Polterabend

Polterabend-Polterabend (kociewian: pultrować) is a German wedding custom in which, on the night before the wedding, the guests break porcelain to bring luck to the couple's marriage.  The belief in the effectiveness of this custom is expressed by the old adage: "Shards bring luck" (German Scherben bringen Gluck); however, at this polterabend there was no breaking of pottery.  Frank and I got up on Thursday morning, ate breakfast, and left for Bavaria.  We arrived in Rossenheim just a little after 4 p.m. which wasn't too bad given the traffic on the highway.   It took us a few minutes to find Maria and Elio, but we found them.  It turned out that they were having their pre-wedding celebration at the local Herbstfest or Fall Festival which, I think was probably just one of many precursor parties to Oktoberfest.  The atmosphere was lively and we quickly jumped into meeting Maria and Elio's family and friends.  It was a great evening.