Shards from broken ceramics (not mirrors) bring good luck, especially at weddings (Polterabend)

[Scene: A cozy café in Berlin. The clink of coffee cups, soft chatter in the background. Anna arrives with a small bag of broken ceramic pieces, grinning.]

Anna:
(Beaming) Lena! You won’t believe it—I just came from Polterabend at Julia’s. Smashed three plates, a mug, and even a little teapot. It was glorious. Pure Glück!

Lena:
(Eyebrows raised) You went full demolition mode, I see. And you’re carrying the shards around like they’re… souvenirs?

Anna:
Of course! They’re lucky. You know the saying—“Scherben bringen Glück.” It’s tradition! The more you smash, the more blessings for the couple.

Lena:
Right, but you do realize that phrase dates back to a time when people also thought sneezing expelled evil spirits?

Anna:
(Laughs) Oh come on, don’t ruin it with your science goggles. It feels good, doesn’t it? That loud crash, everyone cheering—it’s symbolic. Breaking the old to start something new.

Lena:
Symbolism, sure. But assigning actual luck to broken crockery? That’s a stretch. If broken things brought luck, my dishwasher would be a magical wish factory.

Anna:
Maybe it is! Have you ever tried smashing a plate on purpose? It’s oddly satisfying. Plus, the noise drives away bad spirits. That’s part of the tradition too.

Lena:
Bad spirits? Anna, we live in the age of quantum physics and AI. What kind of spirit gets scared by porcelain?

Anna:
The fragile kind, apparently. And anyway, science doesn’t have to cancel out tradition. There are things you can’t measure—joy, laughter, that collective moment. It’s like group therapy with loud clinks!

Lena:
I’ll give you that. But you have to admit it’s more psychology than metaphysics. People bond over rituals—that’s the real magic. Not the shards.

Anna:
So you do believe it has some power?

Lena:
Not supernatural power. Social power. Like… okay, remember when we all lit sparklers on New Year’s Eve and yelled “Prost” at midnight?

Anna:
Best night ever!

Lena:
Exactly. It wasn’t because the sparkler held cosmic energy. It’s because we were all connected in that moment. Shared traditions = happy brain chemicals.

Anna:
(Mock suspicion) Are you trying to science-splain my joy?

Lena:
Maybe. But hear me out. If someone doesn’t do Polterabend, and still has a great marriage, doesn’t that kind of poke a hole in the “shards bring luck” theory?

Anna:
Mmm… maybe it’s not about proving it. It’s like… wearing lucky socks to an exam. It’s comfort. Why does everything have to be provable?

Lena:
Because if we rely on magical thinking too much, we stop asking real questions. Like, what really makes a marriage work? Communication, empathy—not a busted saucer.

Anna:
Fair. But can’t we have both? Science for medicine, tradition for memories?

Lena:
Now that’s a compromise I can live with. Just promise me you won’t bring a hammer to my kitchen next time you visit.

Anna:
(Grinning) No promises. You might need a little Glück.

Lena:
And you might need a little logic. Deal?

Anna:
Deal. But you’re still coming to the next Polterabend, right?

Lena:
Only if I get to wear safety goggles.

[They clink coffee mugs and laugh as the waitress walks by with a worried glance at Anna’s bag of ceramic shards.]