Just in time to be late for Christmas: Weinachten

Hey there everyone,

Sorry I’m late on the Christmas entry. I’m currently in the middle of the alps, and internet is difficult to come by at the moment, so my entries may be coming out in bunches at least until January the 6th.

I should say that this will probably be the first of three christmas entries, the other two of which will follow as soon as I am able to write them all down. This one is focusing more on the buildup to christmas, as opposed to the actual day(s).

In the buildup to Weinachten, the first thing you notice is that Christmas here is not as commercialized as Christmas in North America. Many of the traditions are old, and many are based in religion. For example, every house has, and displays, a Krippe (nativity scene) although you can find this in some houses in Canada, it is most definitely not to the degree that it is practiced here. The entire scene (except for the figurines) must be constructed by the owner. Therefore, it is very typical to have a shingle roof made out of bark or wood chips and a wall made out of wood splinters. Even the ground must be hand made, although there is a variety of techniques used to construct the ground. Also prevalent, even in public buildings, are a series of 4 candles. Every week in the buildup to christmas, another candle is lit. This means that early in December in many places are four identical candles, with only one burning.

A Krippe 

Santa Claus is also very different here. A recent arrival on the european christmas scene, he is known in Germany as the Weinachtsmann (or sometimes the Christkind [Christchild] who comes on christmas eve and delivers presents; although these presents are all of the presents from the family. Another christmas character is Saint Nicholas, who comes on the 5th of the December. On the night of the fourth, children lay out their shoes, and in the morning, they are full of chocolate, fruit, and nuts. Since I am in Bavaria, it is possible that Krampus also appears on the fifth of December, depending on the house and how close to the Austrian border the house lies. It is a legend in Austria (I am not making this up) that with Saint Nicholas, who brings fruit, nuts and chocolate to the good children, comes Krampus, a demon who beats the bad children with a stick. Nowadays, many youth in Austria dress in Krampus costumes on the fifth of December and parade down the street trying to scare people.

Finally, although advent calendars are fairly common in Canada, they are religiously followed here. From the afore mentioned advents calendar on the side of the Mercedes Benz building in Munich to every house, advent calendars are absolutely atypical here. However, unlike most of the advent calendars in North America, advent calendars here do not necessarily need to have chocolate or candy inside them. It is also possible for each advent day to contain a picture or a toy. Many Germans travel to early Weinachtsmarkts in November to purchase them.

Thats where I leave off for now, the next entry will be all about Weinachtsmarkts. Again, thank you for your patience, I hope that all of your holidays are going very well, and if you have any questions, please post it in the comments below.