What is celebrated on Halloween?

The spooky Halloween festival has also been celebrated in German-speaking countries for some time now. Every child loves and knows this tradition. But what is actually behind this celebration on October 31?

Halloween comes from Celtic and is derived from "All Hallows' Even" (All Hallows' Eve). Over the years, this name has evolved into the simpler term "Halloween". Historically speaking, experts are not entirely in agreement about the background to the custom. What is certain, however, is that Halloween originated in Ireland .

The festival was celebrated by the Celts more than 5000 years ago. It stands for the end of summer and the dark beginning of winter. People back then believed that from this time onwards, the spirits of the deceased and inhabitants of the Otherworld such as fairies and elves returned to earth.

There are two stories about this:

1. One is that the population was afraid of the beings from the Otherworld and wanted to chase them away. Because they wanted to bring disaster to the living. To protect themselves, they took out turnips (now pumpkins) and carved terrifying faces out of them. They also disguised themselves to frighten their "enemies".
2. Another story is that the inhabitants wanted to light the way for relatives from the afterlife with the carved lanterns. The custom was brought to the USA and Canada by Irish immigrants from 1830.

Later, Halloween even spread to Europe. The Catholics' feast of All Saints was originally celebrated on May 13 each year. Due to the now established Halloween festival, it was moved to November 1 by the Pope at the time. Halloween is now also the feast of All Saints' Eve in our part of the world.