WTN: Silberhochzeit
James Harbeck
Silberhochzeit
December 9, 2000, was a silver day in Toronto: snow had fallen all the previous night, and everything was blanketed in shiny white as Aina and I posed for pictures and then went to the church and said our vows.
December 9, 2025, is also a silver day – well, the snow isn’t quite so fresh, but I bear a silver hue on the top of my head everywhere I go now, and today in particular is specifically silver for me and Aina. And it is high time for me to talk about Silberhochzeit.
Unless you speak German, you’re probably looking at this word Silberhochzeit as though it were a pile of snirtdumped on your dinner table. German is not famous for pretty-looking or pretty-sounding words, and not only does this word look like the speeding passage of a race-car (or a quarter of a century), /ˈzɪlbɐˌhɔxtsaɪt/ sounds more like an unfortunate bicyclist aspirating a bumblebee than it does a word for a silver wedding.
Which is what it is. It means ‘silver wedding anniverary’, but technically, literally, it just means ‘silver wedding’; ‘silver wedding anniversary’ would be Silberhochzeitstag, as ‘anniversary’ is Hochzeitstag, which is literally ‘wedding day’ – and even more literally ‘high time day’, because Hochzeit, ‘wedding’, is literally hoch ‘high’ plus Zeit ‘time’. Not necessarily as in “It’s high time you got married!” but just as in it’s an exalted occasion.
OK, but why am I plopping this German monstrosity in front of you when this is normally a blog about English words? It’s not because my surname is German, and it’s not because Aina loves sauerkraut, and it’s not even just because it’s one word whereas in English we use three. It’s because the tradition of silver (25th) and gold (50th) wedding anniversaries started in Germany. It seems to have begun around the 1500s there, and was quite well established by the time it ported over to the English-speaking world in the 1800s (the other anniversaries – a long list, including wood for the 5th, tin for the 10th, and crystal for the 15th – were mostly invented in the 20th century, by companies that sold gifts).
And while big celebrations of silver and gold anniversaries are not such a common thing in the Anglo world (the gold one moreso, because 50 years is a long time to be married), they are apparently still quite the thing in Germany, where, for the 25th, in some parts of the country friends and neighbours hang silver decorations on the couple’s door, and in other parts they come in and defenestrate the silverware.
Which will not be happening chez nous, thank you very much. Aside from the fact that I’d rather retain the wedding flatware, defenestration of objects is strictly verboten in our building – and it would be exceedingly unwise anyway, given that we’re on the 27th floor. But for that exact reason, even before we open a celebratory bottle of wine with dinner, we are guaranteed a high time.
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