Totenfest — A Service of Remembrance — Nov. 23rd

Throughout Christian history, the church has and continues to remember and celebrate the lives of faithful people who have died. Totenfest is a distinctive practice that grows out of the Evangelical tradition of the United Church of Christ. Although the name Totenfest is unknown to many in the UCC, its importance as a special time of remembrance continues not only in our Evangelical heritage, but for all. It is a way of remaining related to deceased loved ones, as the process of grieving and remembering are vital to our spiritual health. To this day, St. Pauls United Church of Christ holds a service each year for those who have died in the previous year.

Totenfest is a German word that means “Feast of the Dead” or “Festival for the Dead.” It was established in 1816 by Prussian Emperor Fredrick William III as a day to remember that nation’s soldiers who had died in the recently concluded Prussian War. Obviously it became an important observance in the Evangelical Church in Prussia (established by the same emperor in 1817) as a day to remember not only the war dead, but also church members who had died in the previous year. It was observed on the last Sunday of the church year, right before Advent began. This was also the time of clearing gardens and fields of the summer’s growth in preparation for winter. To this day, Totenfest in parts of Germany is the day families visit the graves of loved ones to clean off the summer flowers and cover the graves with evergreen boughs for the winter. In Lutheran traditions, “Totensontag” or “Death Sunday” became the preferred term to Totenfest.