Christmas Festivities German Style
Can you imagine Christmas Eve without Santa and his magical sleigh, eight tiny reindeer, and Rudolf? European Christmas customs are quite different from North American ones.
In Germany,Christmas celebrationsrevolve around the splendidly decorated tree, the Nativity of Jesus, and nuclear family time. As in North America, gifts are exchanged, candles are burned, and huge amounts of sweets are consumed. There are numerous legends of miraculous events on Christmas Eve – but only the pure in heart can observe them. This festival of lights which brightens the darkest time of the year is the culmination of a month’s preparation.
On Advent Sunday (the fourth Sunday before Christmas), the first candle of the advent wreath is lit, heralding the beginning of preparation for the arrival of the Christ child. The wreath is generally made of live or artificial greenery, with four red candles. An additional candle is lit in the evening of each Sunday. The wreath may be on a table or stand, or hung from the ceiling.
Many children have Advent calendars to help them keep track of the Christmas countdown. Every day, they open one of the numbered windows to discover an image inside.
December 6, St. Nicholas’ Day (also known as Little Christmas), is the children’s celebration. Before going to bed on the 5th, they place a shoe on the windowsill. In the morning, they find candy and perhaps a small gift if they have been good, and twigs (symbolizing rods for beating) if their behaviour has been unsatisfactory. Like the American Santa,St. Nicholas(a mediaeval bishop remembered for his kindly deeds) knows who has been naughty and who has been nice. He has been known to make personal appearances to reward and punish children.
A visit to aChristkindlmarkt(Christmas market) is an important anticipatory event for all. Booths and stalls are set up at the marketplace, offering everything one could imagine by way of Christmas food and decorations, as well as hot sausages, roasted chestnuts, and other fast foods cooked on portable stoves
During the Advent and Christmas season, there is sure to be special fruit bread (stollen), lebkuchen (spice cookies) and gingerbread. Preparing these seasonal foods is an important family activity. Recipes and customs vary by region.
The Christmas tree is brought into the house on December 23. The children are strictly forbidden to enter the room where it is set up. The parents decorate it in secret, with ornaments, edibles (fruit, candies and cookies) and candles. They set out gifts and plates of treats for each person.
The Christmas Eve supper may range from something as elaborate as suckling pig to a simple meal of potato salad and cold cuts. For the rest of the evening, everyone will continue feasting on chocolate, marzipan, cookies, candied fruit, and other treats. When darkness has fallen, a bell signals that the Christkind (Christ child) has made his visit and departed, leaving gifts behind him. Finally, the eager children are invited to gape at the splendour of the lighted tree.
The Christmas story is read. The evening is spent singing carols and munching treats. Many families attend midnight mass, and open their gifts afterwards. This is the most sacred family time of the year. Businesses and restaurants are closed. Those who must celebrate alone have a very difficult time indeed.
The Christkind is a blond child, sometimes with angelic wings, sometimes riding a donkey. Some see him as Jesus himself; others identify him with an angel who announces the birth of Jesus, bearing a basket of gifts. The Weinachtsmann (Father Christmas) rivals the Christkind as the provider of Christmas gifts, especially in Protestant regions. Through the influence of North American culture, he has become more and more identified with Santa Claus.
Christmas Day is commemorated with a banquet. In early times, theboar’s headwas the featured meat of the day, the remnant of a sacrifice to the god Frey to ensure a plentiful and healthy herd in the spring. It was replaced by other meats as the pagan cults died out and wild boars became harder to find. Roast goose is a favorite.
Like Christmas celebrations everywhere, many German customs have pagan roots whose meaning has been forgotten. They continue to evolve as times change. The magic remains.
Froliche Weihnacht! Joyful Christmas!
