Pictures of German Christmas

Pictures of German Christmas

German Christmas (called Weihnachten in German) traditions are a bit different than those in the US, as expected. For example, they generally don't decorate their homes nearly so extravagantly. On December 6th they celebrate what is called St. Nikolaus Eve. The children place a shoe outside the bedroom door which gets filled with presents and treats from St. Nikolaus. If they are naughty they get twigs instead. Families exchange gifts on the night of the 24th and then they have two more holidays, the 25th and 26th (called 2nd Christmas Day), which follow. Traditionally they will attend a midnight Mass on the 24th. They are very big on the Advent Calendar and Advent Wreath (Adventskranz) here. The Adventskranz usually has 4 candles on it, with one being lit each Sunday before Christmas starting 4 weeks out, of course. The Christmas Tree (Tannenbaum) is put up closer to Christmas Day than in the US. In some parts of Germany it is tradition to go to the houses of friends and family to admire their Christmas trees. You ring the doorbell and when it is answered you can see the tree, after which you say, "Ein schoener Baum!", which means "A very nice tree!" At this you are usually offered some sort of brandy-drink for your tree-admiring efforts. Visits are kept short because there are many friends and family members with whom this scenario needs repeating.

Pictures of German Christmas