Just the two of us. Valentine's Day at the Winzer.

The story dates back to Roman times. In those days, unmarried young people were required to take part in a sort of love lottery. Under the guise of religion, this custom was practised in honour of the Roman god Lupercus (god of fertility). Behind it, however, lay Emperor Claudius’s plan to recruit the resulting unmarried children into his army, which was in urgent need of new soldiers. But not everyone bowed to the custom, and more and more people wanted to choose their own partners. In their desperation, they turned to Bishop Valentine, had him marry them, and thus escaped the arbitrary pairings. According to tradition, marriages performed by him were blessed.
Emperor Claudius did not like this at all, as faithful couples meant fewer soldiers. So marriage was banned and Valentine was arrested. After a long period of imprisonment, he was beheaded in the year 269 AD. The Church later canonised Bishop Valentine and, in his honour, introduced the church feast day of lovers in the 5th century. This always took place on 14 February, but was removed from the Roman calendar in 1969. A later source reports on a custom in the Anglo-Saxon world. According to this, from the 15th century onwards, Valentine’s pairs were formed and assigned by lot. They were supposed to send each other poems or gifts, and later also the Valentine’s cards that are still popular today. This custom was then adopted by the English in the United States. The floral gifts customary today only came into play somewhat later. In the 20th century, Hollywood heartthrob Rodolfo Valentino was presented with flowers by his fans every 14 February, making Valentine’s Day part of pop culture. This gave florists the idea of promoting the holiday on a large scale, and eventually it became a tradition in the USA to give flowers on Valentine’s Day. Due to its success, Valentine’s Day was later heavily promoted by European florists as well, and so the custom returned to Europe in a new form.