It has long been a beautiful custom in this country that 14 February belongs to love and lovers as Valentine’s Day. But love often goes strange ways: Did you know, for example, that Valentine’s Day celebrated its debut in England as early as 1383, from where it was first exported to America and only brought to Germany by US soldiers after 1945?
Well, actually there was a commemoration day for Valentinus already in 469, but at that time it had to do with early Christian conflicts and thus rather a less beautiful occasion. But in 1383 the English writer Geoffrey Chaucer put the matter right when he recited a poem at the court of King Richard II on 14 February, in which it was about how birds gathered around the goddess Nature on that very day so that everyone would find a partner. From then on, couples of Valentines were also formed in England in the genus Man, who sent each other gifts or poems. English emigrants later took the Valentine custom with them into the New World, and from there it returned in the GI baggage as Valentine’s Day to good old Central Europe in Germany – albeit a few hundred years later.
But nowhere is it written that Valentine’s Day must always be flowers. And so in Japan on 14 February there is chocolate, in Italy castles of love, and in Finland simply Valentine’s cards. For the sake of our Franconian idiosyncrasy, we cultivate a very individual custom and celebrate Valentine’s Day with a romantic 3-course menu at festively set tables.
