I’ve often wondered…
Is there much difference between the European holiday season and our American Christmas?
There sure is.
Many differences, in fact, some quite small and inconsequential and others I’ve long since forgotten. However a few still stick in my mind as an immigrant (legal immigrant) from Germany.
For one, the entire Christmas experience in the old country is far less commercialized than here. Marketeers there don’t hit you over the head.
Germany—the birthplace to many classic Christmas carols such as Oh Tannenbaum (Oh Christmas Tree) and Silent Night, Holy Night—kicks off its annual celebration with the four weekends of Advent in December
Every home has an Advent wreath with four red candles on it. And guess what, when the fourth candle is finally lit it’s Christmas eve when Saint Nicolas arrives with his sack of toys for the good boys and girls.
That’s followed by not one but two official Christmas holidays—December 25th & 26th.
Another thrill for the kids there are the Christmas or Advent calendars.
Beginning on December first kids open a countdown window on the picturesque calendars daily until until Christmas. Some of those calendars featured small daily Christmas scenes while others were stocked with pieces of candy.
I’m happy to see the tradition of Advent calendars catching on now his this country.
Stores and shopping malls in Germany don’t really have Santa decked out for commercial picture taking. Instead the focus there is on the nativity scene where Mary and Joseph and the Three Wise Men attend to the Christ child.
Imagine a mall being gutsy enough to display a nativity scene here.
CHRIST-mas, anyone?
But my favorite old country tradition remains the Christkindl Mart Christmas market. Every city—large and small—has one open for the entire month of December.
Think of the Christmas market as an open air Christmas arts and crafts festival with all kinds of fun booths selling everything from glass blown tree ornaments to Gluehwein, pretzels, chestnuts, gingerbread goodies, bratwursts—the list is endless.
Oh, and let’s not forget the Christmas Stollen—NOT to be confused or compared with fruit cake.
(Note: Imported butter Stollen from Germany are currently available at very reasonable prices at German-owned ALDI stores in K.C.)
Tannenbaum (Christmas tree) decorations across the pond are not as garish as so many are here.
No flashing colored lights. Nothing over the top. Lights instead are more in the tradition of white candles.
My tip of the hat along those lines goes to the decorators of the NORDSTROM store in Oak Park Mall. Their Christmas decorations are subdued and classy reminiscent of the European holiday experience especially when compared to the rest of Oak Park Mall.
And don’t get me started about the Christmas Kitsch Corner at 103rd and Metcalf.
So go ahead and Deck The Halls with merchandising all you want.
Just don’t forget what Christmas is REALLY all about.
It’s something wonderful that I grew up with—somewhere across the sea.
Froehliche Weihnachten, everyone!
Was Jesus born on December 25? There is no evidence for this date. So then, who decided that Jesus’ birth would be celebrated on that date? The early Christian church did not celebrate Jesus’ birth. It wasn’t until A.D. 440 that the church officially proclaimed December 25 as the birth of Christ. This was not based on any religious evidence but on a pagan feast. Saturnalia was a tradition inherited by the Roman pagans from an earlier Babylonian priesthood. December 25 was used as a celebration of the birthday of the sun god. It was observed near the winter solstice.
The apostles in the Bible predicted that some Christians would adopt pagan beliefs to enable them to make their religion more palatable to the pagans around them. Therefore, some scholars think the church chose the date of this pagan celebration to interest them in Christianity. The pagans were already used to celebrating on this date.
I like Christmas as much as the next guy, but if we could all take a week off in April to play golf, watch the Masters and work on our short game, then we could do away with those stupid sweaters (What a waste.) prepare for the summer with trips to the driving range and, this is a big deal, trips to the in laws, which wouldn’t be nearly so dreadful if you could take your sticks!
Just an idea.
You’re welcome.
Oh yeah, we will go to church too.
At some point.
you just hate everything…from the worldtoyour
own vile angry life. What a waste!
A number of Lutheran churches in the area still preserve these traditions – Advent calendars, Christkindlmarkt, even Gluehwein 🙂
Chuck —
In regards to Saturnalia , the closest and fullest description comes from the 5th century A.D. from Macrobius’ book Saturnalia. In this book, Macrobius identifies the date originally as December 19th. Caesar altered the calendar and the event was extended to three days — starting on the 17th and ending on the 19th.
+1,000,000
Many of the Christmas customs we celebrate in the US come from Lutheran Germans — the Christmas tree, Advent wreath, Advent and Christmas carols/hymns, Advent calendars, and so much more.
The abundance of Christmas and Christian symbolism in Germany and other European countries today is in stark contrast to the non-Christian and Santa focused celebrations in the USA. I hope the influx of immigrants will not have an adverse effect on how Europeans celebrate Christmas.
I don’t think you’ve lived until you’ve enjoyed walking through the Christmas markets drinking warm gluhwein while eating local food specialties and feeling the snow lightly wet your face. The small stalls usually have homemade or locally made Christmas gifts along with other items.
As the author suggests ALDI’s is a good source for unusual and traditional German Christmas treats.
Great comments Jack. Merry Christmas.
… and a Blessed Christmas to you.
And a very happy one to you as well.
Thank You.
The corporate profit motive poses a much greater threat to how Europeans celebrate Christmas than does the influx of immigrants.
I remember the Lutheran Christmas, the advent wreath, Christmas Eve services, the greeting by the pastor at the door as we left. Also we each received a bag of candy with an orange. How I loved the oranges. And when we got a little bigger we sang at those services and even later we were in the Christmas pageant itself.
Special days.
Those days still exist – many Lutheran church continue the same traditions. The bags of peanuts, oranges, and candy I think are an American version of St. Nickolas Day (Dec. 6).
Lutheran churches always have services on Christmas Day too.
I remember going to my German grandma’s house in KCK as a kid at Christmas. What I remember most were the smells from all the cookies she’d bake.
Then we’d come back for Midnight Mass at our church. My Mom was the organist, so we had to be on our best behavior.
Ironically at about the same time, Stan Freberg came out with his brilliant comedy record “Green Christmas,” a great satirical slam on how Christmas got commercialized. Worth checking out on YouTube.