Rites of Youth in Trier

On any given summer weekend... you will find groups of Trier’s youth gathering downtown in the ”Haupt Marktplatz“....

This gathering will consist of anywhere from two people to a dozen teenage friends...male and female... More than likely, there will be a bottle or two of red wine and/or white wine being shared amongst them (legal age, of course)..... They are causing no trouble; no fights will break out, no vandalism will occur..... They are just the youth of Trier celebrating life; enjoying each others friendship, enjoying being outdoors and soaking in the atmosphere around them as tourist and residents alike bustle about them..... Animated conversations over love, life, the opposite sex and laughter fill the air! No subject is taboo and no one is ridiculed. All are included.... None of the “grown ups” sneer at them (some even engage them in conversation). No one is harassing them. They are accepted and treated as people. A part of the city life... They are not hustled off to any dark out of the way areas or pushed aside because of their youthful innocence... The police walk by unperturbed by this common gathering as it does not cause any alarm... It is an accepted ritual that has been repeated many times throughout the years, decades and perhaps centuries in this over 2000 yrs old city....the rites of the youth in Trier.....
:)