Soup and jack-o'-lanterns: Germany's fall pumpkin obsession

Pumpkins are not native to Germany, but are most likely to be found in North and South America. Nevertheless, they have long become a popular food and decorative item in Germany. As soon as you spot pumpkins in the supermarket, you know that fall has arrived.

While red kuri gourds are most common in the kitchen, Halloween pumpkins for carving can also be found in supermarkets in Germany. Visits to the pumpkin patch, however, are not common. Still, over the past two decades, more and more people have started carving jack-o'-lanterns in a nod to the adopted American tradition that only arrived in Germany in the 1990s.

Click through the gallery above for a look at Germany's multifaceted relationship with pumpkins, and which aspects it has borrowed from the US.