After World War II and the fall of the Third Reich, Germany broke with its previous national identity and was primed for cultural influences from abroad. The rapid spread of Valentine’s Day as a new holiday tradition illustrates the general openness for new cultural practices. Newspaper articles from the 1950s and 1960s reveal insights into the early celebrations of Valentine’s Day and some reactions from the German public.

While the floral industry had adapted the holiday to its own commercial needs, there were also some local attempts at giving Valentine’s Day a more German feel. In the northern city of Wilhelmshaven, Valentine’s Day was celebrated in 1955 with a motorcade of vehicles decorated with flowers. In the evening, a Valentine’s Ball was held that included a vote for a “flower queen.” These public celebrations – as opposed to private gift exchanges – resemble already established German traditions such as Karneval and Schützenfest.

Some Germans, particularly voices from the conservative and intellectual elite, were more skeptical towards the cultural value of Valentine’s Day and other American influences. In an op-ed from 1956 titled “Nelken für Valentin,” one columnist belittles the impact of the United States on German culture by reducing these influences to the most trivial cultural imports, such as chewing gum. Other columnists frequently criticized the materialistic and commercial focus of the holiday. 

They were not always wrong – as a newspaper from 1964 shows, reports about Valentine’s Day in the Sixties were often accompanied by an ever-growing number of ads for local florists. Many of them were affiliated with Fleurop, a flower delivery network that had merged with American and British partners shortly after the war to found the international company Interflora Inc. The history of Valentine’s Day therefore not only offers insights into processes of Americanization, but also a glimpse into the beginnings of postwar globalization.