Das Schnitzelbank

Yesterday we went to a wedding. At the reception, we got the wonderful opportunity to join in a tradition the bride's family (an strong German family as you might guess) does at least once a year and always at weddings. One of the old men in the family, I can't remember if it was her grandpa or a great uncle, puts on his little German hat with the feather in the side and grabs a stick for the singing of the Schnitzelbank.

Thanks to my favorite childhood cartoon Animaniacs, I actually knew how this was going to go. You point at things and say "Ist das nicht ein _______?" and everyone responds "Ja, das ist ein ______" To translate, that would be "Is this not a pair of pants?" "Yes, that is a pair of pants!" And you build and build on your items until the last one, where you rename every single one of them.

So last night, the Schnitzelbankmeister was given the microphone and he hung up his old cloth banner of items that he points to with the stick. It looks something like the photo I've placed on here. The items were all the same.

The pace was a lot slower than the Animaniacs spoof, but it was fun and funny no less. Having a group of people trying to say long German words is always funny.