St. Martin's Day Heinrich vom Stein's Prussian reforms, liberated all the Prussian peasants by 11 November 1810 at the latest. This edict began the process of abolishing serfdom and its hereditary character. St. Martin's Day Saint Martin's day, also known as the Feast of Saint Martin, Martinstag or Martinmas, as well as Old Halloween and Old Hallowmas Eve, is the feast day of Saint Martin of Tours (Martin le Miséricordieux) and is celebrated on November 11 each year. This is the time when autumn wheat seeding was completed, and the annual slaughter of fattened cattle produced "Martinmas beef". Historically, hiring fairs were held
Great St. Martin Church, Cologne Great St. Martin Church, Cologne The Great Saint Martin Church (, or , ) is a Romanesque Catholic church in Cologne, Germany. Its foundations (circa 960 AD) rest on remnants of a Roman chapel, built on what was then an island in the Rhine. The church was later transformed into a Benedictine monastery. The current buildings, including a soaring crossing tower that is a landmark of Cologne's Old Town, were erected between 1150-1250. The architecture of its eastern end forms a triconch or trefoil plan, consisting of three apses around the crossing, similar to that at St. Maria im Kapitol.