KIDPROJ MCC: Christmas // Christmas

A Page From the KIDPROJ Multi-Cultural Calendar
Christmas // Christmas - Germany
by Erin Knapp

25 December

Erin wrote this paper on how German children celebrate Christmas throughout the month of December and into January. She wanted to submit it for others to read.

The celebration of Christmas in Germany begins on December 1 and runs though January 6th. Beginning on December 1st, people start counting down the days until Christmas using Advent calendars. On one kind of Advent calendar, there are twenty-four numbered doors. Inside each door there is a picture to symbolize Christmas. One of the other kinds of Advent calendars is made of a circle of fir branches bound together. Twenty-four boxes are hung from the branches. Each of the boxes has a tiny present and is wrapped with brightly colored paper. Each day the children open a tiny box or door, depending on the type of calendar. German children like to make Advent wreaths. Each wreath has four candles with the color of red or yellow. One candle is lit every Sunday of Advent. St. Nicholas, who is like our Santa Claus, comes to Germany during the first week of Advent. On December 6th, children wake up and find candy and fruit that St. Nicholas left for them. The three Thursday nights before Christmas are called Klopfelnachten or knocking nights. On Klopfelanchten, children wearing masks go to house to house banging lids and clanging cowbells in their neighborhood. It is almost like our Halloween because the children get candy, coins, and fruit after they recite a rhyme at the door. The outdoor markets in Germany are very famous. Early in December, Nuremberg's Christkindlesmarkt (Christ Child Market) is opened. It is oldest and most famous Christ Child Market. Stalls with red and white striped roofs are selling Christmas decoration, food, toys, and presents. In the Christmas air, you can smell bratwurst (German sausage) and lebkuchen (spicy gingerbread cookies). The traditional German Christmas decorations are Zwetschgenmannla and Zwetschgenfrauen (prune men or prune women), straw stars, Nuremberg Angels, and tinsel. There is tale told that a widow decorated her tree on Christmas Eve and spiders spun a web all over it and the Christ Child passed by and turned the webs into tinsel so that is why we put tinsel on our trees. Prune people are about ten inches tall. Their arms and legs are made out of prunes. Their bodies are made of dried figs. Their heads are made of walnuts with faces. The Germans say "You will never be without gold and happiness, if you have a prune person in your house." In Germany, the Christmas tree is not put up until Heiligabend (Christmas Eve). The parents or the mother decorates the tree secretly on Christmas Eve when the children are at church. The tree has real candles on it to symbolize light of Christ. The candles are only lit on Christmas Eve making that night even more special. Usually, there is a display under the Christmas tree of the stable where Christ was born. Once the tree is decorated, a bell is rung and everyone may come to see it and open presents. Some families hide a pickle in their tree and the first person to find it gets to open the first present. Also on Christmas Eve, the children write letters to the Christ Child like we write letters to Santa Claus or St. Nick. They glue on an envelope and sprinkle sugar to catch the Christ Child's eye when he passes by. The children put their letters on their windowsill. Then, the children go to bed hoping for presents the next morning. On January 6th, to celebrate the end of Christmas and the visit of the Three Kings to Jesus, German boys dress up and sing Christmas carols. One of the boys carries a pole with a star on top. They go door to door singing and writing the letters K, M, and B in chalk on the doors. The letters stand for Kaspar, Melchior, and Balthasar, the names of the three kings that visited Jesus. My favorite German Christmas tradition is making the prune people and decorating them. It was fun to stitch the clothes for it and watch it hang in front of the fire to dry. I also liked painting her face. Germany has many nice Christmas traditions and some day I would like go there and celebrate Christmas.

From United States by
Erin Knapp - 10
Email: jean_knapp@tufts-health.com

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