Sep 24, 2009, 14:55 GMT
Hamburg - All over the world couples chose September 9, 2009 as their wedding day, believing the sequential date - 9.9.09 - would bring them luck.
In Germany, more couples wanted to marry on that day than on another ordinary weekday. However, compared with August 8, 2008 - abbreviated to 8.8.08 - there were fewer ceremonies at justice of the peace offices across Germany.
In Dusseldorf, for example, 27 couples tied the knot on September 9, while on August 8, 2008, 47 got married there.
'This is most certainly because the lucky number fell on a Wednesday this year,' said Michael Bergmann, a spokesman for the city of Dusseldorf. A day in the middle of the week is not optimal for holding a wedding party. In the town of Giessen north of Frankfurt 10 of 15 couples who registered for the day changed their minds. 'The preferred day for a civil marriage ceremony is still Friday,' Bergmann said, adding that August 8, 2008, was.
Thomas Zimmermann, a spokesman for the city of Paderborn, said the popularity of scheduling a wedding on a date that has a sequential or otherwise interesting numerical combination is declining. He points out that before 2000 such dates occurred less frequently. For example, the same number combinations - July 7, 1977, August 8, 1988 and September 9, 1999 - occurred only every 11 years.
But since January 1, 2001, there have been two chances annually to get married on a day with a special numerical sequence. This year it was September 9 followed by September 20, which is abbreviated to 20.09.2009.
In Mainz where 23 couples registered to marry on September 9, officials believe the position of the day on the calendar played a role.
'June, July and August are the main months when people want to get married here,' said Mainz city spokesman Ralf Peterhanwahr. 'You can have a party outdoors.' Couples also probably prefer to take a honeymoon in a warmer month.
Things were different in Nuremberg on September 9 this year. The judges there had to push through 45 registered pairs, each ceremony lasting only 15 minutes.
'On such a day we can't take time to consider what to do about a forgotten wedding ring,' said Reinhold Vogt, a spokesman for the city of Nuremberg. He's not a fan of weddings on days whose numerical abbreviation is interesting or memorable. He says romance is sacrificed when the ceremonies are rushed and when they have to be scheduled for so many people.
In addition marrying on such days doesn't always bring luck. According to Germany's divorce registry in Cottbus, marriages that take place on those days break up just as frequently as others. In the Neukoelln district of Berlin they break up more frequently than other marriages, an internal study showed.
Sandra Brose and Lars Peters weren't influenced by such data. They waited four years to marry on 9.9.09.
'For us no other date came into question,' said Peters, a 26-year-old bank employee from Stuhr near Bremen. 'It was clear to us after we were together for four months,' he added, recalling a walk the couple took back then and their casual discussion of marriage. 'At the same time we both named the date September 9, 2009 as a date. We stuck with it.'
The couple isn't troubled that people all over the world chose the same day to get married. Brose said she finds it 'cool' that the day is a joyful day all over the world.
Bergmann, the Dusseldorf city spokesman, knows that these dates can become an obsession. He recalls a man who desperately wanted to get married on September 9, 1999 and reserved the day a year in advance. When asked whether he had a partner he said no, but was confident that he would find someone by then. But one year later he didn't turn up for his wedding appointment on his dream date.
Couples hoping to find a special date on next year's calendar won't be pleased when they see that October 10, 2010 is a Sunday because most justice of the peace offices in Germany are closed on that day.
Your Talkback on this Story