Christmas in Germany
In Germany,
the pre-Christmas period begins on the 1st Advent. People decorate their homes with
Christmas decoration and lots of families also illuminate their houses with
chains of lights.
Around
the beginning of December, the Christmas markets open in Germany.
Every city and town in Germany has its own Christmas
market with lots of little booths that sell various things:
- Christmas decoration like Christmas pyramids,
various kinds of wooden figurines, …
… nutcrackers, cribs and crib
figurines
- Christmas “snacks”
- and “Kinderpunch” (children’s punch) and hot chocolate for the kids and “Glühwein” (hot wine punch) for their parents
One of the most important items in people’s homes is
the Advent wreath. It has four candles and on the 1st Advent one
candle is lit, on the 2nd Advent two candles, on the 3rd Advent
three and on the 4th Advent all four candles are lit.
During the pre-Christmas period
families also bake their own Christmas cookies. It’s a grand tradition in
Germany and there are thousands of recipes of different cookies!
The 6th December is special in Germany. On
the 5th December children clean their boots and put them in front of
their rooms in the evening. During the night, “Nikolaus” (St. Nicholas) fills
them with Christmas chocolates and sometimes also with little presents.
Before Christmas Eve, people buy their Christmas
trees. There are many places where you can simply buy trees, but, as we live in
a rather rural area, there are also many fields with fir trees where you can
pick one you like and fell it yourself.
Christmas Eve is a very special day as we celebrate
the birth of Jesus Christ. During the day, we decorate the Christmas tree and
prepare dinner. In the evening, we usually go to church. Afterwards we have
dinner with our families and then Santa Claus (Weihnachtsmann) comes to our homes
accompanied by his reindeer pulling his sled filled with presents for us.
People usually spend Christmas Day and Boxing Day with
their families and/or visit relatives that don’t live close by.
Santa Claus and his sled
This is how we spend and celebrate the pre-Christmas
period and Christmas itself in Germany. There are probably differences to what
you do in Finland, but we believe that some traditions may be similar or the
same.
MERRY
CHRISTMAS!! – FROHE WEIHNACHTEN!!
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