From Paul Schons' Historic Calendar of Significant Events in Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein and Switzerland

Laut endet in Deutschland das Jahr: Am 31. Dezember feiern die Menschen Silvester. Sie begruessen das neue Jahr mit Raketen, Knallern und Sekt. Der letzte Tag des Jahres ist nach dem heiligen Silvester benannt. Der lebte im vierten Jahrhundert. Im Jahr 314 waehlten ihn die Roemer zum Papst. Waehrend Silvesters Amtszeit wendete sich das Kirchenschicksal von der Verfolgung zur christenfreundlichen Politik unter Kaiser Konstantin. Silvester hatte selbst unter grausamen Verfolgungen gelitten. Der Legende nach heilte er den Kaiser vom Aussatz. Dafuer soll der dem Papst mit grossen Schenkungen gedankt haben. Silvester starb am 31. Dezember 335.

For those whose German may be a bit weak, the information above explains that New Year's Eve is called "Silvester" in Germany as that is the feast day of St. Silvester. He was the pope who was in office at the time the policy of the the Roman Empire changed from persecution to acceptance of Christianity (due to the influence of Emperor Constantine). New Year's eve is celebrated in Germany with massive explosions of bottle rockets and fire crackers at midnight. Also much champagne is consumed.

December 31, 1105 Heinrich V arrests his father Heinrich IV, forces him to abdicate and himself becomes the Holy Roman Emperor (crowned in Rome in 1111).

December 31, 1747 Birth of Gottfried August Buerger in Molmerswende bei Halberstadt, Germany. The poet, Buerger, was one of the leaders toward the Romantic movement in German literature. In 1787 he was appointed Ausserordentlicher Professor at the University of Goettingen, a position which allowed him to teach but unfortunately did not involve a salary. Thus, as a professor, he continued to live in the same poverty in which he had spent his earlier life.

December 31, 1851 The chancellor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Felix Fuerst zu Schwarzenberg induces the Emperor, Franz Joseph I to abolish the constitution of 1851 and replace it with one of his own design strengthening the absolutist authority of the emperor.

December 31, 1881 Birth of Max Pechstein in Zwickau, Germany. Pechstein was a painter who was a member of the Expressionist group, Die Bruecke. After 1910 he was a member of the Berlin group, Neue Sezession. The Nazis denounced his work as "decadent".

December 31, 1908 Birth of Simon Wiesenthal in Buczacz, Austria-Hungary (now in Ukraine). During WWII Wiesenthal suffered forced labor and was in a series of concentration camps. After the war he assisted the U. S. army in gathering evidence to try war criminals. In 1947 he opened the Documentation Center on the Fate of Jews and Their Persecutors in Linz, Austria. That center was moved to Israel in 1954. In 1960 he opened the Jewish Documentation Center in Vienna. He has been involved in the location and prosecution of nearly 1,000 war criminals.

December 31, 1918 Founding of the German Communist Party (KPD).

December 31, 1950 December 14, 1870 Birth of Karl Renner in Unter-Tannowitz, Austria-Hungary (now in the Czech Republic). Renner was the first chancellor of the Austrian Republic after WWI. On September 10, 1919 he signed the Treaty of Saint Germain which specifically prohibited a union with Germany. In 1938 he was a leading supporter of Germany's annexation of Austria. In 1945 he worked closely with Soviet officials to reestablish an Austrian government and became the first post war chancellor in April, 1945. On December 20, 1945 he was elected president by the Austrian Reichsrat.

December 31, 1985 Death of Sam Spiegel in Saint-Martin, Lesser Antilles (born in Austria). Spiegel, after his studies at the University of Vienna, immigrated to the U. S. A. where he became a movie producer. Films by Spiegel include, "On the Waterfront", "The Bridge on the River Kwai", "Suddenly Last Summer", "Lawrence of Arabia", and "The African Queen". Spiegel had been sent to Universal Pictures to head their studio in Berlin in 1930, but left in 1933 when the Nazis came to power.

Die Sternsinger sind die Nachfolger der Heiligen Drei Koenige: Kaspar, Melchior und Balthasar. Zwischen Neujahr und dem 6. Januar gehen sie von Haus zu Haus, um fuer notleidende Kinder in den Armutslaendem Lateinamerikas, Afrikas und Asiens Geld zu sammeln. Sie verkuenden den Leuten in Liedern und Spruechen die Weihnachtsbotschaft. Danach segnen sie das Haus, indem sie 19+C+M+B+97 an die Tuere schreiben, d.h. Christus Mansionem Benedicat und das bedeutet: ,,Christus segne dieses Haus". Bevor sie durch die Strassen ziehen, gibt es fuer die Sternsinger viele Proben und einen Aussendungsgottesdienst. Es nehmen etwa 500000 Kinder und Jugendliche in ganz Deutschland daran teil. Sie tragen koenigliche Gewaender, um die Hl. Drei Koenige nachzuahmen. Meist tragen sie einen Holzstern mit sich als Zeichen fuer den Stern von Betlehem. Die Sternsinger erhalten von den Spendern zusaetzlich Suessigkeiten, die sie fuer sich behalten duerfen.

___In English: A charming tradition in Germany is that of the childrens' festival between January 1-6 (three kings day). After a service at the churches the children go from house to house to gather offerings for poor children in poor countries. They are dressed as the three kings and carry sticks with stars on the top. At the homes they sing songs and recite messages of Christmas. At each house they paint the letters "19+C+M+B+98" which are for the Latin Christus Mansionem Benedicat (Christ bless this house). At the Same time the letters are the first letters of the names of the wise men: Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar. In addition to the offerings for the poor, the children are also given candy which they may enjoy themselves.

January 1, 329 Constantinus (Constantine's Son) becomes Caesar of the Western Roman Empire. His capital is Trier.

January 1, 1076 The Holy Roman Emperor, Heinrich IV, persuades 26 bishops to refuse obedience to the Pope in the ongoing disputes over the authority of the pope vs. the emperor within the Holy Roman Empire.

January 1, 1484 Ulrich Zwingli is born in Wildhaus, Switzerland. Zwingli was the most influential church reformer in the development of Swiss Protestantism. He studied at the Universities of Vienna and Basel. He was ordained a priest in 1506. In his early years Zwingli criticized some of the abuses of the church of those times and in a minor way was involved in the questioning of the practice of indulgences. By 1522, however, his views had developed sufficiently to lead to controversy in the church. He questioned fasting and the celibacy of priests. In 1523 he published his 67 Artikel. Progressively his leadership led to the removal of images from churches, the removal of organs and the replacement of the mass with a communion service. In 1529 the Z|richer Bibel was completed. He married Anna Reinhard on April 2, 1542. He fell into disagreement with Martin Luther on the question of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Ultimately the Swiss reforms led to the Second War of Kappel in which Zwingli was killed on October 11, 1531 in St. Gallen, Switzerland.

January 1, 1720 Death of Francis Daniel Pastorius in Germantown, Pennsylvania (born in Sommerhausen, Germany). He was a German lawyer who first traveled to America as the agent of a German Quaker organization interested in purchasing land in the New World. He purchased land from William Penn and founded the city of Germantown, Pennsylvania. He remained as a teacher in Germantown. He is the author of A New Primer or Methodical Directions to Attain the True Spelling, Reading, and Writing of English, 1698.

January 1, 1782 Death of Johann Christian Bach in London (born in Leipzig, Germany). The son of J. S. Bach, he became a composer at the King's theater in London in 1762 and composed in London until his death in 1782.

January 1, 1819 Birth of Philip Schaff in Chur, Switzerland. Schaff, an early proponent of Protestant/Catholic ecumenicism was educated at the Universities of Tuebingen, Halle, and Berlin. He was a lecturer at Berlin until he immigrated to the United States in 1844 and was appointed professor of church history at the theological seminary in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania. He expressed the view that the principles of Roman Catholicism and Protestantism would one day be blended in a new kind of ecumenical, evangelical Catholicism. The view was very controversial for the times and broadly attacked. These ideas were developed and expanded into the equally controversial "Mercersburg Theology".

January 1, 1834 German Customs Union comes into force. The Holy roman Empire had been broken up by Napoleon. The Customs Union was a first attempt at a kind of reunification of the German peoples.

January 1, 1876 Founding of the Reichsbank and the Mark becomes the German currency.

January 1, 1887 Birth of Wilhelm Canaris in Aplerbeck, Germany. Canaris was appointed to head the Abwehr (military intelligence) in 1935. He oversaw German military aid to Spain's general Franco during the Spanish Civil War. By 1944 he was opposed to Hitler and participated in the attempted assassination of Hitler. He was arrested, sent to the Flossenburg concentration camp and executed there.

January 1, 1922 Edith Stein (Sr. Teresia Benedicta a Cruce) is baptized in the Catholic Church. (She had been a Jew.)

January 1, 1955 The Saarland becomes a German state.

January 1, 1958 Starting date of the European Economic Community (EEC) (France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Belgium, Netherlands).

January 1, 1973 Denmark, Ireland, Great Britain enter the EEC.

January 1, 1981 Greece enters the European Community.

January 1, 1986 Spain and Portugal enter the European Community.

January 1, 1995 Austria, Finland and Sweden enter the European Union.

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