Uproar in kindergarten

“Saint Martin is sacrificed for the moon bear”

The little ones are allowed to take their handmade lanterns to the Moon and Stars Festival, but the kindergarten is not planning a parade.

(Bild: Evelyn Hronek/EVELYN HRONEK)

There is a lot of commotion at a kindergarten in St. Pölten: the popular lantern procession is being replaced by a moon and star festival. Many parents are horrified, suspecting that the "St. Martin's ban" is based on a false sense of consideration.

"I walk with my lantern and my lantern walks with me." For the little ones, the procession with the handmade lanterns around St. Martin's Day on November 11 is a highlight. However, at least at one kindergarten in St. Pölten, they have to do without it. Because there will be no St. Martin's Day celebration there. Instead, at the end of the month, they celebrate a moon star festival, where the moon bear explains the importance of sharing instead of the saint.

St. Martin is trampled underfoot. We certainly won't be ashamed of our traditions - as my name is Martin!

Martin Antauer, Landtagsabgeordneter und Gemeinderat, FPÖ

Bild: FPÖ NÖ

Many parents do not agree with this. Some suspect that this is a false consideration for families with a migration background. "We certainly won't be ashamed of our traditions. This decision by the kindergarten tramples St. Martin underfoot," says Martin Antauer (FPÖ), a member of parliament who also sits on the St. Pölten local council.

Out of consideration for two-year-olds
The responsible department in the state does not want to hear anything about a debate on foreigners. On the contrary: "Many kindergartens are taking special account of the fact that two-year-olds are being looked after for the first time this year." The moon bear would therefore convey the message of sharing, consideration and friendship more appropriately for the youngest children at the festival than Saint Martin, who is also a theme in the kindergarten groups.

The design of the respective festivals is in the hands of the respective teachers. "As a rule, they take into account the age and group structure, the spatial conditions and local and regional customs with a great deal of empathy when planning," it says. In general, however, the state assures us that St. Martin's Day celebrations, St. Nicholas Day celebrations and other festivals throughout the year are an integral part of elementary education work in all of the more than 1,060 state kindergartens.

Uproar over St. Nicholas ban
Last year, St. Nicholas was almost banned from a kindergarten in Fels am Wagram in the district of Tulln on similar grounds. The reason given at the time was that there were a particularly large number of under-threes in the building who could have been afraid of the "big man with the beard and hat". In addition, it was not always clear what traumatic experiences some of the integrated children had already had and how they would react to this unfamiliar custom. Here, too, there were protests from parents, but in the end the mayor put his foot down. St. Nicholas was allowed to enter after all ...