Advent, a season to prepare for the coming of
baby Jesus, marks the beginning of Christmas season in Germany.
Advent wreath and the advent calendar are popular in Germany.
Evergreen advent wreaths adorned with four red candles are hung in
the homes during Christmas celebrations in Germany. Decoration of
Christmas tree is another important custom for Christmas in the
country. From the beginning of Advent, shops in the country open up
huge stalls for the sale of Christmas trees, candles, decorations
for Christmas tree, gingerbread and gifts for Christmas Eve. Read on
to explore the German ways of celebrating Christmas.
Christmas is Germany is meaningless without the traditional
Christmas tree. It is rather a symbol of Christmas for the Germans.
It is hard to find a German Christmas tree without the green fir.
The trees are illuminated with beautiful Christmas tree lights.
Christmas trees are found everywhere- from churches, to offices, to
shops and to public squares. Giant Christmas trees, as high as 25
meters, are found in public squares. Christmas trees are placed in
offices to please the visitors and staff. Christmas trees are
decorated with cookies apart from tinsels, ornaments and lights. In
some areas of Germany, edibles are given more importance than
Christmas lights. People living in those areas used to name the
Christmas tree as a 'Sugar tree'. Some families in the
country still follow this custom of decorating Christmas tree with
edibles and other decorations.
Music for Christmas in Germany is heavenly! Music is heard
throughout the Holy Evening, that is, on Christmas Eve. Every
household across the country is filled with tinkling sounds of
bells, Christmas songs accompanying the mysterious sounds of various
musical instruments. Christmas Eve dinner is a delight for the taste
buds! Roasted goose or duck stuffed with apples and marzipan candy
are served for the dinner. There is a tradition of serving boar's
head at the Christmas dinner. However, the custom of serving boar's
head as a part of German Christmas feasting is becoming impractical
since boars are hard to find and dangerous to catch. The boar is now
replaced by pork, goose, roasted beef or turkey.
St. Nicholas visits the children on 6th December. Children often
leave notes for St. Nicholas telling him what they want in the form
of Christmas gifts. St. Nicholas then brings in gifts for children
which include candies and other sweets. These gifts are opened on
Christmas Eve. Christmas in Germany is about well-decorated
Christmas tree, sumptuous Christmas feast, music, and prayers.
Christmas in Germany is about
well-decorated Christmas tree, sumptuous Christmas feast, music, and
prayers.