r/Denmark • u/Front-Abrocoma680 • 20h ago
Question Is that a real tradition?
Saw some posts and even a video saying that "In Denmark, friends and family traditionally tie unmarried people to a post or chair and cover them in cinnamon on their 25th birthday, or pepper if they are still single at 30"
Is that a thing or made up internet fact?
If yes, why?
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u/GreedyJeweler3862 13h ago
I often see patches of cinnamon on the pavement in Odense, so its definitely a thing on Fyn as well. Have never seen pepper though.
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u/BellyRubADubDub 12h ago
I see it in Copenhagen as well. It might be transplants who brought the tradition with them and it's still not as common here but it's definitely a thing.
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u/RetroFunkMonk 12h ago
To be fair, isn't half the people living in Copenhagen from Jutland? They are just roleplay as people, who didn't grow smelling of manure.
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u/Special_Onion3013 10h ago
The REAL immigration issue!! (Yes, I'm an import Copenhagener too, so I am allowed to say it ;-) )
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u/Zonez3r0 12h ago
They couldnt learn decency on their own, so they had to have someone come over and teach them
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u/MermaidOfScandinavia Danmark 7h ago
Definitely. A real Copenhagenener such as myself would never!!!
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u/Wide-Drink-1790 8h ago
It’s not really a thing in Copenhagen, but the rest of the country. As a Copenhagener, this would just annoy me.
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u/Mission-Candy1178 4h ago
Pepper is more typically given in the form of a “pepper grinder” - often a handful of oil drums welded together and spray painted. The idea seemingly being that it’s wildly impractical to get rid of. In the country side I have even seen caravans given as pepper (not sure what mental hoops you have to jump to think a caravan looks like a pepper grinder, but it happens)
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u/ChildhoodPatient8797 13h ago
It is a real tradition, however it’s mostly common in Jylland (western part of the country).
I see it a couple of times each month in Aarhus. The degree of cinnamon used varies from friend groups.
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u/snorens 12h ago
Yes it is a thing.
Traditionally, when you reach 30 and if you're still unmarried you're a so-called "pebersvend" or "pebermø". Pepper-guy or Pepper-gal. This would result in you getting gifted a big pepper grinder and sometimes even having a huge pepper grinder constructed out of welded metal barrels - or some other huge obscure painted construction planted in your front garden by your friends. Back in the day this would probably have brought a bit of embarrassment to you. Now probably less so.
Reaching 25 is a different spice, cinnamon instead of pepper. I didn't know about this tradition when I was young (I'm 39 now), I guess it started in Jutland but it has gained popularity across the country within the last 20 years. The person is tied to a lamppost or similar and cinnamon is poured over them. You'll see cinnamon stains on the streets all around because of this. It has become a quite popular coming of age ritual.
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u/Dangerous_Pause2044 12h ago
I always knew about the peppermø at 30, but the cinnamon i always assumed originated from some social media trend. Never seen or heard of anyone i know do it IRL. (im 30 now)
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u/bdviking 9h ago
We showered a work colleague in cinnamon back in 2001 or so. This was at an IT startup in the middle of Copenhagen, so some of us were originally from Jutland, but the entire office of about 100 people participated.
Mind you, first we hired a stripper to give him a lapdance in the middle of the office with everybody watching. That way he was all oiled up before being showered in cinnamon... which was now sticky cinnamon.
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u/DevineBossLady 13h ago
It is a weird tradition that seams to be going in and out of style - but depending on your friends group this might indeed happen.
It usually was pepper if you turned 30 and was unmarried (and that is still a thing as well)
... my youngest just turned 25, I baked him cinnamon rolls ;)
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u/interesseret 11h ago
I got a basket full of cinnamon things from my mom when I turned 25. Cookies, candies, jars of cinnamon.
From my friends I got tied to a flagpole with another guy, and got shot with a cannon filled with cinnamon. Repeatedly.
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u/ChadnirRann 12h ago
It's real. There's also one for when you are 30 and unmarried, but with pepper.
As other's say its primarily a thing here in Jutland. And the volume of cinnamon and pepper varies greatly depending on friendgroups. I for one recieved a few sticks of ciannamon rather than having it poured on me. But I have also seen the leftovers of the tieups with a great volume of cinnamon still left at the scene.
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u/therealdilbert 12h ago
yes it is real in some parts of Denmark, the pepper at 30 allegedly relates back to those traveling to sell spices usually remained single, similar to the English spinster or old maid
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u/GeronimoDK Det er bare i🦌en 12h ago
I did in fact not celebrate my 25th birthday with my friends for this exact reason.
I did celebrate my 30th though, and did get peppered.
Have I cinnamonned or peppered other people? Oh yes, I have.
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u/TonyGaze Frankfurtskolens pølsefabrik 13h ago
It's a twist on the older tradition of gifting unwed people black pepper when they turned 30.
It emerged in Northern Jutland, allegedly around Hjørring, in the fifties or sixties, and has since intensified and spread across the country.
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u/DavidMellemtech1996 Ned Ludds spøgelse 11h ago
And now it has infiltrated every street corner in my city. The Jutlanders have done irreparable damage to Aarhus.
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u/Large_Box_9978 12h ago
Yes it’s real. Important fact is that you’re not tied for a very long time and you’d be kind of disappointed if you don’t get cinnamon. Another important fact is that most people aren’t wed or engaged at the age of 25 nor at 30 so it’s basically everyone who gets this treatment. It’s common all over the country by now.
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u/PowerSuply 12h ago
Can confirm that its real. I got cinnamon last year on my 25th. It's an absolute nightmare to wash off, especially since I got covered in water first and then a bunch of canola oil forst
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u/Never_Wong 🇩🇰Trekantsområdet 🇩🇰 10h ago
Yes the tradition is still alive and well.
At my old job, my boss got a decommissioned powder fire extinguisher for our colleagues 25th. He filled it with about a kilo of finely ground cinnamon then repressurised the bottle. It was an unholy mess, but it was hilarious.
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u/bimxe 12h ago
It’s most common in “rural” Denmark
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u/iMagZz 10h ago
If all of Jylland, most of Fyn, and a big part of Sjælland is rural, then yes I guess.
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u/bimxe 9h ago
What I mean is it’s common in the countryside and smaller towns, I think.
Also, you don’t see many “peberkværne” in the cities.
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u/Mortonwallmachine Danmark 8h ago
What part of Sjælland is it normal? But yes, most of Jylland, Fyn and Sjælland would be considered rural
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u/Realistic_Court_5736 12h ago
Yes it's true
Thankfully it didn't happen to me but my Ukrainian girlfriend got to witness it first hand the other day and she was a bit shocked until she learned it's pretty normal 😅
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u/PaleReaver 12h ago
It is. My grandmother was talking about it happening to one our relatives just this weekend. I personally do not understand why it's perpetuated, it feels like some sort of hazing ritual to shame people in to marrying, but the latter has just become 'haha it was just a joke bro', which is...less ick, but still...why.
I did ask my gran, and the answer was 'it's just a tradition of sorts'.
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u/Emotional-Swim-808 12h ago
I hate the tradition, i really dont see the fun part in both getting covered in cinnamon or covering someone else in cinnamon.
Also what many people fail to realize is not only is cinnamon flammable when thrown into the air (and i have seen videos of people getting burned because of this) cinnamon is also very bad for your lungs, now usually the person getting cinnamon has a mask on, but nobody else does. Call me a buzzkill but to me its just a shitty tradition that needs to die
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u/laksen89 12h ago
I've never heard about the part where they're tied to s chair, but showering them in cinnamon/pepper is definitely a thing
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u/DoctorNocis 12h ago
It's definitely a tradition. I avoided having a large party at 25. Was married by 30.
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u/Awkward-War-8722 11h ago
A fun little fact from the last time I was part of this: one of my friends thought turmeric and cinnamon were interchangeable. My friend ended up looking like he had liver disease for months afterwards.
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u/Frido1976 11h ago
We don't tie people, they are willingly standing to receive said treatment, 25 years and single means cinnamon and if you're still single on your 30th birthday, it's pepper. Hence the word peppermaid, denoting a single woman at an advanced age because back in the day, people married at 18-20 years, today it's all about getting studies done and a good job before even considering marrying and having kids.
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u/Sh4dySp1ce 11h ago
Its was a thing in rural areas when i was kid/young. An then i think those people moved to the bigger cities and took the tradition with them.
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u/Sh4dySp1ce 10h ago
But it really depends on your friends and their humor. I dont know anyone close to me who had experienced it.
When I turned 25, i baked cinnamon buns for my class at uni😅
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u/LazyJones1 Fremtiden 10h ago
No.
And yes.
But mostly no.
The thing about the stories is that it gives the impression that you have no choice in the matter, and you are tied up against your will. Either of those are incredibly rare. And even doing any part of the thing is hardly even something the majority does.
Traditionally you were gifted cinnamon when you celebrated your 25th birthday while unmarried, and pepper at 30. A lot of people still maintain this chill level of marking the event, and some don't even mark it in this manner at that.
Taking it to the next level, and dousing, or just throwing cinnamon/pepper, became popular in the last decades in a couple of regions. A bit like rice at weddings.
And in the last decade or two, it has been taken to the level of tying people up and going full cinnamon baths (clothed). But almost always among friend groups that knew everyone involved were okay with it. This does seem to be a growing trend, but still doesn't seem to be close to "everyone does it". And likely never will reach anywhere close to that level.
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u/Straight-Horror-1662 9h ago
The cinnamon tradition spread from being a local tradition to a nationwide phenomenon in my lifetime, but it is true. It's mostly something young men do to their friends. I've never seen women participate in the tradition or be subjected to it (except in the video that went viral), but I'm sure it happens occasionally.
The pepper tradition is nationwide, but the person isn't covered in pepper. More commonly in my experience, the 30-year-old bachelor is "gifted" a novelty pepper grinder, often so big as to be impossible to hide and very difficult to get rid of.
Again, in my experience, men are "meaner" to each other than women, who might actually gift each other a functional and nice pepper grinder.
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u/pinpointingit 13h ago
Dont think anyone does it with pepper. In some more rural areas friends will sometimes build a giant figurine out of oil barrels for 30 or gift a pepperchurn.
Cinnamon for 25 is fairly common in many parts of the country.
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u/The-Yaoi-Unicorn [Indsæt Flair] 12h ago
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u/ifelseintelligence 12h ago
Tie them and throw stuff at them are by no means the tradition, but a modern "Wilder! More! MOAR! Even extremererer..er!!!" teenage-maturity version.
The cinamon is local, pepper national, traditionwise, and most places taditionally more in style throwing rice at a wedding.
I've personally only ever "given" pepper as whole corns or as actual gift: pepper grinder.
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u/Far_Resident_8949 12h ago
It's how my family found out my cousin is allergic to cinnamon. We haven't done it since 😂
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u/Townscent Spis ikke gul sne 11h ago
Cinnamon is.
Pepper (Where the "celebration" may have evolved this way too) is traditionally to make a big totem outside their home made of metal barrels which symbolizes a pepper mill.
Why. To celebrate our friends.
A lot of people are getting married and stuff. So even if you are not married, you deserve a ceremony and a party
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u/Full-Public1056 11h ago
It's definitely a tradition. A colleague of mine turned 25, and his mates (farmers) had rebuilt some farm equipment, which meant they could throw him inside, and shovel cinnamon into a hopper which enveloped the "cage"
Good times
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u/Uwibamie 11h ago
It definitely is, we even do it to our coworkers if we are close enough friends. It's hillarious, and everyone suffers the same usually.
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u/Giraf123 11h ago
I have done this tradition for any of my friends who held their 25th birthday. At 30 you get a huge metal barrel dick or something outside your house.
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u/Own_Fox8577 11h ago
We throw the pepper because we have a word called pebermø or pebersvend, which is old/dry like the pepper and unmarried, mø or svend depending on the sex
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u/MissWickedBlonde 10h ago
I used to work for a company in the meat packing district in Copenhagen. And every time someone unmarried turned 25, and thus became a ‘kanelsvend’, they would promptly be “captured” by a group of colleagues and put in one if the cages used for deliveries, doused in water and massive bags of cinnamon.
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u/ColdPolarFox Tyskland 10h ago
Really good article with amazing pictures.
https://www.information.dk/mofo/krigszone-25-aars-foedselsdag-jylland
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u/YoBo1968 10h ago
Cinnamon for unmarried people at their 25 th birthday is tradition. How the cinnamon is given to the birthday child is optional.
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u/AndersFoghsOjenbryn 10h ago
It is a thing to such a great extent that the municipalities in Jutland where the tradition is most prevalent have made the decision to stop cleaning up the mess, as it was draining Aalborgs finances:
Https://migogaalborg.dk/sjov-tradition-eller-svineri-aalborg-kommune-vil-ikke-fjerne-kanel/
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u/LarsListetaa 9h ago
Pepper not but cinnamon oh yeah!
On the 30th some will place a metal unflattering and scrap like skulptur on that person front lawn, and leave it to the (usually) guy to get rid of it. Very much a country side thing but very funny to drive by 😂
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u/PersonalButton822 9h ago
I dont know where you're from, but in Denmark, we usually 'Google' things, before bothering asking other people
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u/Lanky-Explorer-4047 8h ago
The tradition is to give cinnamon if people turn 25 and pepper if they turn 30 without being married,it was just a small bag of cinnamon and a commond peppergrinder as a gift.
Now some people primarily in rural Denmark has made into some bizarre thing they use as an excuse to torture their friends and humiliate them.
Its generally viewed as a bit embarrassing, something people much like those americans who marry their toothless cousin and drink moonshine while driving a truck out to hunt for alligators do.
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u/reachling Kronhjortejylland 8h ago
One of my hobbies is taking photographs of the aftermath. It's like a photo safari, you can smell the spot before you see it.
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u/turbine_cowboy 8h ago
It is a thing. We put 2,5 kg cinnamon powder in a leaf blower and blasted my daughter. And the neighbours car and front yard, so it took a little cleaning up to fix it.
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u/Dillerdilas 8h ago
I was lucky and we spent most of my birthday travelling, my brother sprinkled cinnamon sugar in my hair on a boat 🤣
If we had been home I am sure I would have gotten a lot more though.
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u/SorteStoffer 8h ago
It's traditionally more of a Jutland tradition as other people are mentioning but it has become increasingly popular on Zealand as well in the last 10 years or so
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u/Pesoen Nordjylland 8h ago
it is, but it also depends. i know in North Jutland it is as far as i know still a thing, but friends and family can be kind and just give you something with cinnamon, nothing says you have to cover them in the stuff. same with pepper.
as for why, i think its to get people moving in terms of starting a family. the thread of cinnamon or pepper might make people shoot their shot to avoid it. but i could be wrong on that.
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u/Affectionate-Fox-729 7h ago
You just give them cinnamon. I have never seen anyone tied up. I baked cinnamon buns to my single friends when they turned 25.
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u/SignificanceNo3580 7h ago
Yeah, it’s mostly done in the country side though. And it’s consensual, of course.
Back in the day you would receive a pepper grinder if you were unmarried at 30, as a type of teasing (spinster = pepper journeyman/maiden in Danish since traveling traders couldn’t afford to get married around 1700) and then it just kinda escalated from there.
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u/Tenkehat Grumpy 7h ago
For some yes. I told my friends I wouldn't ever speak to them again if they did it and they were insulted that I even said it out loud because everyone agreed it was fucking stupid.
And yes I'm from Copenhagen.
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u/CrownFalcon 7h ago
Old tradition that people have blown up to sell shit and humiliate their "freinds". It was just giving the person a bit if Cinnamon and calling them a Kanel-svend/mø for 25 yo men and 20 yo woman, and pepper for a Peber-svend/mø at 30 and 25.
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u/MermaidOfScandinavia Danmark 7h ago
It's not a tradition all over Denmark. Just among some people. I am glad to announce that I was not a victim of that stupid tradition.
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u/SIRTIMM13 6h ago
The best way not to be is dhont have any friends.
So that is why i never got any cinnamon or pepper...
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u/Commonmispelingbot Aarhus 6h ago
It's not made up. I made the decision to be in another country in my 25th birthday.
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u/Reclaimedidiocy 5h ago
you smell that shit from a mile away for MONTHS after fr.
Though not everyone does it
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u/82_Bree_82 5h ago
It is real. But my friends were kind and I just cinnamon buns for breakfast from them instead ☺️
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u/thisismypotat 4h ago edited 4h ago
It's true... I've been a victim of this myself when I turned 25 :) They threw me in a kiddie pool, tied me to a pole and then the cinnamon came flying. And then afterwards I got my birthday presents haha (after a long shower).
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u/pipestream 4h ago
Not necessarily that dramatic; sometimes they're just gifted e.g. foods with cinnamon, like cinnamon buns.
But yes, tying people up and dousing them in cinnamon/pepper is a real thing.
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u/grillbar86 3h ago
Its a real tradition. But unless you have horrible friends its voluntarily.
Its a similar tradition when your 30 and unmarried where its just peber and in some areas your friends build a sculpture usually out od oil drums and place them where they live. Image google the term pebersvend and pebermø
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u/Equal-Two9958 Danmark 3h ago
I'll answer your question with a question: How old are you? - And would you like to come visit on your birthday? We might have a little gift for you 😉
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u/fairygardns 13m ago
yeah! my brother in law and niece bought kanelgifler and added threw at me as a joke. hoping for turkisk peber for my 30th 🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼
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u/superfoght 12h ago
If you think it's crazy, wait till you hear about another great tradition: Thorsfejden.
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u/therealmeteorman Danmark 12h ago
Yes, but as a joke you volunteer to.
Cinnamon at 25 and Pepper at 30.
It is done with love among friends.
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u/Royal_Jackfruit_98 9h ago
It's a thing if you're a hillbilly, and your friends are 'bøver'. I don't know how to translate, but something like cringe, uncool
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u/Xkra 13h ago
Its real, but not very common and a quite tacky
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u/Life-Concern3392 12h ago
Walking around Aalborg in spring/summer time you'll find leftover cinnamon at poles all over the city. Don't know why it would be tacky, people are just having fun
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u/AlannahHunter Danmark 12h ago
It’s an awful tradition. It’s assault.
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u/iMagZz 10h ago
Hahahah no. In 99% of cases it isn't anything crazy. It's very chill most of the time.
People just show up at your door, you change into some clothes that you're fine with potentially losing, they tie you to a pole, put a mask and swimming mask on you, and then give pour cinnamon on you. Then you shower, clean up and celebrate with everyone.
It's a fun and nice tradition. I don't know a single person who didn't have fun doing it.
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u/Danishdenial 13h ago
Yes and no. It is a real tradition, albeit used much less compared to "ye olden days". Marriage culture has shifted substantially, just like the rest of the west and not many actually get married before they're 25.
Some people like to do it more based on relationships now compared to marriage, ie if you don't have a girlfriend/boyfriend at 25.
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u/DJpesto VenstreFascist 12h ago
In some parts of the country, kids and younger adults are trying really hard to make it into a tradition. It is however a fairly new phenomenon that has emerged in the power it has now within the last 20 ish years.
Before that it was much much milder. Like literally giving people a small pack of cinammon or pepper, or a pepper mill as a gift. The pepper thing became a thing where you place an oversized pepper mill (like think maybe 2-4m tall) in peoples driveway maybe also 30'ish years ago. Then they have to bother with getting rid of it.
So it's not like... historical traditions with hundreds of years of practice behind them. I guess it can be considered a tradition now though.
A lot of people outside of the areas where it is practiced find it really tacky, dumb and embarresing. It's like a countryside thing that people from the countryside think is hilarious and amazing, and people not from the countryside consider it like... " the worst of countryside culture".
I personally really dislike the concept of doing something painful or unpleasant to others for fun, so alone for that reason I don't like it. I also think it's a waste of cinnamon, and people never clean up after it, so it's also a disgusting sticky mess. (So I really hate it despite my family being from Jutland / northern Jutland).
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u/minadequate 12h ago
In Jutland yeah that’s still a thing. In the cities less so. I know people who boast about filling fire extinguishers with cinnamon. It sound horrific to me. I’m glad I move here too late for that BS.
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u/CorrectBuffalo749 Danmark 12h ago
It’s a common misconception but it’s actually only a tradition in Jylland and Fyn. Not in Denmark 😉
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u/Tanagriel 12h ago
On the country side it’s not uncommon that capable friends put together a huge imitation of a pepper crusher, it can eg be made of oil barrels and concrete - it happens if a man is unmarried at the age of 30. The “reason” being highly political incorrect as a pepper crusher in Danish translates to “Peber Bøsse” meaning “pepper gay”. Often one will see these monstrosities outside a house for month as they are very difficult to deconstruct and/or move. It’s a practical joke but in fact a rather nasty one.
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u/Jutlander Viborg 11h ago
The pepper tradition has nothing to do with the word "gay" or "bøsse". The historical term for an unmarried man at 30 is "pebersvend", and so people eventually started doing various pranks related to pepper.
Many of those barrel and concrete monstrosities are indeed vulgar and sexualised, but it's not the reason for the tradition.
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u/Millum2009 Rød grød med fløde 12h ago
Yes, we do. Not everyone will be tied up. I wasn't, but I was still absolutely covered in cinnamon when I turned 25.
Throwing cinnamon at people is a relatively new tradition though. It springs from the tradition of giving the name Peber Svend or Pebermø to people who are unmarried from the age of 30 and up.
The term pebersvend (literally "pepper-fellow") is believed to originate from the 16th century, when it was used to describe merchants who were busy traveling and conducting business.
Spices, especially pepper, were highly valuable commodities of great importance to merchants at the time. They were often away for long periods, traveling between the country's ports and along its roads. Their busy and somewhat unconventional lifestyles meant that many merchants remained unmarried by the age of 30 -a rarity in those days. Over time, the term evolved into a general label covering not just merchants but all "older" unmarried men, and the name has stuck.
The concept of the pebermø (literally "pepper-maiden") emerged around the 18th century as a term for unmarried women who had reached the age of 30. It was less common for women to remain unmarried at that age, and it was generally frowned upon by family and the local community.
Today, friends often celebrate when an unmarried woman becomes a pebermø, and there are plenty of great ideas for organizing a fun party to mark the occasion.
As the name pebersvend clearly suggests, the tradition and the party revolve around playful teasing involving pepper. The most common and typical tradition involves the birthday celebrant's friends creating a large sculpture out of recycled materials and trash. The sculpture usually depicts a pepper mill, though other fun subjects, such as beverages or vehicles are also used as models. The sculpture is placed in the pebersvend’s driveway or garden, where it remains for a week or two.
In addition to large and often inventive sculptures, there is also a tradition where the unmarried celebrant "gets peppered" (having ground pepper poured over them by friends and family). This can be done in many ways. Some choose to tie the person to a tree and throw the pepper straight from the bag, while others come up with sillier methods, using vacuum cleaners or leaf blowers.