New Year's Eve should be a firework-free celebration to protect the environment, says Germany's environment agency. About 4,500 tons of fine dust will be blown into the country's skies to ring in 2019.
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Germany's environment agency on Saturday called on people not to use fireworks to ring in 2019. It said Germans bought about €137 million ($157 million) worth of fireworks last year, creating 4,500 tons of fine dust particulates in the air.
"This corresponds to about 15.5 percent of the particulate matter emitted by road traffic each year," agency chief Maria Krautzberger told the Rheinische Post newspaper.
10 German traditions on New Year's Eve
It's a special night that is celebrated around the world, but Germans have their own set of traditions on New Year's Eve, which they call "Silvester."
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Slide into the New Year
Shortly before New Year's Eve, people you meet will typically wish you a "Guten Rutsch," which literally translates as "have a good slide." The expression could come from the Yiddish word "rosch." Rosh Hashanah, the name of the Jewish New Year, is, however, set in the fall on a different date every year. Other linguists relate the expression to the archaic German meaning of "Rutsch" - a journey.
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Offer lucky charms
If a German gives you a little gift like this one New Year's Eve you're allowed to find it ugly, but you should at least know the intention is to bring you good luck for the new year. Lucky charms in Germany include such "Glückspilze" (lucky mushrooms), ladybugs, four-leaf clovers and little pigs.
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Prepare a big bowl of 'Bowle'
Germans might believe that "Bowle" is an English word, but it's not at all - though it's probably derived from the word "bowl" - as you need a huge one to serve it. "Bowle" is a German term for punch. For many Germans, this is a must-have party drink on New Year's Eve. Typically combining fruits, alcohol and juice, there are countless recipes, including delicious alcohol-free variations.
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Enjoy hours of food
Although you might end up at a party with a buffet of finger food, many people choose dishes that can be eaten over several hours as their last meal of the year, such as fondue, in which pieces of meat are cooked in hot oil. Also popular is raclette (pictured), where cheese is melted on a table-top grill, accompanied by meats, pickles and potatoes. The long meal shortens the wait until midnight.
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Look into the future by melting lead
For this New Year's Eve custom, people heat a little piece of lead or tin melt in a spoon held over a small flame, and then drop it quickly into cold water. The strange shapes it then takes on are supposed to reveal what the year will bring. This fortune-telling method is called "Bleigiessen" (lead pouring), but alternatives to lead as a raw material are now being used after it was banned.
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Laugh with the cult classic 'Dinner for One'
In 1963, a British sketch, "Dinner for One," was broadcast for the first time on German TV - and has been aired on December 31 for many years, becoming the most frequently repeated TV program ever. It's in English, but the humor is easy to get. An aristocrat woman celebrates her 90th birthday; her butler, covering for her absent guests, gets drunk, repeating "the same procedure as every year."
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Listen to the chancellor's New Year's speech
Angela Merkel has held many already: The chancellor's New Year's speech to the nation has been broadcast on December 31 since 1969. The speech can sound very similar from year to year - sometimes more literally than others. In 1986, Chancellor Helmut Kohl's address from 1985 was re-aired instead of the new one, allegedly "by mistake."
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Wish a Happy New Year
After counting down the last seconds of the year, you can kiss the people you love, wish everyone the best for the upcoming year and contact your family and friends who aren't with you. "Frohes neues Jahr" is German for Happy New Year. Some people might light sparklers like this woman, but many Germans have more ambitious fireworks ready to be lit at midnight...
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Start the New Year with a bang
At the stroke of midnight, it might be difficult to sincerely wish people around you a Happy New Year, as loud fireworks start exploding everywhere. In Germany, consumer fireworks can be legally sold over the last three days of the year to be lit for the big night. Some people stock up to put on a bombastic show for the neighbors. Traditionally, loud noises were believed to drive out evil spirits.
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Drink a glass of 'Sekt' at midnight
Clinking glasses might not be as loud as fireworks; filled with champagne or "Sekt" (German sparkling wine), they can definitely help people get in good spirits. The midnight toast is an international tradition, but the Germans have a specific expression to say cheers that night: "Prosit Neujahr." The word "Prosit" comes from Latin and means "may it succeed."
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Respiratory risks
Krautzberger spoke about alleged health consequences to persuade people to rein in their use of fireworks.
"The effects range from temporary impairments of the respiratory tract to an increased need for medication in asthmatics to respiratory diseases and cardiovascular problems."
Some lawmakers, such as CDU environmental spokeswoman Marie-Luise Dött, are against a general fireworks ban. She says particulate matter (PM10 — particles measuring less than 10 microns in diameter) is a temporary burden which accounts for just two percent of the annual emissions from humans.
Short-term burden
The amount of time particulate matter remains in the air after a fireworks display depends on several factors. Strong wind, for instance, helps disperse the pollution rather quickly. The Federal Environment Agency highlighted the difference a windy day can make in a comparison between New Year's celebrations in 2009 and 2013. Rain can also have an effect.
Several German cities, such as Hanover, Dusseldorf and Dortmund, will deploy extra police officers this New Year's Eve to enforce existing bans on setting off fireworks.
In North Rhine-Westphalia, about 5,500 police officers will be on duty to prevent a repeat of scenes from 2016 when hundreds of robberies and sexual assaults were reported in the city of Cologne.
In the capital Berlin, however, an attempt for a total fireworks ban in certain areas failed.
Extended bans would be difficult to enforce, according to GdP police union chief Oliver Malchow. "Already thousands of my colleagues around the turn of the year are working nationwide to ensure security and order."
"We should respect fireworks as a custom," said CEO of the German Association of Towns and Municipalities, according to tagesschau.de. In Germany, it is a longstanding tradition to welcome the new year with fireworks. "People are expressing their zest for life, but also their hope for a happy new year," he said. "We should accept that."
Diwali: Smog chokes New Delhi despite firework ban
With millions celebrating in the Indian capital, authorities banned the sale of fireworks to prevent an air pollution crisis. But the night after devotees commemorated Diwali, pollution rose to alarming levels.
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Diwali: The festival of light
Diwali, a festival commemorating the triumph of light over darkness, is observed by Hindus, Sikhs and Jains across South Asia. The festival is often celebrated with fireworks, the lighting of candles and cleaning one's home. But this year was to be different: Authorities in New Delhi wanted to assess how fireworks affected toxic levels of air pollution in October.
Image: Reuters/D. Liyanawatte
Despite ban, fireworks light up Diwali
On October 9, India's Supreme Court banned the sale of fireworks in New Delhi in a bid to prevent a repeat of 2016's "airpocalypse" that left the city's 20 million residents gasping for days.The only problem: The court didn't ban the use of fireworks, paving the way for a toxic haze the day after.
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Toxic haze: Morning after Diwali
After Diwali celebrations ended, amounts of tiny particulate matter smaller than 2.5 micrometers, which can reach deep into the lungs and enter the bloodstream, soared to alarming levels. In parts of New Delhi, air quality readings hit 941, near the maximum measurement of 999. New Delhi, rated the most polluted city in the world in 2014 by the WHO, struggles every winter with toxic pollution.
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'Breathe nitrate and ammonia'
Environmental activists have called on Indian authorities to declare a public emergency due to the hazardous levels of pollutants in the air. Critics accused India's police of failing to adequately enforce the ban on firecracker sales. "Breathe nitrate and ammonia, homegrown, handmade," said environmentalist Vimlendu Jha.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/M. Sharma
Silver lining?
Despite the harmful levels of pollution hovering over New Delhi after Diwali commemorations, pollution levels were their lowest in three years, according to India's Central Pollution Control Board. Last year, Diwali coincided with crop burning, taking pollution levels to the extreme. "It was going to be hard to beat last year's level in any case," said board scientist Dipankar Saha.
