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Christmas in Germany, as far as we kids were concerned, was a month long – at least a month.Advent
I grew up in a Catholic area of Germany, so the first sign of Christmastime was the fresh Advent wreath on our kitchen table. It was made of fir twigs, with four red Advent candles, bound with red ribbon, and not much else.
(You’ll find that Christmas decorating in my family was a bit on the understated side – actually, I think that’s probably true for Christmas in Germany generally.)Our wreath smelled heavenly, though, and it was an important part of celebrating Advent as a family.
Each Advent candle symbolizes a thousand years of waiting for the Christ, and on the first Sunday of Advent, after Mass, we would light the first candle.
Every Sunday after that, you light an additional Advent candle, until all four are burning and the kids can barely contain their excitement.
We also had an Advent calendar – that’s another important element of the build-up to Christmas in Germany.
Our favorite type of Advent calendars were the ones that depict a winter village, like the one below.
It has the numbers 1-24 on the paper doors and windows of the village, one for each day until Christmas.
I remember when they introduced Advent calendars with pieces of chocolate instead of pictures behind the flaps … my sister and I found them so naff, we always wanted the ones with the glitter and the beautiful watercolor illustrations behind the little doors.
But Christmas in Germany ain’t what it used to be – my little niece Franziska will turn up her nose at any Advent calendar that doesn’t have chocolate in it!
The Christmas Bakery
Whenever there was a sunset glow on the winter evenings before Christmas, my Mom would say: “Look, the little angels in heaven are baking Christmas cookies – they’re heating the oven, see?”So when we made Christmas cookies at home, it was to "help the Christ Child with the baking". We loved it; it was so nice and messy (particularly the bit where you painted the cookies with chocolate.)
Santa Claus Day
Christmas in Germany is not about Santa. It’s (ahem) about the newborn Jesus. - Nikolaus, the legendary saint and bishop of Myra (the town of Demre in modern Turkey) has his big day on December 6.
That’s Nikolaustag (Santa Claus Day), and on the evening of the 5th, you put out your shoe (or a red plastic boot with white fluff around the rim, as it were).Over night, Sankt Nikolaus
(i.e. Mom) fills it with cookies
and candy!
My Mom actually preferred filling an ornate paper plate with home-made cookies, nuts and a few clementines for each member of the family.
We grew to prefer that, too, for a simple reason: more space. That plate would last us until Christmas if we paced ourselves a bit, and it sweetened the long weeks of waiting for the Christkind.
Christmas Eve
In Germany, the countdown to Christmas ends on December 24, on Heiligabend (Holy Evening). Christmas Eve is when Christmas in Germany actually ‘happens’ (seeing as Santa already made his visit on December 6).
You get to open that last ‘door’ in the Advent calendar – with the Biggest and Most Beautiful picture of all. In the calendar below, no. 24 is the church portal:
When we were little, we never got to see our Christmas tree before Holy Evening. The ‘Christmas room’ was locked, and our parents would decorate the tree with Christmas baubles and live candles.
Then, around 5 in the evening, they would ring a little silver bell to call us kids for the Bescherung (the distribution of the Christmas presents).
Christmas in Germany wouldn’t be complete without a Krippe (Christmas crib) under the tree. In our family we have a beautiful little 19th-century figure of Jesus in the manger click here to see it on the 'Christmas Quotes' page).
Midnight Mass
As soon as we could convince our parents that we were old enough to stay awake for at least part of the night, they took us to the Christmette. For some, this midnight mass on the 24th is the most special church event of the whole year, and Christmas in Germany is not really complete without it.
After mass, everyone goes to see the Christmas crib. In our church in my home town, it was big and colorful (I never took a photo of it, so please just use your imagination here while I hunt for a more elaborate picture):
Imagine a little rickety stables with the newborn Baby Jesus lying in the hay; Mary and Joseph are looking on in a bit of a daze... ...the shepherds, surrounded by their animals, arrive to bring sustenance for the young family...
...and the Three Kings are just rounding the corner, complete with camels, golden vessels and ornate exotic dress. I think there were some angels, too, but I'm not sure. (According to the Bible, there were loads of them around that night.)
I love cribs – I think they’re one of the highlights of Christmas in Germany. For many centuries, artists and craftspeople and regular folk like you and me have put a lot of love and talent into depicting the Nativity - a beautiful expression of devotion and real tenderness.
’Between the Years’
Then follows my favorite time of the year … one of the best parts of Christmas in Germany as I remember it. Long walks in the snow (if there is any), reading all the books I got for Christmas (usually a nice big pile), writing my ‘thank you’ notes, and just being, with nothing to do. Wonderful.
The Three Kings
Christmas in Germany ends on January 6. That is Dreikoenig, the feast of the Three Kings.
(In English speaking countries, this day is known as 'the Twelfth Day of Christmas', or Epiphany if you're Catholic.)
To celebrate the Wise Men who followed the star to find the newborn Jesus in Bethlehem, some of the older boys dress up as the Magi themselves.
They go round the houses to sing and collect donations for a good cause. We call them Sternsinger (star singers).
Wherever people open the door for them, Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar (as they’re traditionally called) leave their inscription on the doorframe:
This inscription has a double meaning. C+M+B are the initials of the three Magi, but the letters also stand for “Christus mansionem benedicat” – ‘may Christ bless this house’.
Once you have your inscription from the Three Kings, that’s Christmas in Germany complete.
The Kings write their blessing with a piece of chalk, and we make sure the inscription stays on the doorframe until January 6 of the following year.When I was little, girls weren’t allowed to be Sternsinger. But our wonderful Aunt Hanna had a dressing-up chest the size of other people's garden shed. (She also had a wicked sense of humor, but that’s for another page!).
Hanna saw our problem and decided to help us out. Here she is, the third magnificent King, with my little sister and me in our Grandfather’s workshop!
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