Colourful plate
The Christmas has as its central hard drawn adjacent winter many customs smaller festivals in coming. The colorful plate (also called sweet plate ) is one of these customs .
regional customs
Nicholas
As a gift plate, the colorful plate originally comes from the tradition of St. Nicholas . On the day of the popular saint, especially the children were given nuts, fruits and pastries . Nicholas has earned the reputation of "child bishop" through two legends: through the secret nightly giving of presents to three virgins without a dowry and through the resuscitation of three boys. The colorful gift plate for St. Nicholas Day is also known from the song » Let's be happy and lively ...«, which is still popular today .
New Year
As a sign of opulence and abundance, the colorful plate is also part of the New Year's tradition . Showing lavish prosperity in a transition and threshold situation is one of the most widespread and common customs of all. In relation to the turn of the year, the colorful plate means: »We should feel just as good next year too. Our plate should be that full in the future ... «
literature
- Jacobus de Voragine: Legenda aurea, translated from Latin by Richard Benz, Heidelberg 1979, ISBN 3-7953-0601-9
- Hermann Kirchhoff: Christian Customs. Festivals and customs in the annual cycle, Munich 1995, ISBN 3-466-36416-7
- Rüdiger Vossen: Christmas customs all over the world, Hamburg 1985, ISBN 3-7672-0915-2
- Ingeborg Weber-Kellermann: The book of Christmas carols, Mainz 1982, ISBN 3-7957-8213-9