Image Credit: Pixabay
Schultüte is a cherished tradition in Germany designed to ease the anxieties of the little ones starting first grade. Parents or godparents would make a Schultüte (“school cone”) or a Zuckertüte (“sugar cone”) at home, mark it with the children’s names, and take it to school to hang it in the “Schultütenbaum” (school cone tree). Then, on their first school day, children would pick their cones from the magic Schultütenbaum on the school grounds, careful not to break them. After the first school day, children would take their Schultüte home to open it with their families.
This festive air tried to make the children’s transition to school smoother, as the thrill of the gifts added excitement to a new beginning.
As German folklore expert Christiane Cantauw writes,
The school cone is really just a container, which means you can’t look inside of it. And it’s not opened at school but afterwards at home. That means that if I’m financially not in a position to fill up the cone with presents, I can fill it out with extras. So people threw in potatoes or paper. In one instance, I read that a wooden shoe was put in the bottom of the cone. But we can see that this symbol for school beginners was so important that no one wanted to do without it.
Schultüten were introduced around the 19th century in the larger German cities and quickly caught in German-speaking areas. During the scarcity of the World Wars, adults would get creative. They would fill the cones with newspaper, wood shavings, or potatoes, with only a thin layer of biscuits or pastries at the top.
Nowadays, in Germany and German schools around the world, the Schultüte tradition is still very much alive. However, the cones have evolved — modern Schultüten brim not only with sweets but with items that soften the transition to the big school. Also, rather than hanging from a magical tree, these colorful cones are carried by children themselves to school.
Schultüten can include school supplies such as pens, notebooks, and stickers; practical items like lunch boxes, water bottles, alarm clocks for school mornings or a child-friendly wristwatch; and small personal touches like cuddly toys, photo albums, books, or scrapbooks. A personal dedication from parents on the first day of school can make this treasure cone even more special.
Every rite of passage has an opportunity to bring joy, smooth the path ahead, and breathe new life into old customs. The Schultüte recipe is universal: change can be made sweeter with a touch of thoughtfulness, a dash of creativity, and a sprinkle of surprise. Especially when little ones are involved.
Image Credit for this photo from the 1960s: br.de
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