*this is a guest post
Irina Panasyan: Today my guest is Lyudmila Petrova, the author of the website “Folk methods of mastering the Internet.”
She lives in Germany, and recently I asked her to tell me about the history of traditional gifts for first-graders. Here is her report from Cologne:
Lyudmila Petrova: So, for the first time in first grade. The scene is the city of Cologne, Germany... Before this, parents buy special attributes for their children, symbolizing their entry into school. This is the so-called “school bag” (Schultüte) - you can see what it looks like in the photographs. Usually, after the donation of these attributes, on September 1, a festive service is held, and then first-graders become acquainted with the school and teachers.
School bags used to be given as gifts only in East Germany. Then the tradition gradually spread throughout Germany and is now an obligatory part of the September 1st holiday. As you can see, the tradition is colorful and the bags are quite weighty. 
The age at which a child is sent to school is, like ours, 6 or seven years old.
Sometimes especially caring parents want to speed up the learning process of their child and insist that the child be taken to school a year earlier. That is, not at 7 or 6, but at 5 years old. Usually officials do not interfere with this. Studying in Germany is a long and labor-intensive process that requires full dedication from the student. Students, especially in high school, according to my friends, are up to their ears in studying. After all, it is customary here to make a good career in order to subsequently earn good money. And making good money means having money to buy a house, several cars and, in turn, provide your own children with everything they need.
Therefore, all efforts of parents are aimed at giving a proper education to their beloved offspring. I know Russian families who came to Cologne who deny themselves everything so that their children receive a decent education. And in order for the quality to be high, they often also pay for the services of third-party tutors. For example, to improve knowledge of a second and third foreign language.
“School bag” (Schultüte) is a beautiful tradition, it’s good that it has taken root in the country. During school events, stores are decorated in a festive style; the Germans certainly know how and love to do this. Natural taste and sense of harmony allow us to embody the most original artistic ideas.
There are plenty of holidays throughout the year. Easter holidays are especially colorful, which smoothly flow into carnival processions. A school holiday, of course, looks much more modest compared to carnivals. However, school bags are as colorful as carnival masks and outfits. And they will be remembered by first-graders in Germany as a memory of a distant, dear childhood, when trees and people were big, and when you came to your first class for the first time to learn more about everything that surrounds us.
Let's wish all first-graders in the world, no matter what country they live in, happy school days and successful studies.
My master class is written on how to make such a gift with your own hands:
In the photo - I'M IN 1st GRADE! 🙂
Moms, dads, grandparents of first graders! Please accept my sincere congratulations! I propose to arrange a fun holiday on September 1, .
I’ll continue about the gift for a first grader...
In 1979, my parents visited the GDR and brought me, a first-grader, this is the traditional schultüten(unfortunately, there is no photo of it, I just found a similar one) - a bag for a first grader, which all children in united Germany receive to this day.
No one had such a gift. I mean not only the form, but also the content.
Tell?
There were not only never-before-seen candies, but also a bunch of little things that had nothing to do with the school. This is what I understand, surprise!
Not a single first-grader considers a ruler, sharpener, or notebook to be a gift, I hope you know this.
But tiny toys are just right!
For girls, you need to mix small dolls, stamps, hairpins, stickers, and children's jewelry with candy.
For boys, a candy mixture with cars, tiny robots, Bakugan, slimes, jumpers, whistles and magnifying glasses is suitable.
Take a look, maybe there’s something else suitable here: .
In Germany, such a gift for a first-grader is sold on every corner, but for some reason this beautiful tradition has not taken root in our country. If you have first graders in your family, rest assured, you will make them very happy.
DIY gift for a first grader
It's simple. On an A3 sheet of cardboard, use a pen and thread to draw a sector with a maximum radius. We need two of these blanks to make two identical cones using adhesive tape. A little later we will nest one within the other.
We attach doubled corrugated paper to the outer edge of the 1st cone with adhesive tape (we use its entire width, and the length depends on the diameter of the cone).
We also attach the bright ribbon that will serve as a handle with tape. All! The first part is ready.
The 2nd cone needs to be wrapped in contrasting paper, the edges turned inward, and also secured with adhesive tape from the inside. Now lubricate the outer side of the first cone with glue and insert the workpiece into the second bright cone .
We add candies and small gifts and tie the top with a beautiful bow. Ready! Stickers and applications are at your discretion.
The size of such a gift can be from 40 cm to ... Sometimes a gift for a first-grader is made taller than the first-grader himself :-).
Today I want to step back a little from the doll theme. It’s not far, don’t be scared :)) The first of September is just around the corner, and it’s time to talk about first-graders! Because this year this happy lot has befallen our family, and there seems to be no way to avoid this topic.
I had the good fortune to go to first grade back in the Soviet Union. A brown uniform with a white apron and white embroidered collars, white bows on an anxious head, a leatherette red briefcase with a bear and two clasps, the first bell in the hand of a little girl raised on the shoulder by a hefty tenth grader, yellow-red leaves underfoot, sprinkled with autumn rain, fresh September air, the speech of the constant headmistress and the traditional “They teach at school, they teach at school...” from the loudspeaker. I remember it a little vaguely, to be honest. Now I am no longer able to separate the first line from the subsequent ones in my memory, and perhaps the picture in my head was borrowed from the third or even the sixth grade. Although wait, school uniforms were already canceled in the sixth...
Nevertheless, the image of a first-grader with a lush bouquet of asters or arrows of gladioli, clutched in trembling hands, with large bows, white top and black bottom, is still firmly stuck in my head. However, as it turned out, my child became a completely different first grader. I was never able to give up the traditional clothing scheme, and my child turned out to be the most black and white in the class :) All the other kids usually go to school wearing whatever. Of course, parents try to dress them more smartly, in accordance with their tastes. This was most noticeable, of course, in the girls, but they, with a few exceptions in fluffy “ball” dresses with tulle, lace and embroidery, were mostly in light summer dresses, colorful sundresses and skirts with T-shirts. There was NO bow on ANY of them!!! True, one girl had a hat :)) The boys wore trousers, jeans, shorts and shirts with polo T-shirts. Two of the entire class were wearing jackets and vests. Only mine had a tie. (And the teacher in the class said that he was the best dressed! :)) In principle, the Germans are quite democratic in their clothes, which was completely reflected in the outfits of the first-graders. When it comes to children, they adhere to the principles of quality, convenience and practicality. The main motto when choosing clothes for the “first of September” is so that you can wear it every day.
Today we will talk about how German first-graders differ from Russians, and in general about the German “first of September”. Let's start with the fact that the Germans don't have a "first of September" in principle. Children go to school when the summer holidays end. And they, like all other holidays in Germany, are sliding. Start and end dates vary from year to year and from state to state (there are only sixteen states in Germany). This season, for example, we were a little luckier - school started here at the end of August, on the 24th. But next year the backpack will have to be assembled on the eve of August 7th. Alas, the summer holidays are short - only six weeks. But, however, the autumn, two winter (Christmas and February) and spring (Easter) holidays last two weeks, which somewhat compensates for the short summer. And different start and end dates for vacations in different lands were invented in order to slightly distribute the flow of parents going on vacation with their children. (As the Germans themselves say: “So that traffic jams on the autobahns are not fifty kilometers long, but twenty kilometers long” :)) In addition, this is being done to relieve congestion at airports and hotels during the high “holiday” season, because for parents with schoolchildren This is the only opportunity to relax together.
In a word, this year in our land the first of September was August 22, Saturday. The weather was excellent, two days of rain had just ended the day before and the sun was shining in a cloudless sky. We (parents, grandparents, relatives - first-graders are usually accompanied by a whole crowd) left the house and headed to... No, not to school, but to the territory of the university, in one of the buildings of which, in a huge amphitheater auditorium, a ceremonial ceremony was held Part. In Germany, most primary schools now exist separately from secondary schools, gymnasiums, etc. So, in our primary school there are 4 first classes of 28 people each. And the “introductory part” was held in two sessions - at 9:30 for classes 1a and 1b, and at 10:30 for classes 1c and 1d. Otherwise, everyone who wanted to attend the celebration would not have fit in the audience. (By the way, our dad, on the advice of my “experienced” friend - the mother of a second-grader, went early to take seats for us closer to the “stage”.) We walked in the first batch under the honorary number 1a. The teacher’s children were gathered in front of the entrance to the building, in order to then be solemnly led into the hall and seated in the front rows, while their parents and relatives settled upstairs.
Everything was unexpectedly informal, warm and homely. The school principal, surprisingly, did not make long parting speeches, but showed the first-graders what he usually carries with him to school in a large backpack. The kids laughed in unison when, like a magician, he pulled out from the depths of his backpack, with funny comments, either a teddy bear, or a boat, or a cell phone, which he uses to call his mother when he becomes very sad. Then the fourth graders took the stage with a small humorous musical and theatrical performance about pirates and inhabitants of a magical island. And of course, the moral of the mini-play boils down to the fact that knowing letters and learning to read and write is very useful. Well, immediately after the cheerful intermezzo, the children were called to the stage (each was called by name, and when he went down, his name was lit on the big screen), they were congratulated once again and the teachers took two classes out of the auditorium to go with them to school.
At school, each class found their own room, sat down at their desks, and the teacher taught them their first lesson. Of course, I don’t know exactly what was there, I didn’t hold a candle :)) The child said that they were told a fairy tale! And then they distributed textbooks and notebooks. I think this part is standard in all countries. Meanwhile, the parents also slowly walked to school (it took about ten minutes), and while their children were preparing to absorb knowledge, they refreshed themselves in the schoolyard with delicious cakes (with wasps :)) and drinks (non-alcoholic!), which were specially prepared by the school fund financial support (there is one here, based on a voluntary basis, for everyone who wants to help the school (repairs, projects, etc.)). The treat was not free, but at purely symbolic prices.
So, while eating sweets, the parents clustered in the yard waited for their little boys to leave school. Each class came out in turn, then for a long time they were distributed along the steps of the school porch so that parents and relatives could click camera buttons. In the eyes of the children there was no longer such fear and excitement as at the very beginning. Each first-grader held a small sunflower in their hands (sunflowers are generally a very popular flower among Germans) and smiled in front of the camera a little more boldly and confidently. After all, after the photo shoot, the most important event of the day awaited them - the presentation of the Zuckertüte! And this is a completely different story.
Zuckertüte or Schultüte(lit. sugar or school bag, bag) is a cone-shaped bag, usually made of cardboard, which parents prepare for their first-grader to sweeten his way to school. The history of the sugar bag goes back more than two centuries, and, according to rumors, they appeared in Saxony (in Dresden) and in Thuringia (in Jena). In these lands, children used to be told that in the teacher’s house there was a tree with sugar bags. And when they get big, it's time to go to school! The tradition of giving first-graders sugar bags spread throughout Germany only after the First World War. Previously, the bags were handed over to the child's godparents, but now, as a rule, parents do this. Often they give their child just huge bags, almost the size of a first-grader. Grandparents and other relatives, as a rule, give smaller bags.
Usually the bags have a classic conical shape, although at the time when Germany was divided into Western and Eastern, in the GDR it was customary to give hexagonal bags 85 cm long, while in the Federal Republic of Germany they had a round base shape and were “only” 70 cm long. The bag itself can be made of different materials, but, as a rule, it is made of cardboard, to which a strip of fabric, corrugated paper or colored film is glued on top, which is tied with a ribbon (so that the contents do not fall out). You can buy ready-made bags, or you can make them yourself with your child and decorate them to your liking. And here everyone tries, depending on their imagination and the hobbies of the future student. Well, the filling for it can be very different. Parents usually fill them with sweets, fruits, small toys and school supplies (colored pencils, paints, etc.). The famous German children's writer Erich Kästner, born in Dresden, recalled in his memoirs his first day at school in 1906, when, wanting to show his sugar bag to one of his neighbors, he accidentally dropped it and the entire contents spilled out. And little Erich stood ankle-deep in lollipops, chocolates, dates, oranges, cakes, waffles and golden Maybugs.
In a word, you already guessed that the sugar bag is, in fact, the culmination of the day and exactly what all this fuss and fuss with first-graders is about :)) A little distraught from the eventful morning, they are embraced by their parents and relatives and Finally, they receive their treasured bag of sugar (by the way, quite weighty), which they then carry, holding it tightly with both hands, home to quickly gut it, and on the way they try to guess and feel what lies inside.
The first day of school in Germany usually ends with a big family celebration, to which all relatives and close friends are invited. Someone celebrates at home, in the yard, with a grill and partying until late; someone meets in cafes and restaurants (they say that all decent establishments in the city for this day are usually booked almost a year in advance). We limited ourselves to domestic pleasures in the form of a bicycle ride along the Elbe and a small evening family feast. The child fell asleep right on the street in a folding chair in front of the fire... It was a hard day :))
Homework, getting up at half past seven in the morning, grades at the end of the quarter - all this will happen later, and on Sunday there is still a whole day somewhere in between. Between childhood and the beginning of responsibility.
I hope you found it interesting!
Always yours,
Olya podsnezhniki.
P.S.: All photos in the publication are taken from the Internet.
The main “belonging” of a first-grader in Germany has a tradition of one and a half centuries. This is a large bright bag - “Schultüte”, with which kids come to school on their first day of school.
Smartly dressed children walk proudly, accompanied by their parents and grandparents. The first time in first grade is unforgettable! Behind his shoulders is a brand new backpack, in his hands is a huge bright bag, which is called Schultüte, that is, “school bag”. Already in the classroom, sitting at their desks, first-graders will finally untie the ribbon and be able to look inside...
Today is a holiday for the girl Leonie. She glued her yellow-purple school bag together before the summer holidays - together with the teacher and with other children in the senior group of the kindergarten. But I only found out at school what the elders put in it. Grandmother Maria gave her beloved granddaughter a new Barbie doll - exactly the one Leonie had been dreaming about for the last six months.
Now no one can say with certainty why a bag almost a meter long became an indispensable accessory for German first-graders. 150 years ago, they began to be escorted to school by putting everything they needed: a board with a slate and chalk, breakfast, sweets, and so on, in a bag. Perhaps the sweets (and they are given to children very often on this day) simply needed to be packaged in such a way that the children would not eat them on the way to school. The “discoverers” here were the inhabitants of Saxony and Thuringia. There, in the mid-19th century, the custom of “collecting” bags from a magical “school” tree, described in a then popular children’s book, spread.
Specialized Content
Be that as it may, for many years now it has been impossible to imagine the first school photograph in Germany without the traditional multi-colored bag in the hands of a child. The idea of giving these gift bags to first-graders gradually - it took almost 100 years - spread throughout Germany. Confectioners and sweet manufacturers did their best to fuel the tradition. But they also put toys and coloring books in the bags. Over the years, colored pencils, paints, unusually shaped erasers, audio cassettes appeared in the “school bags”... Miniature at first, the bags grew to impressive sizes.
Most often, future first-graders glue and paint them, like Leonie, on their own. But there are a huge variety of different “factory” gift bags on sale. Moreover, with contents that are not only standard (sweets and writing instruments), but also “specialized”: especially for boys or girls, for pet lovers, football fans... The manufacturers of “school bags” lament only one thing: tradition this one did not take root outside of Germany, Switzerland and Austria.
Every German teacher’s garden is home to unusual trees—on them grow bright colored bags signed with the names of all the children in Germany. At first the bags are small, but they gradually grow to a decent size (70-90 cm) and are filled with sweets. When such a miracle bag reaches the required size, it’s time for the child whose name is on it to go to school!
Such a legend used to be told to children, and in Germany a first-grader’s bag was prepared by the godmother of the future student, brought secretly to school and awarded immediately after the child was accepted into the ranks of schoolchildren.
Now the traditions have changed: the school bag, called Schultüte in German, is prepared by parents. And children are no longer told such a dubious tale - many of them not only choose the bag themselves, but also help in making it. And then they proudly carry their sweet burden to school on their first day of school.
This cute custom exists in Germany: a mandatory attribute of the first day of school is a sweet bag. That's what it was called before: Zuckertüte, since the contents consisted of delicacies and sweet fruits.
By the way, it is present in other countries - namely in Switzerland and Austria - but only regionally.
Preschoolers in Germany are looking forward to the first day of school with pleasure - preparing to receive their sweet gift. And parents characterize this tradition as “the sweet beginning of a serious life.”
A first-grader's bag in Germany is bought ready-made or made independently, sometimes with the help kindergarten teachers. Everyone decorates their bag based on their interests - favorite cartoon characters, pirates, princesses, cars. School bags become more complex and interesting from year to year. Moreover, this cone-shaped accessory is considered an attribute of the fashion world, and every autumn exhibitions are held in Germany where you can see new unusual models.
The most famous manufacturer of bags today is the Nestler company (not to be confused with Nestlé) - it produces 2 million annually!!! cone-shaped models of different colors and sizes.
First-grader's bag in Germany - a little history
The exact date and place of the appearance of the school bag is unknown. But the first mentions of this cute little thing date back to 1810 and they say that in Saxony children, when they said goodbye to their home for the first time, left with a bag of sugar.
And 35 years later, a children’s book appears in Dresden with the title: “The Sugar Bag Book – for all children who are going to school for the first time.” This publication, by the way, was recommended by the general German teachers' newspaper.
In 1920, a similar book was published: “The Tree with Sugar Bags.” The story mentioned at the beginning of this post comes from exactly that. The only difference is that in this story the trees do not grow in teachers’ gardens, but in the school basement and are distributed only to obedient first-graders. The story spread throughout Germany and was interpreted in different ways.
After the introduction of compulsory education in 1871, the popularity of sugar bags increased. In 1910, their industrial production began, and gradually they became part of the ritual of initiating children into the ranks of first graders. An interesting fact is that the first-grader bag first became popular in the north and east of Germany, and only later spread to the south-eastern part of the country. So, in the 30s of the last century in Saxony, Thuringia and other northern regions, the school bag was already commonplace, but at the same time in Munich only a few had such a luxury.
With the coming to power of the nationalists, this custom did not disappear, it continued to exist - on the Internet you can find photographs of school bags with a fascist cross.
The famous German writer Eric Kästner in 1905 described his first day of school and a bag of sugar like this:
“My school bag was bright as 100 postcards, heavy as a bucket of coal, and what a smell came from it... I carried my bag like a fiery torch on outstretched arms, sometimes, groaning, I put it on the road. Then my mother took him. We were sweating like furniture movers while we carried this sweet burden. Even a sweet load is still a load...”
And in our family archive I found this photograph of my husband’s cousin:
What do they put in a first-grader's bag in Germany?
Based on the original name of the school bag Zuckertüte, it is clear that its main component is Sweets!
Initially, this was the case: parents filled the cone packaging with baked goods, fruits, and nuts.
And in the war and post-war years, school bags were packed with old newspapers, straw or even potatoes - and only sweet treats were placed on top. All this was done so as not to lose such an interesting custom.
Now parents are trying to fill the bag with all sorts of useful and interesting things, and not just sweets. Here's what parents put in this cone-shaped gift:
- everything that a beginning student might need: pencil cases, pencils, erasers, sharpeners;
- everything that could be useful: alarm clock, umbrella, wallet, wristwatch;
- some clothes;
- toys: plush, cars, Lego sets, Barbie;
- board games, audio games;
- flashlight, magnifying glass and compass;
- a subscription to the pool or a certificate for the purchase of something;
- a cell phone (whether a first-grader needs it is another question);
- Well, if the bag is filled with sweets, then it would be nice to put a toothbrush in it... an electric one, for example.
And then what? The first bell rang, the school bag was empty, and the usual everyday life of a first-grader began. Where's the bag? Some mothers keep it all their lives - just like their baby’s first tooth, the first cut off lock of hair and a bracelet from the maternity hospital.
But such a large thing is not so easy to hide away in a closet or put on shelves. But it’s also a shame to get rid of it. We haven’t gotten tired of it yet and it doesn’t bother us; it stands in the corner and makes us happy with its appearance. And he reminds us that a first-grader now lives in our house - and this means a new life has begun for the whole family. I hope it’s interesting and not too difficult...
