Christmas comes early in Germany
Posted: Friday, December 21, 2007 4:24 PM
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Mainz, Germany
By Andy Eckardt, NBC News Producer
MAINZ, Germany – It smelled of fresh-baked cookies when I dropped my children off at kindergarten on a recent morning. For a moment, I just stood there, inhaled the sweet scent and watched little kids in their aprons – faces dusted with flour – dance to German Christmas songs.
The weeks before Christmas – or the Advent season, as we often refer to it here – is a very special time in Germany. Solemn, quiet and full of old traditions.
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| Andy Eckardt / NBC News |
| An evening in the Christmas market in Wiesbaden, Germany. |
While it seems that marzipan and chocolate Santas are put up earlier in stores every year, people begin to really feel the Christmas spirit about four weeks before the big holiday – when Christmas markets open and more visitors than usual flock into churches for the four Advent Sunday masses.
St. Nick
On the eve of Dec. 6, children put their polished shoes outside the door, hoping that Saint Nick (or Nikolaus) puts a treat into their boots, when he comes to see who was naughty or nice.
Americans often ask if St. Nick is the German Santa. Well, in a way he is. Because Santa Claus derived from this European figure, formerly the Bishop of Myra, who was born in the third century in Europe and dedicated his life to giving to the needy, sick and suffering.
But, on Christmas Eve in Germany, it is the Weihnachtsmann ("the Christmas man") – a "ho, ho, ho," Coca-Cola-style Santa Claus, who slips through the chimneys.
Not so long ago, it was difficult to find decorated houses in German towns. In the old days, my parents used to take us on evening rides through the housing areas of the American forces in my city, to give us a glimpse of the oceans of blinking lights, reindeers on roof tops and artificial, sprayed-on snow. Now Germans put on their own light shows at their houses.
Traditional Christmas markets
Yet, the seasonal cheer is best felt in the country's Christmas markets, which date back to medieval times. Many are still to be found on their original sites in towns and villages across the country. Germany's most famous market – Nuremberg's "Christkindlmarkt" – is more 400 years old.
After-work-parties here are often relaxed gatherings with friends between the little wood huts that sell candy and beverages. Meeting for a glass, or two, of hot mulled wine, with trumpet players or children's choirs performing carols like "O Tannenbaum" or "Silent Night" in the market squares.
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| Andy Eckardt / NBC News |
| An evening in the Christmas market in Wiesbaden, Germany. |
Our Christmas markets have been copied by many of our European neighbors. Birmingham, England claims it has the largest market outside Germany, complete with nutcrackers, Lebkuchen, sausages and christmas tree ornaments. There is even a Palestinian Christmas market in Ramallah.
Trend toward the traditional
But, for Germans, decorations, lights and a nicely decorated tree are essential for the perfect Christmas feeling, according to a recent survey by Innofact.
The survey showed that Christmas without a tree and the traditional family dinner is unthinkable for the vast majority of Germans, who mark Christmas Eve as the most important day of the festive season here.
"There is a definite trend toward more traditional values among young people when it comes to Christmas," according to researcher Detlef Wolters.
Some 80 percent of the under-40 crowd said they preferred to spend Christmas nestled with their families in an atmosphere of harmony and contemplation.
That's what Germans call "Frohe Weihnacht," a Merry Christmas.
