Soon Christmas will be here again. Everywhere you can already admire sparkling Christmas decorations and you can hear Christmas carols on the radios. We show you which Christmas traditions and customs are especially popular and well-known in Germany.
- Contributing author
6 Christmas traditions in Germany
Soon Christmas is just around the corner. Everywhere sparkling Christmas decorations can already be admired, Christmas carols can be heard on the radios and it smells of freshly baked cookies. We show you which Christmas traditions and customs are especially popular and well-known in Germany.
1. The Advent calendar
Whether bought or homemade, the Advent calendar is nowadays no longer to be excluded from the German households. In the meantime, many other countries have also adopted this tradition. The Advent calendar counts from the 1. December the "countdown" to Christmas. Accordingly, the Advent calendar consists of 24 doors. Every day behind each door a little something to increase the anticipation of Christmas or. to shorten the waiting time until Christmas.
2. The Advent wreath
The Advent wreath is also one of the typical Christmas traditions in Germany. Also here you have the possibility to make the wreath yourself or to buy it. In many countries of the world, the Advent season begins with the fourth Sunday before Christmas
Christmas, so the Advent wreath consists of 4 candles. Every Sunday before Christmas an additional candle is lit. On the Sunday before Christmas all 4 candles are burning.
3. The Christmas tree
For most Germans a Christmas tree is the symbolic center of the Christmas celebration. Every year before Christmas Eve, it is traditional to put up a Christmas tree and decorate it festively with candles, baubles, angels, tinsel, gingerbread and a star on the top of the tree. The gifts for the presentation are placed under the Christmas tree.
4. Baking cookies in the pre-Christmas period
To get in the right mood for a German Christmas, one thing must not be missing for many, of course: Baking cookies. The choice of a cookie recipe is not so easy, because there are many different ones. The classics among Christmas cookies usually include: Butter cookies, vanilla crescents, cinnamon stars, vanilla crescents and Spitzbuben. With appropriate Christmas music in the background, the smell of cookies in the oven creates a real Christmas mood.
5. The Christmas Market
Among the typical German Christmas traditions is of course also the Christmas market. At the end of November, many German cities are transformed into a winter fairy tale. This tradition has also been adopted by many other countries in the meantime. At the Christmas markets you can buy small gifts, food and of course delicious mulled wine. The Dresden Striezelmarkt is considered the oldest Christmas market in Germany.
6. The gift-giving on Christmas Eve
In most countries, people do not celebrate the giving of presents until the 25th day of the month.December. In Germany, however, the celebration is held one day earlier. On 24. December is Christmas Eve and every family has different traditions on this special day. Some decorate only on Christmas Eve the Christmas tree together, while others are very long in the kitchen to cook an elaborate menu for the whole family. However, one thing is the same everywhere, because as a rule, after the delicious Christmas dinner the Bescherung takes place. This is the part of the evening when the presents under the Christmas tree are finally unwrapped.