Have you ever wondered what it would be like to celebrate Christmas beyond the big lights spun around the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree? Some place far away on the other side of the globe where you can’t hear John Lennon’s ‘Happy Xmas- War Is Over’ splurge out of the radio or admire the elaborate red bows wrapped around your local Macy’s…
Being born in the small but famous city of Düsseldorf in Germany and living there my whole life, I’ve experienced every Christmas in the heart of Europe. German and European holiday traditions are very different than American rituals, from Christmas treats to Santa Claus. Here’s what Christmas in Germany is like:
1. The 1st of Advent
The 1st of Advent is the Sunday four Sundays away from Christmas Eve. It typically falls on a date towards the end of November or the very beginning of December. This is when the Christmas season begins (green and red candy or glittering Christmas decorations or not sold as early as October like in the US).
Instead of having a wreath on your door, each German family has an Advent wreath on their dinner table. The wreath has four candles on it that are each lit on the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th of Advent, which are the four Sundays before Christmas.
2. Advent Calendars
The German “Adventskalender” is a big part of the Christmas season for German children. Every family has an “Adventskalender”. Most kids have little paper calendars with doors numbered from 1 through 24. The first door is opened on December 1st. Each day there is a little treat (usually Chocolate) in the door.
Traditional German advent calendars are made from fabric and have 24 small sacks. The calendars are hung over the children’s beds and it is said that a Christmas angel puts presents inside each sack at night. The advent calendar was invented so that the time before Christmas would pass by more quickly for children.
3. Pre-Christmas Celebration: St. Nikolaus
During the night of December 5th “Nikolausabend” (Nicholas evening) “Sankt Nikolaus” (Saint Nicholas) leaves presents (traditionally nuts and fruit) in children’s boots outside their front doors.
St. Nikolaus is not equivalent to the American Santa Claus and is not the figure to leave presents under the tree on December 24th, although the idea of Santa Claus originated from St. Nikolaus, who was a real saint. St. Nikolaus is often portrayed in red and white or purple robes with a long white beard. The Bavarian folklore says that St. Nikolaus is accompanied by “Knecht Ruprecht”, who leaves coal or a stick (“Rute”) in children’s boots if they have been naughty. Many traditional German Christmas songs are about “Nikolausabend”.
4. The “Christkind” instead of Santa Claus
No flying reindeer, no toy factory up at the North Pole, no big fat man squeezing down the chimney, no “ho ho ho” or stockings hung by the chimney with care. Instead of Santa Claus, the “Christkind” or “Christkindl” brings the presents on Christmas Eve. The exact translation of “Christkind” is Christ child. He is the traditional German gift-bringer on Christmas Eve.
The child is depicted as a young boy with angelic wings and golden hair. He is sometimes represented as baby Jesus himself. While the Christkind is widely recognized as the figure of Christmas (mostly in Catholic homes), some Protestant families believe in the “Weihnachstmann” (Christmas man), instead: a German adaptation of Santa Claus.
5. Christmas Trees
The Christmas trees in Germany are usually not bought until Christmas Eve Day or a few days before. The tree is also not decorated by the family but by the Christkind on Christmas Eve.
Sometimes, presents are incorporated into the tree decorations. The Christkind will leave small trinkets hanging from or placed on the tree while the families leave the living room.