s Day. In the western FRG/BRD, Mother’s Day was first observed in 1950, following the creation of the German Federal Republic on 23 May 1949. Muttertag is not based in German law. It is a “gentlemen’s agreement” among German florist and business associations. There was a debate in 2007 among calendar-makers and florists about 2008 and those other rare years when Pentecost (Pfingstsonntag) and Muttertag both fall on the second Sunday in May. In the end, it was decided to simply do nothing, and it won’t happen again until 2035.

Mother’s Day in Austria
Austrians consider Marianne Hainisch (Marianne Perger, 1839-1936) the initiator of Muttertag in Austria. The women’s movement activist introduced the custom in 1924, when her son Michael Hainisch was serving as the Austrian president (Bundespräsident, 1920-1928). Austrians now observe Mother’s Day on the second Sunday in May, as in the other German-speaking countries.

Mother’s Day in Switzerland
The Swiss Mother’s Day observance developed differently in the French and German-speaking regions. The first calls for Mother’s Day, inspired by the American and British examples, were able to gain some ground in French-speaking regions, but the process took a bit longer in the German-speaking parts of Switzerland. In 1917, the Salvation Army (Heilsarmee) did promote honoring mothers, with a religious aspect, but Mother’s Day in Switzerland remained scattered and localized. It was 1930 before the second Sunday in May was generally observed as Mother’s Day in Switzerland, the result of efforts by Swiss florist associations, in turn inspired by their German counterparts.

Father’s Day in Germany
A brief look at the German version of Father’s Day (Vatertag/Herrentag) will suffice to reveal that it is nothing like Father’s Day in the US, and indeed, is pretty much the opposite. The German Father’s Day is observed 39 days after Easter, on Ascension Day (Christi Himmelfahrt), which is always a Thursday (26 May 2022; 18 May 2023). It is a legal holiday in the three main German-speaking countries. On that day in Germany you are likely to encounter groups of inebriated men acting acting like idiots, which seems to be the point of Herrentag. For more on how this barbaric custom came to be celebrated on a religious holiday, you can read Erin’s blog post: Days for the Frauen and Männer.

More | Holidays and Celebrations

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