Christmas customs in Germany
The Christmas customs in Germany , as German Christmas designated traditional ingredients includes the Christmas festivities . Like all customs , Christmas customs in Germany are regionally different and are constantly changing. The starting point is the feast of the birth of Jesus Christ . In the tradition older, pre-Christian winter and light customs are partly to fore and with Christian motifs fused .
The feast day is December 25th. The celebrations begin on the eve, Christmas Eve (also Christmas Eve, Christmas Eve, Christmas Eve, Christmas Eve), December 24th. Depending on the denomination , Christmas ends on January 6th, the feast of the apparition of the Lord (Epiphany), or on the following Sunday, the feast of the baptism of the Lord . Today, however, originally Christmas symbols, songs and items of decoration determine the streetscape in many places from the end of November.
History of Christmas Customs
The Christmas tradition was in the nativity plays Christianized as a special spiritual spectacles and since the 16th century in the nativity scenes shown. The scenic representations can first be grasped in France in the 11th century.
The Christmas festivities in the family, which is common today in German-speaking countries, with a Christmas tree , Christmas carols , crib , gifts and attending church services is a cultural expression of the 19th century bourgeois family ( Biedermeier ). In folklore and Germanic research up to the first half of the 20th century - among others by the Brothers Grimm - it was assumed that it must be a very old tradition, and attempts were made to establish a continuity into Germanic antiquity. The world ash of the Germanic myth or the mid-winter tree were seen as the immediate forerunners of the Christmas tree. This was also in line with National Socialism , which tried to mix Christmas with the Germanic and Scandinavian Jul tradition (→ National Socialist Christmas cult ).
Customs
The specific manifestation of Christmas and Advent customs in Central Europe mostly arose in a climatically marked zone of cold, dark winter. In the southern hemisphere , Christmas falls in summer , which leads to different customs. The evergreen Christmas tree has no corresponding symbolic power there.
preparation
The four-week Advent season precedes Christmas on December 25th . It was originally a period of Lent that the Ancient Church set between November 11th and the feast of the Epiphany on January 6th. The Advent season in its current form goes back to the 7th century. It was initially between four and six Sundays in Advent until Pope Gregory finally set the Advent time for the Roman rite at four. In the Ambrosian rite , however, Advent is still six weeks long today. Since 1917, Advent fasting is no longer mandatory in Catholic church law . Numerous customs fall during Advent, such as the Advent calendar , which shows the remaining days until Christmas, hanging a Santa Claus boot on the front door on the evening before St. Nicholas Day , and the Christmas market , which can be found in many cities.
Christmas tree
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In Central Europe, the Christmas tree (also called the Christmas tree in some regions) is set up in churches and apartments as well as in large squares in the villages and decorated with fairy lights, candles, glass balls , tinsel , angels or other figures. The Christmas tree at home often stays in the room long after Christmas, often until the end of the liturgical Christmas season .
Two Christmas trees decorated with candles have stood on the right and left of the crib with the Augustinians in Neustift every year since 1621 .
The origin of the Christmas tree is likely to have been the paradise tree of the widespread Paradise Games on December 24th and medieval mystery games . Since around 1800 the decorated Christmas tree could be found in the upscale town houses of Zurich, Munich, Vienna and Transylvania. It was initially considered Protestant until it was gradually adopted by the Catholics. Henriette Alexandrine von Nassau-Weilburg introduced it to Vienna in 1816. The war of 1870/71 also popularized the Christmas tree in France. In 1912 the first "public" tree was in New York.
The decorated Christmas tree is now a central element of the family Christmas party. Until the 18th century he was only to be found at royal courts, then in the middle class upper class. It became popular among the petty bourgeoisie not least because the Prussian king had Christmas trees set up in the shelters and hospitals during the war against France in 1870/71. After that, the Christmas tree spread further and took on the central role in the ceremonial of domestic family celebrations, which is taken for granted today (children stand in front of the locked door, the candles on the tree are lit, the door is opened, singing together, opening gifts together, eating together ).
Going to church
Visiting Christmas vespers , Christmas mass or Christmas Eve is an integral part of the Christmas festival, not only for the regular churchgoers among Christians. The churches in German-speaking countries are usually very well attended at these services. Church services take place on every Christmas day, often starting with the children's church service on Christmas Eve. Reading the Christmas story from the Gospel of Luke and singing Christmas carols are part of the liturgy.
Attending a performance of a Christmas oratorio is also widespread in the time before and after Christmas, especially in the Evangelical Lutheran area.
crib
The most original Christmas custom is the tradition of the nativity play, which vividly recreates the Christmas story. The family members gather around the Christmas crib on Christmas Eve and commemorate the birth of Christ . The story of the nativity scene, which is now a natural part of the Christmas festival, began as early as the 13th century, and the nativity scene was used locally in church services as early as the 11th century. In the Hocheppan castle chapel near Bozen, the birth of Jesus Christ was presented for the first time in German-speaking countries around the year 1200. The presentation then culminated in the Christmas presents in front of the crib and Christmas tree .
Christmas gifts: Nicholas, Christkind, Santa Claus, elves and the gift giving
Martin Luther postponed the usual gift giving in his house on St. Nicholas Day (there are household bills from the Luther house for gifts for the servants and the children of St. Nicholas from 1535 and 1536) to Christmas Eve , as the Protestant church does not Knows the veneration of saints. Evangelical gift-bringer was no longer St. Nicholas , but the “Holy Christ”, as Luther called the baby Jesus. From this abstraction, the angel-like Christ Child emerged in Thuringia and elsewhere . It has appeared in Christmas moving customs since the 17th century, in which Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus marched through the streets - like the carol singers in many places today - accompanied by white-clad girls with loose hair as angels, led by the veiled "Christ Child" . After 1800 Knecht Ruprecht , originally the punitive companion of Nikolaus and Christkind, gradually became Santa Claus .
In 1930, according to the German Atlas of Folklore, Santa Claus (mainly in the Protestant north and northeast) and the Christ Child (mainly in the west and south and in Silesia) brought the presents. The border ran between Westphalia and Friesland, Hesse and Lower Saxony and Thuringia and between Bavaria and Thuringia, went through southern Thuringia, southern Saxony to Silesia. In the 18th century it was quite different: Nicholas brought the presents in Catholic areas, the Christ Child in Protestant areas. With the increasing popularity of Christmas and the Christ Child, the date of gifts was postponed from St. Nicholas Day to Christmas Eve in the Catholic areas, and the Christ Child was adopted.
Santa Claus is a syncretic figure who mixes elements from Nikolaus, Knecht Ruprecht and the rough Percht in a de-demonized form. A drawing by Moritz von Schwind in Munich's picture sheet no. 5 from 1848 under the title “Herr Winter” - which, however, is avoided by people - is considered an early representation, but it is not the only one. Older descriptions exist in poetic form from North America, here called "Santa Claus". He took over the clothes, which in Germany were mainly shown in red only after 1945, from Knecht Ruprecht, the flowing beard from common ideas about God and the Father. In the custom for toddlers, he brings the presents, but a rod for bad children.
The Nordic legendary figure of Nisse (from Danish Niels for Nikolaus ), adapted as a gnome in German , with its red cap is reminiscent of Santa Claus. Derived from this is the custom of Wichteln in the run-up to Christmas, in which gifts are given to each other anonymously in a random assignment of giver and recipient.
The New Year's gifts, which were already known in antiquity, lived on well into the 20th century, locally even to this day, as monetary bonuses to postmen, newsagents, garbage collectors, etc. According to the Börsenblatt , a fifth of family Christmas gifts were passed on in the form of vouchers or money in 2007 . The Christmas presents, however, goes back to the Santa Claus presents. "Lüttenweihnachten" is the term used to describe the decoration of a Christmas tree for animals in the forest with food.
Christmas singing
There is also a lot of singing and making music in domestic circles on Christmas Eve and on the first and second days of the festival.
In a time of declining knowledge of folk songs and church hymns, German Christmas carols are part of the remainder of traditional German-language songs for many people in German-speaking countries, with which they can still sing.
In public spaces, the common singing of Christmas carols by large groups of people etc. a. developed into its own tradition in Berlin .
Christmas dinner
Christmas usually includes an elaborate Christmas meal on the first holiday, for which certain dishes are typical, such as the Christmas goose or the Christmas carp as well as the Christmas cookies made especially for the Christmas season . In some regions there are traditional dishes such as stew or sausages with potato salad on Christmas Eve - probably because of the simplicity of preparation. In the north, the potato salad is prepared with mayo, while in the south only vinegar and broth are used.
In old Bavaria , the animal fattened for the Christmas feast, usually a pig, more rarely the Christmas goose, is called Christmas in dialect .
In the Vogtland and the Ore Mountains the so-called Neunerlei , a Christmas menu with nine courses, which is already served on Christmas Eve, is prepared. It usually includes bratwurst, dumplings, sauerkraut, roast goose or pork, nuts and mushrooms. In many families, hard money is placed under the plate.
Other customs during the Christmas season
One of the less contemplative Christmas customs is telling traditional horror stories (sometimes ironic, like snowmen at the campfire ; or not, like the man with his head under his arm ), for example while waiting for the presents in the anteroom on Christmas Eve. This seems to be found mainly in north and north-east Germany. In the alpine customs in December and January, Perchten , figures that drive out winter, play a role.
Another custom on Christmas Eve is the Christmas log , also known as the “Christmas log” or “Christmas block”.
In Berchtesgadener Land, the Christmas shooting of the Christmas shooters characterizes the last week before Christmas Eve. They shoot from their positions every day at 3 a.m. - on Christmas Eve also before Christmas mass.
A supposedly old German custom (re) imported from the USA relates to a pickle-shaped Christmas tree ornament . The “ Christmas cucumber ” is attached to the Christmas tree before the “presents” are delivered. The recipients, mostly children or young people, search the tree for the hidden piece of jewelry before opening the presents. Whoever finds the “cucumber” first will receive a special, additional gift. This Christmas tree decoration in the form of pickled cucumbers has been (again) on the German Christmas markets since 2009 . The glass blowers offer three different sizes to adapt the level of difficulty to the age of the children.
From the onset of darkness, numerous apartment windows are illuminated by candle arches during Advent . This custom originated in the Ore Mountains mining areas in the 18th century and is increasingly spreading in the neighboring countries.
The German post office are every Christmas special stamps out.
In many places, Christmas markets have established themselves in the run-up to Christmas , also known as the Christkindlesmarkt or mulled wine market . They are characterized by sales stands for Christmas items and gifts, mulled wine stands and an increasing number of catering stations.
Puritan Christmas abstinence
The Reformed churches believed that Christmas originated from pagan custom and was associated with the Catholic Church and therefore rejected it on principle. In Geneva in 1550 all non-biblical celebrations were banned, which led to serious conflicts. John Calvin was less strict about that. In 1560 John Knox banned all church festivals, including Christmas in Scotland. Scottish Presbyterians adhered to this into the 20th century. The Quakers and Puritans of the 17th century also rejected Christmas as a holiday and went about their business as usual. The English Christmas festivities at that time included not only worship, but also feasts, binge drinking, dancing and gambling. In 1647 parliament banned such festivals. This led to street riots between supporters and opponents of Christmas. After 1660 the ban was no longer applied. Only recently have the regulations adapted to the behavioral patterns of their cultural environment. In the 19th century, Christmas took off in England, possibly under the influence of Prince Albert of Germany, whom Queen Victoria had married. The trend in the USA was similar. In areas where the majority of Presbyterians, Mennonites , Quakers, and Puritans live (New England, Pennsylvania), Christmas was not celebrated well into the 19th century. Farther south, the English settlers retained their Anglican customs from the 17th century. The Dutch settlers had brought their Sinterklaas (Nicholas) with them to New York. He later became Santa Claus .
Adoption of Christmas customs by non-Christians
Judaism
It happens in some Jewish households living as a minority in a Christian environment to celebrate " Christmukkah ". For example, for the Hanukkah festival, fir trees are set up in living rooms and decorated with baubles on which the stars of David are engraved.
Islam
In some Muslim households, a goose is served at Christmas time and the children are given presents. Since the birth of Jesus Christ is described in detail in the Koran, the origin of the Christmas festival is no stranger to Muslims.
Relocation of Christmas customs to the Advent season
A clear change in customs can be observed in Advent since the 20th century. While it was originally celebrated as Lent , part of the customs of Christmas is already being lived out during Advent today. An important part of this are the Christmas markets that are widespread in most German-speaking city centers , some of which have traditions that go back to the Middle Ages.
literature
- Maurice Baumann, Roland Hauri (Hrsg.): Christmas - family ritual between tradition and creativity. (= Practical Theology Today. Volume 95). Kohlhammer , Stuttgart 2008, ISBN 978-3-17-020560-4 .
- Walter Heim: Christmas customs. Kanisius-Verlag, 1978, ISBN 978-3857640636 .
- Torkild Hinrichsen : In the shadow of shine, The Christmas party of the Christless. (Published on the occasion of the exhibitions of the same name in the Altona Museum and in the Husum Christmas House in 2012). Printing and publishing company, Husum 2012, ISBN 978-3-89876-576-3 .
- Torkild Hinrichsen: Beautiful Schleswig-Holstein. Culture - history - nature: this is the lovely Christmas season. (Published on the occasion of the exhibition of the same name in the Altona Museum in 2007). Printing and publishing company, Husum 2007, ISBN 978-3-89876-360-8 .
- Torkild Hinrichsen: Christmas in Northern Germany. A picture-ABC to old secrets. (Published on the occasion of the exhibition of the same name in the Altona Museum in 1999). Husum Druck- und Verlagsgesellschaft, Husum 1999, ISBN 3-88042-921-9 .
- Gerhard Kaufmann, Torkild Hinrichsen and others: Thuringia: “Das Glaserne Paradies”: an exhibition of the Altonaer Museum; the tradition of making glass Christmas tree decorations in the style of Lauscha. (Accompanying document to the exhibition in the Altonaer Museum; November 2, 1996 to January 12, 1997). Hamburg 1996, ISBN 3-927637-29-7 .
- Michael Kotsch : Christmas. Origin, sense and nonsense of Christmas customs. Jota, Hammerbrücke 2003, ISBN 3-935707-15-0 .
- Ulrich Riemerschmidt : Christmas. Cult and custom - then and now. Marion von Schröder Verlag, Hamburg 1962.
- Dietmar Sauermann (Ed.): Christmas in Westphalia around 1900. Reports from the archive for Westphalian folklore. (= Contributions to folk culture in north-west Germany, issue 6). 2nd unchanged edition. Coppenrath, Münster 1979, ISBN 978-3-920192-86-4 . ( PDF ).
- Wolfgang Schneider, Torsten Seegert: Pomeranian Christmas: Review & rediscovery in a contemplative time. with the film DVD Rummelsburger Quempas. Heimat-Bild-Verlag, Gifhorn 2012, ISBN 978-3-942926-17-1 .
- Paul Selk: Midwinter and Christmas in Schleswig-Holstein. A folklore representation. Westholsteinische Verlagsanstalt Boyens & Co., Heide 1972, ISBN 3-8042-0115-6 .
- Ingeborg Weber-Kellermann: The Christmas party. A cultural and social history of the Christmas season. Bucher, Luzern 1987, ISBN 3-7658-0273-5 .
Web links
- Christmas customs . In: Tagesspiegel.de
- Christmas customs . In: Planet-Wissen.de
- Christmas customs in Bornaer Land - a view from the perspective of the 1930s
Individual evidence
- ^ Ingeborg Weber-Kellermann: The Christmas party. A cultural and social history of the Christmas season. Bucher, Luzern / Frankfurt am Main 1978, ISBN 3-7658-0273-5 , p. 223.
- ↑ Ulrich Riemerschmidt : Christmas. Cult and custom - then and now. Marion von Schröder Verlag, Hamburg 1962, p. 27.
- ↑ Official Journal Dioc. Augsburg 1930, pp. 52-54.
- ↑ Advent
- ↑ Nikolausstiefel - Where exactly does the custom come from?
- ↑ the ritual: the advent calendar ( Memento from December 4, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Ruth Haener: Beautiful Christmas presents: Competition for the Christkind In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung from December 24, 2016.
- ↑ Börsenblatt . December 27, 2007.
- ↑ Hendrik Buchheister: Christmas at Union Berlin: When iron guys sing "Silent Night" , Spiegel-Online, December 23, 2014, accessed on December 23, 2016.
- ↑ Erik Jullander: FC Union Berlin: a remarkable club with their very own Christmas tradition , The Guardian, December 20, 2012, accessed on December 23, 2016.
- ↑ https://www.familienkultour.de/familie-und-kind/wohnen-und-leben/weihnachtskultur-in-deutschland/
- ↑ Ludwig Zehetner , Bavarian German. Lexicon of the German language in Old Bavaria . Munich, 1997. p. 314. ISBN 3-88034-983-5 .
- ↑ Christmas page with description of the cucumber Christmas tree ball
- ↑ Glass blowing, which produces, among other things, "Christmas tree cucumbers"
- ↑ Durston / Eales 1996, p. 210 ff.
- Jump up ↑ Central Council of Jews in Germany: "Happy Chrismukkah" in Russian.
- ↑ How is Christmas celebrated in other cultures? In: The time. December 7, 2009.