Just like Mother’s Day, Father’s Day is an invention of the 20th century, imported from the US, and is therefore a rather young tradition. Though it was under the Nazi regime in 1936 that Vatertag was established as a holiday.

However, the traditions of hiking go back further, to the Middle Ages. It used to be custom for landowners to walk their land once a year to bless the land and harvest and to redraw the borders. These Flurprozessionen (plot processions) were always done on Ascension Day. The serfs didn’t have to work that day but could attend church services or partake in these processions which were religious in nature.

During the industrialization in the 19th century, Christian holidays slowly lost their meaning, or rather leisure time grew more important. Ascension Day was a day off work and that time was used by men to gather, take walks, drink, sing, and have a good time.

Breweries and pubs catered to these men outings, Herrentage (gentlemen’s days), by offering tours in horse-drawn carriages and of course beer.

But it wasn’t until the Nazis that the Herrentag on Ascension Day became Vatertag. They tried to replace any Christian holiday with “Germanic” or other secular traditions, and Father’s Day with its focus on family values fit the bill.