Our first neighborhood Richtfest

In Germany, there is a tradition that when the frame, or Rohbau, of the house is complete, the family that is building has a party to thank the people who helped to bring the house to that point, called a Richtfest. In the German translator, it translates "Richtfest" as a "Roofing ceremony." It seems that it is celebrated in different ways in different parts of Germany, and I'm pretty sure that they are what you make of them. It is typical to invite your family, friends, builders, and neighbors. Joern's friend Markus, who is building one half of the duplex next to our building lot, is now at the point where the Rohbau is complete. Last night, we were invited to their Richtfest.
Since the house is a duplex, both families were celebrating last night. The weather has been so lovely the last few days, it was a perfect evening to party!
The party started at 5:30, when Mr. Builder (who built their house too,) climbed to the top of the staging, and stood next to a tree that was placed on top of the roof. Mr. Builder then had a little speech about the meaning of the tree, marking the pride of the builders and the home owners. Mr. Builder then went on with the typical German poem about building a house, and asking God for protection. A couple gulps of wine, and then Mr. Builder threw the wine glass on the ground. The broken glass is supposed to bring good luck, if the glass doesn't break, bad luck!
After that, we took some pictures, and both families, Markus Fink and Marco Niebling, showed people around their homes. We spent a lot of time chatting, and had some yummy food.
All in all, it was a nice party. We had a lot of fun, and spent a long time chatting with the people who sold us our land, they're so nice! In German fashion, we came home around 2 am, needless to say, we are a little tired this morning.
I was happy to have that experience before we have ours. There are a few things I would like to change, and a few things that I will keep the same. I'm looking forward to ours, in late October!