Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
We hope you had a smooth transition from 2024 to the new year of 2025! As the new year begins, we’d like to take the opportunity to look at some popular German New Year traditions that showcase the rich cultural heritage we work with every day. Whether you call it Silvester, which stems from December 31 being the feast day of St. Sylvester, or New Year’s Eve, these customs bring fun and meaning to the year’s biggest transition.
Photo by Sten Ritterfeld on Unsplash
One special German New Year tradition is Bleigießen, or lead pouring, where people melt small pieces of lead or tin over a small flame, pour them into cold water, and interpret the resulting shapes to predict their fortunes for the coming year. While traditional lead has been replaced by safer alternatives of tin or wax in recent years, this centuries-old practice continues to spark imagination and bring hope.
During this time of year, people often gift one another little Glücksbringer to bestow good luck for the coming year. These may include horseshoes, four-leaf clovers, chimney sweeps, pigs, and red-and-white mushrooms, often made of marzipan or chocolate, or presented on a stick in a plant.
No German New Year would be complete without Dinner for One – a short English-language comedy sketch written by a British author broadcast on German TV for the first time in 1963 that has become one of Germany’s most repeated television broadcasts. This charming piece, virtually unknown in the United States and only slightly better known in the United Kingdom, has been a fixed tradition on New Year’s Eve in Germany since 1972, delighting generations with its slapstick humor.
New Year’s culinary traditions are equally important in Germany. Drinks usually flow freely, often including one of countless Bowle punch recipes using fruits, alcohol, and juice, including the famous hot punch Feuerzangenbowle. Delicious non-alcoholic versions of Bowle, Bier, and Sekt are also enjoying increasing popularity. Germans welcome the new year foodwise with Berliner or Krapfen (donuts usually filled with jelly, but sometimes with special fillings for Silvester), pickled herring, and fondue or raclette – meals designed for gathering and sharing, which also helps the long wait to midnight pass more quickly. Many believe that eating pickled herring at midnight will bring good luck and prosperity for the coming year.
Photo by Kateryna Hliznitsova on Unsplash
As the clock approaches midnight, Germans grab their glass of Sekt and toast with exclamations of Prost (or Prosit) Neujahr!, with the Latin word Prosit originally meaning “may it be beneficial” or “may it succeed.” The skies light up with fireworks, which can only be purchased during the last three days of the year. While some cities and towns organize official displays, the tradition of private fireworks is immensely popular, with the loud explosions traditionally believed to drive away evil spirits. The streets fill with people wishing one another einen guten Rutsch ins neue Jahr – literally “a good slide into the new year,” with one theory attributing this expression to an archaic German meaning of Rutsch: journey.
As we enter 2025, the German Language Division Leadership Council members look forward to another fruitful year of collaboration with GLD members through networking, professional development opportunities, resource sharing, and so much more in our active community.
From all of us at the GLD, we hope you had einen guten Rutsch ins neue Jahr 2025! May the coming year bring you all success, happiness, and meaningful connections both professionally and personally.

Robin Limmeroth is a freelance German>English translator, transcreator, and proofreader with 25 years of translation experience in various sectors. After graduating from Millersville University in 1990, she worked for Infratest Burke Marketingforschung and Mainz University of Applied Sciences, among others. Based in Mainz, Germany, she provides language services to a number of market and marketing research companies, advertising agencies, universities, publishers, and direct clients.
Robin is the Assistant Administrator of the GLD and part of the GLD in Europe team. She also served as Web Manager from 2020-2023.