What DO the Germans do for Christmas anyway?
Weihnachts Season:
The first Sunday of Advent marks the beginning of Christmas in Deutschland. During this first week, houses are decorated and cookies are made. They even have a giant Advent Calendar in the School, and a Huge Christmas tree in the main room!
Der Adventskalendar:
Another German Tradition- right out of the 19th Century. Originally, these calendars had small Christmas scenes behind a cardboard flap to help Children understand the Christmas stories. The last flap would usually contain a nativity scene. Since then, Advent Calendars have come to contain (most commonly) chocolate or small toys, and are exported all over the world.
Weihnachtsmarkt:
Almost any town with a significant population of people has a Christmas Market. Originally, centuries ago, this would be the ONLY place in the city to buy/trade necessities for the Christmas season. Now, it is merely a place to gather people from all over the city. Gluhwein is sold alongside sweets and crafts. The Christmas market usually runs from the end of November to Christmas.
Advent Wreath:
Believe it or not, the Advent Wreath is FROM Germany. It was used to help children count down the days to Christmas. Originally in the 19th Century, there were 19 small candles and 4 large ones. Now in modern times, we just have the four large candles- which are lit on each Sunday before Christmas. The candles can be any color, but are usually Red, Purple, or White.
My city had a GIANT advent wreath on one of the towers in the shopping district.
Christmas Tree:
One of the first Evergreen trees was decorated around Christmas time in the 16th Century in Northern Germany... and so the Christmas tree was born. It is usually put up the night before Christmas, and taken down the 6th of January.
Cookies:
The first weekend of Advent is cookie weekend! Brown Cookies, Lebkuchen, Honnigkuchen, and MANY others. This year, I added some Alaska shaped ones to the bunch.
With Love from Deutschland
Sarah
Weihnachts Season:
The first Sunday of Advent marks the beginning of Christmas in Deutschland. During this first week, houses are decorated and cookies are made. They even have a giant Advent Calendar in the School, and a Huge Christmas tree in the main room!
Der Adventskalendar:
Another German Tradition- right out of the 19th Century. Originally, these calendars had small Christmas scenes behind a cardboard flap to help Children understand the Christmas stories. The last flap would usually contain a nativity scene. Since then, Advent Calendars have come to contain (most commonly) chocolate or small toys, and are exported all over the world.
Weihnachtsmarkt:
Advent Wreath:
Believe it or not, the Advent Wreath is FROM Germany. It was used to help children count down the days to Christmas. Originally in the 19th Century, there were 19 small candles and 4 large ones. Now in modern times, we just have the four large candles- which are lit on each Sunday before Christmas. The candles can be any color, but are usually Red, Purple, or White.
My city had a GIANT advent wreath on one of the towers in the shopping district.
Christmas Tree:
One of the first Evergreen trees was decorated around Christmas time in the 16th Century in Northern Germany... and so the Christmas tree was born. It is usually put up the night before Christmas, and taken down the 6th of January.
Cookies:
The first weekend of Advent is cookie weekend! Brown Cookies, Lebkuchen, Honnigkuchen, and MANY others. This year, I added some Alaska shaped ones to the bunch.
With Love from Deutschland
Sarah
No comments:
Post a Comment