{"id":73570,"date":"2026-08-17T05:27:21","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T05:27:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/73570\/"},"modified":"2026-08-17T05:27:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T05:27:21","slug":"german-kids-go-to-school-with-giant-cones-heres-why","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/73570\/","title":{"rendered":"German Kids Go To School With Giant Cones. Here’s Why."},"content":{"rendered":"

Back-to-school season in the U.S. involves a number of fun rituals, like shopping for classroom supplies, picking out a special first-day outfit and taking photos with a personalized sign. On the first day of school in Germany, however, you\u2019ll see an even more striking sight.<\/p>\n

German children mark the transition to school by carrying large paper cones on their first day of classes. The cones \u2014 which seem larger than the kids themselves \u2014 are brightly colored and sometimes have ornate decorations.<\/p>\n

\"German<\/p>\n

Westend61 via Getty Images<\/p>\n

German school cones come in many different colors with a variety of designs. <\/p>\n

But what\u2019s the deal with these cones? What\u2019s inside them? And where did they come from? We turned to some German cultural experts to find out.<\/p>\n

What is the school cone?<\/p>\n

\u201cA Schult\u00fcte \u2015 also known as a \u2018school cone\u2019 or \u2018cone bag\u2019 in some parts of Germany \u2015 is a cardboard container in the form of a pointed cone that schoolchildren carry with them when they start school,\u201d Amrei Gold, head of public relations for North America at the German National Tourist Board<\/a>, told HuffPost.<\/p>\n

She noted that German children receive these cones from their parents on their first day of elementary school, which typically occurs around age 6. The Schult\u00fcte is very large and can be fully rounded and cone-shaped or appear more like a pyramid on a hexagonal base.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

picture alliance via Getty Images<\/p>\n

A little girl in Dresden poses with her cone in September 2021.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe school cones are usually filled with sweets and small gifts such as crayons or other school supplies,\u201d Gold explained. \u201cThe name \u2018sugar cone,\u2019 which is common in some areas for the school cone, comes from filling it with sweets.\u201d<\/p>\n

She joked that perhaps the idea of having to attend school every day for the next 12-13 years requires \u201csweetening\u201d with treats and gifts. The Schult\u00fcte is also a big photo opportunity, as many kids pose with their cones and sometimes a sign reading \u201cMy First Day of School.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe cone has been a tradition for a long time and is an important part of the very first day of school for children in Germany,\u201d said Kirsten Bencker, who works in the language department at the Goethe-Institut<\/a> in Munich. \u201cThe point of the cone is to highlight the transition from one status to another. This transition is connected with many changes for the child and for the family and this is to be emphasized through a ritual.\u201d<\/p>\n

Where did this tradition come from? <\/p>\n

\u201cThe custom of giving school starters a Schult\u00fcte on the first day of school has been practiced in Germany since the 19th century, but the roots go even back into the 18th century,\u201d Gold explained. \u201cHistorically it has its roots in Saxony and Thuringia, but is well-known across Germany today.\u201d<\/p>\n

She pointed to early evidence from the autobiography of Saxon theologian Karl Gottlieb Bretschneider, who began school in 1781 or 1782 and recalled receiving a bag of candy from the schoolmaster.<\/p>\n

\"German<\/p>\n

ullstein bild via Getty Images<\/p>\n

German children with school cones in 1960. <\/p>\n

\u201cTwenty years later, when Johann Daniel Elster started school in Benshausen, Thuringia, in 1801, it is even said that he received a large bag of sugar from the cantor \u2018according to old custom,\u2019\u201d Gold added. \u201cFurther evidence comes from Jena in connection with the city cantor Georg Michael Kemlein in 1817, Dresden in 1820, and Leipzig in 1836.\u201d<\/p>\n

Early versions of the tradition involved telling kids that there was a special \u201cschool cone tree\u201d at their teacher\u2019s house or on the school grounds. Once the school cones grew big enough, it would be time to pick them and start school. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe custom became widespread not at least because of a children\u2019s book called \u2018Zuckert\u00fctenbuch f\u00fcr alle Kinder, die zum ersten Mal in die Schule gehen\u2019 (\u2018Sugar cone book for all children going to school for the first time\u2019) by Moritz Heger,\u201d Bencker explained, noting that the 1852 book suggested that teachers pick the cones for their students from this special tree.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

ullstein bild via Getty Images<\/p>\n

A German child with a Schult\u00fcte circa 1920.\"A<\/p>\n

ullstein bild Dtl. via Getty Images<\/p>\n

A mother passes a school cone to her daughter in 1927.<\/p>\n

Edible treats were the dominant contents of school cones at that time.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn his childhood memories, \u2018When I Was a Little Boy,\u2019 Erich K\u00e4stner describes his first day of school in Dresden in 1906 and his \u2018sugar cone with the silk bow,\u2019\u201d Gold noted. \u201cWhen he wanted to show the bag to a neighbor, he dropped it and the contents fell on the floor: He was \u2018up to his ankles in sweets, chocolates, dates, Easter bunnies, figs, oranges, tartlets, waffles and golden May bugs.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Although the Schult\u00fcte started as a predominately central German tradition, the practice caught on elsewhere.<\/p>\n

\u201cBerlin was the first big city outside of the original areas in which school cones became common \u2015 although they were still rare before the First World War,\u201d Gold said. \u201cOnly gradually did the custom catch on in the south and west.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Students<\/p>\n

picture alliance via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Students with school cones in Berlin in 1966.<\/p>\n

Following the division of Germany after World War II, traditional round cones around 28 inches long were the standard practice in West Germany, while those in East Germany opted for hexagonal Schult\u00fcte around 33 inches long.<\/p>\n

\u201cNowadays, the tradition is a widespread tradition in whole Germany and also Austria and the German-speaking part of Switzerland,\u201d Bencker noted. \u201cThe central German regions where it began are also the areas where a very distinctive custom has developed around this school cone \u2015 big family parties, ordering cakes with the name of the children at a bakery for the first day.\u201d<\/p>\n

How do you put together a school cone?<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile you can buy prefabricated cones at the store, many parents make their own school cones, with or without their children,\u201d Bencker said. \u201cGenerally speaking, children can be very creative in decorating their sugar cones.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, there are many online tutorials<\/a> explaining how to make<\/a> a Schult\u00fcte with thick paper products like poster board \u2015 though cardboard and plastic can also be used. These days, there are also more sustainable school cones made of fabric, which can be turned into cushions.<\/p>\n

\"Many<\/p>\n

Westend61 via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Many families put together very ornate cone designs. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf the parents are not going to make the school cones, they are either bought ready-made or made by the children themselves in kindergarten,\u201d Gold said, adding that in the past, godparents were often the ones giving kids their school cones. \u201cThe largest manufacturer of school cones in Germany is Nestler GmbH Feinkartonagen<\/a> in Ehrenfriedersdorf. It produces over 2 million school cones a year.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to the traditional sweets, cones these days may also be filled with school supplies, books or something to play with.<\/p>\n

\"First<\/p>\n

Andreas Rentz via Getty Images<\/p>\n

First graders arrive with their cones for their first day of school on Aug. 13, 2020, in Oberpleis, Germany.\"A<\/p>\n

picture alliance via Getty Images<\/p>\n

A variety of Schult\u00fcten on display waiting to be picked up by first graders at an elementary school in Kleinmachnow, near Potsdam, in August 2015.<\/p>\n

Some schools even have guidelines for the maximum size of students\u2019 cones, and there might be a designated enrollment day before the first day of classes when children receive their cones and take photos. And the tradition is no longer explicitly limited to the beginning of primary school.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday, small cones of candy are sometimes handed out at the transition from elementary school to secondary school or at the beginning of an apprenticeship or study,\u201d Gold said. \u201cHowever, they are still primarily associated with the beginning of school.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, if you want to make yourself a Schult\u00fcte for no reason whatsoever, who\u2019s to stop you?<\/p>\n

The original version of this story was published on HuffPost at an earlier date.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Back-to-school season in the U.S. involves a number of fun rituals, like shopping for classroom supplies, picking out…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":73571,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[642,5,20913],"class_list":["post-73570","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-germany","tag-children","tag-germany","tag-school"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73570","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73570"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73570\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73571"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73570"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}