Balloons block the way, barrier tape and cling film are stretched out in front of the teachers' rooms, and students run through the corridors with megaphones.

What happened a few weeks ago at the Hugo-Junkers-Gymnasium (HUGO) in Mönchengladbach can now be observed all over Germany: the graduation prank is the highlight at the end of their school career for many high school graduates.

"These are definitely memories for eternity," says Sophia Okonkwo, HUGO high school graduate and grade spokesperson.

People will talk about that forever.

Anna Wender

Editor in the department "Society & Style"

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The corona pandemic has abruptly interrupted high school parties, theme weeks, celebrations, jokes and trips to high school.

Although the high school graduates in 2020 and 2021 also had their degrees in their pockets - but the phase of life had to do without a real degree.

Before the "serious side of life" begins

Gabriele Dafft doesn't know whether the gap can be filled either.

The cultural anthropologist at the Institute for Regional Studies and Regional History at the Rhineland Regional Council deals with rituals and customs related to the Abitur - and knows how important they are.

“The end of school is the transition to a whole new phase, to a whole new life,” says Dafft.

Such upheavals are associated with uncertainties.

However, through regulated courses of action, it is possible to cope with such crisis situations – this also includes periods of mourning or weddings.

Rituals provide security and are a firm anchor in the storm.

In the pandemic, that was no longer possible.

The last two years couldn't really say goodbye to their school days.

"It's not just about the cultural aspect here," says Dafft, "rituals also play a role in this phase that shouldn't be underestimated from a mental point of view." The customs allow the vintage to grow together again.

You go overboard together one last time before you part ways and the "serious side of life" begins.

A channel for lots of emotions

"The Abi Ball 2020 was completely canceled," says Sophia Okonkwo.

"Last year, after the award of certificates, celebrations were only allowed on a small scale." They are the first who were allowed to plan and carry out pranks again after the forced break.

"Both the theme week and the graduation prank were extremely important in order to be able to end the school phase of life," says Okonkwo.

The rituals are like a channel for lots of emotions.

You not only celebrate the end of a phase of life, but also yourself and the community.

And that was important.

Because instead of preparing for exams together or spending lunch breaks and free hours together, school life came to a standstill.

Events, some of which started before entering high school, were canceled without replacement.

"The fact that these ideas, which also followed the example of the older years, could not be implemented leaves a gap."

A vague feeling remains

And the next crisis was already waiting for the freshly baked high school graduates.

A few weeks ago they were still studying for their final exams, but in autumn the children's room was transformed from a classroom into a lecture hall.

All the impulses that the path to self-employment entails through moving out of the parental home thus fell away.

According to Dafft, this left a vague feeling because it was uncertain how long the pandemic would last.

"The rituals and customs would have compensated for that."