Secret Santa
Wichteln ( ) (in northern Germany and Scandinavia also Julklapp ( - regular Swedish for "Christmas present"), as well as in Austria regionally also called Engerl and Bengerl ( )) is mostly a pre-Christmas custom that is maintained among work colleagues, in clubs, in school classes, by youth groups and virtually in various online communities . A different group member is determined by random selection for each group member, who then gives them gifts.
The original custom, which is seldom practiced today, stipulated that the gift would be secretly given to the recipient by an agreed date (often during Advent). Hence the reference to the " Wichtel ", a Nordic legendary figure who secretly does good. Nowadays it is mostly the case that the gifts are exchanged anonymously at a ceremony. The type of gifts is roughly determined in advance. As a rule, the focus is on the originality of the gift and not on its material value. A major advantage of the Secret Santa is that the random assignment of the giver and the recipient of the gift means that all group members are treated equally (everyone has to give a gift and receives a gift himself) and existing cliques do not play a role. One disadvantage is that you don't necessarily get a gift or an item of the same value.
procedure
Secret Santa knows no uniform rules of the game . The custom has developed differently over time - depending on the region, society or group. However, the assignment is always drawn , whereby the case must be excluded or regulated that a member draws himself.
The draw can be carried out in the traditional way by writing all the names on pieces of paper, shuffling the pieces of paper and then each participant draws a piece of paper. If you happen to have drawn yourself, you report this and the slip of paper will be returned to the lottery pot after a replacement ticket has been drawn. Or the draw can be carried out via the Internet with the help of programs or online services : a random number generator is used to send each participant a name by email , which they then have to give away.
Some of the gifts are handed over personally; but this is rarely the case. As a rule, the recipient does not find out who the gift came from, for example by wrapping all gifts several times (three to four times), with a different name on each layer of the packaging. Either regular wrapping paper is used for this, particularly eye-catching or shrill wrapping paper , wrapping paper or newsprint . To make the whole thing more interesting, you can also write small poems or puzzles that are tailored to the recipient. After reading it out loud, it is then jointly considered who the text is suitable for, and the gift is given to the person. With this approach, guessing who is to be given the gift is part of the elf.
"Motto elves"
With the “motto elves”, in addition to the approximate value, the general type of gifts is determined beforehand.
In the case of “green gnomes”, one agrees beforehand, for example, only to destroy cacti or potted plants , but not which ones. With this variant of the motto elf, one adheres to the basic requirement of giving and maintaining a plant, whereby, as with other species of elves, there may be surprises in terms of size, shape or possibly the flowers.
To exchange “ geocoins ” there are special events within the geocaching community called “Geocoin elves”, which usually take place between Christmas and New Year . It is defined beforehand which types of geocoins can be used (minimum diameter and weight). At such an event, the packaged geocoin is given a number when it arrives and is placed in a pile. By drawing lots obtained in the course of the event where you eat together or show elements with respect may include, for Geocaching, another Geocoin. All participants in such an event remain anonymous as gift givers .
"Scrap gnomes"
In the case of "scrap wimps" (regionally also known as "nasty wimps", "gammelwichteln", "grab bag", "horror gnomes", "horror wimps" or "junk wimps"), each giver chooses a particularly unloved, tasteless or useless item as a gift out. However, it is agreed beforehand that the objects should not be rubbish , but old, curious or unloved objects in a usable condition. The giver should demonstrate humor and originality. The participants are not assigned to each other beforehand, but the prepared gifts are distributed randomly in this variant. Even with this form of elf, which is often carried out at Christmas parties due to the fun factor , there are no uniform rules.
A conceivable process would be that each participant brings a secret gift wrapped in gift or newspaper and all gifts are first placed on the gaming table until all participants have arrived. Then at the beginning the dice are rolled in turn. With a one you can take a package. This is repeated until all participants have a package or the last one has been allocated. Then they unpack together at the same time and briefly introduce the respective items. Then the dice are rolled again within a defined time interval of, for example, ten minutes. With fixed numbers (for example a one and a six) you have to swap your current gift for someone else's gift; on a three, all gifts are passed on to the right-hand neighbor. The pre-determined time ensures that at the end all participants have a random gift.
Flash mob elves
With this variant, the meeting point, the time, the type of gifts and the value are determined in advance in social networks . As with a flash mob , all gifts are deposited at the agreed location upon a sign. The “package snap” begins with another sign. The aim of this variant is to achieve a spontaneous feeling of togetherness .
Gnome Challenge
The Wichtelchallenge is a charitable form of Wichtel in which the wishes of people in need are collected and made available via an online platform. A Wichtelchallenge is carried out in a defined region (e.g. the city of Vienna) and invites everyone to join in and to fulfill all wishes of the online list together. The system is based on a matching principle of wishes that are registered through recognized social institutions and elves who are ready to fulfill this wish. This form of Wichtel first took place in 2017 through the "Wiener Wichtel Challenge" project in the city of Vienna and has been growing steadily ever since. In 2019 Wichtelchallenges will take place in the entire German-speaking area (Germany, Austria, Switzerland).
Worldwide distribution
The principle of "Wichteln" is known in many countries with Christmas customs in the forms described above or modifications thereof: In Great Britain and the USA it is called "Secret Santa" , in southeastern Pennsylvania and in Baltimore the regional term "Pollyanna" is used ( ), on the island of Ireland "Kris Kindle" , "Christmas" or "Kris kringle" , in Australia and Canada "Secret Santa" ( ), or "Kris kringle" , on the Philippines ' moni- monita ” , in the Dominican Republic “ Angelito ” and in Spain and Latin America “ amigo secreto ” or “ amigo invisible ” . In Russia the custom is known as Тайный Санта ( ).
Trivia
- In order to record the NDR talk show Bettina and Bommes on December 18, 2015, each participant in the talk had to bring an elf gift wrapped in wrapping paper for another talk guest. These parcels were all placed in a sack and at the end of each talk, the person was allowed to pull a random present out of the sack. The spoiled gifts consisted of a CD with Christmas songs , a purchased hat and a self-crocheted hat , a small package with gingerbread , an assortment with dowels , a Swiss Army knife , a package of heavy-duty detergent , a refreshing spray from Russia , Swiss chocolate , and a notebook , a box of “ Ibuprofen ” from Poland , Belarusian liqueur and a skin cream .
- Various online communities and social media platforms are familiar with virtual elves; Examples are drawnames.com, elfster.com (secret santa generator) , the "gift roulette " on spin.de and Wichtelmania.com.
- The probability that no one will receive their own gift when there are more than 4 people is about 37%. Accordingly, the probability that at least one person will receive their own gift when there are more than four people is 63%. Mathematically, the case that nobody receives their own gift is called a fixed-point-free permutation .
literature
- Liane Bleeker: Julklapp or how to make others (not) happy: Three pre-Christmas short stories. Kindle Edition. BookRix , 2014.
- Josefine Eisner: The change in religion-motivated life and annual customs in the Wies parish, south-western Styria. Dissertation at the Faculty of Humanities, Institute for Folklore and Cultural Anthropology. Graz (University), 2013.
- Hans Greenland: Julklapp. Illustrated German Christmas gift. August Bagel, Düsseldorf 1909.
- Without indication of the author: Julklapp! A guide for the Christmas present. RL Prager, Berlin 1926.
- Margarete Reichert: Julklapp. Merry Christmas piece. Theater manuscript in fracture. Bloch-Verlag, Berlin 1918.
- Hortense Ulrich, Birgit Schössow : Christmas elf love chaos. Lucilla tries everything to pull Timo at the Secret Santa. Series “Cheeky Girls - Cheeky Books!” PlanetGirl, Stuttgart 2011.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Instructions on Weihnacht.at. Accessed on December 17, 2015.
- ↑ Helga Maria Wolf: Vienna's best festivals. About customs and events. Suttonverlag, Vienna 2014. page 91.
- ↑ Listing for the geocaching event "Between the Years (Geocoinwichteln)" (GC64WRX) . Retrieved December 17, 2015.
- ↑ Listing for the geocaching event "Geocoinwichteln 2013" (GC44BTX) . Accessed on December 17, 2015.
- ↑ Helga Henschel: Christmas customs and punch. CreateSpace, Seattle 2015. Chapter “Wichteln or Julklapp”.
- ↑ Welcome to the Wichtel Challenge Austria. Retrieved October 29, 2019 (German).
- ↑ Homepage of the Bettina and Bommes episode on December 18, 2015. Accessed on December 19, 2015.
- ↑ Stefan Bartz: Self-watering in 2 of 3 games . In: Stochastics in School . No. 33 , 2013 ( stefanbartz.de [PDF; 684 kB ]).