Christmas in Christmas in GermanyGermany

Come along and uncover the German Christmas celebrations,

and the precious traditions of their culture

Christmas Time in Christmas Time in GermanyGermany

On 6th of December, Nikolaustag or St. Claus day is celebrated and children leave out a shoe or boot outside the door on the previous evening. Good children receive presents while bad children do not. Traditional Christmas toys consist of little dolls of fruit. Children write letters to the angel Christkind, a winged figure in white robes and a golden crown who delivers gifts to German children, and keep them on their windowsills on Christmas Eve. Sometimes, they decorate letters by sprinkling sugar on the glue-brushed letters to make them sparkle.

Christmas preparations in Germany begin from 1st of December as people bake spiced cakes, gingerbread houses and cookies, make gifts and start holiday decorations.

A German Christmas tree

Then on the midnight of Christmas eve, they wake up children and take them to the locked room where the tree is all lit up and there are gifts kept under it. Catholic German boys and girls dress up as kings on Three Kings Day and carry a star round the village singing carols and collecting treats and money as donations.

Christmas Time in Christmas Time in GermanyGermany

The Gendarmenmarkt Christmas Market in Berlin.

Someone dressed as St Nicholas

Traditional Traditional German German

Christmas FoodsChristmas Foods

‘Lebkuchen’ Christmas biscuits

Traditional German Dinner

Christmas Town Christmas Town DecorationsDecorations

Christmas Market Stall

A typical town square at Christmas Christmas in Berlin: A

nutcracker soldier made out of lights. PHOTO © H. Flippo

German Christmas German Christmas TraditionsTraditionsAdvent

Advent marks the beginning of the build-up to Christmas, starting on the Sunday after the 26th of November. The Advent Wreath (Adventskranz) is a very popular decoration in German homes. It consists of a circular wreath of pine-branches with four candles on it. One candle is lit for each Sunday of Advent.

Advent calendars Advent calendars contain pictures beneath each window. They are used by kids to count the days until Christmas. Some show a special picture under each number, and some have a special chocolate treat.

German Christmas German Christmas TraditionsTraditions

Fröhliche Weihnacht

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