Our second Christmas here in Germany has been a chance for us to put into practice some of the fun and meaningful Bavarian and German traditions we've observed. Here are the ones we've enjoyed most.
Advent Wreath
While Americans start gearing up for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving (or long before), in Germany the focus tends to be on the season of Advent (Adventszeit). The word "advent" comes from the Latin for "coming," and it's a time of eagerly waiting for the Messiah's arrival. Both cultures do a lot of preparation for Christmas, but there's a certain quietness about Advent that we're trying to make part of our family culture. It's as if Christmas preparations are what we do in anticipation of the holiday, but Advent is about waiting for the preparations God is making.
Tiff made an Advent wreath from scratch this year (see photo). We've enjoyed the scent, as well as lighting the candles many evenings. The Advent Wreath (Adventskranz) is actually a German invention. Perhaps it started among German Lutherans in the 1500s, but it got its modern form from Johann Hinrich Wichern (1808-1881), a pastor and minister to the poor in Hamburg. When the children at Wichern's mission school kept asking whether Christmas was here yet, he made a ring with a white candle for each Sunday and red candles for all the other days (28 candles in all). German Advent wreaths are not just in churches, but in homes, and some families light them every evening. The ones we've seen have only 4 candles (one for each Sunday), usually red, rather than purple and rose.
Our lovely Advent wreath with a Ukrainian nativity scene inside.
Advent Reading
Evenings during Advent can be special family time, and one common tradition is to read out loud together. This doesn't necessarily have to be a spiritual book or even anything related to Christmas, but Tiff and I have adopted the custom from my family of reading Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah and parts of the Christmas story to prepare ourselves for the celebration. Yes, it is hard to make time in the evenings during the Christmas season -- we tended to do it in the morning instead. This year, we enjoyed Advent devotional readings from John Piper's book, Good News of Great Joy.
Advent Calendars
Advent calendars (Adventskalender) are another German invention -- according to DW, the first printed ones were from Munich in the early 20th century. In any case, they continue to be extremely popular, and we see them everywhere this time of year, from the huge chocolate ones in the grocery store aisles to the display windows of the Mercedes building, which reveal a different auto-centered scene each day. Another life-size Advent calendar is the Hellbrunn Palace's 24 windows in nearby Salzburg, Austria.
Of course, my personal favorite is the one Tiff made for me a couple years ago (see photo).
Hellbrun Palace by MatthiasKabel (CC BY 2.5 license)
Mercedes Munich in Christmas Time by DFSB DE (CC BY NC 2.0 license)
Tiff made this Advent calendar for me.
She doesn't seem to mind store-bought yumminess.
Lebkuchen
You can't enjoy Advent evenings without Lebkuchen, cookie-shaped treats that are something like gingerbread. Like so many other German contributions to the world, these were originally a specialty of German monks, who began making them as far back as the 1200s. The daughter of one of our neighbors bakes hundreds of Lebkuchen every year to sell at her church.
Tiff enjoyed baking some Lebkuchen this year, and discovered two interesting facts. First, her recipe called for almond flour, since nuts are one of the main ingredients of Lebkuchen. Wheat flour is traditionally only a small proportion. Second, she learned that Lebkuchen are backed on wafers called "Oblaten." The monks discovered that using communion ingredients as a base would keep the dough from sticking to the pan.
I enjoyed tasting some Lebkuchen this year, and discovered one very important fact: they're delicious.
The Lebkuchen stall at the Medieval Christmas Market in Munich.
A "Lebküchner," about 1520. From a manuscript in the Nuremberg City Library (Amb. 279.2°, Folio 11 verso, public domain).
This Lebkuchen is a single flat loaf.
The most famous Lebkuchen come from Nuremberg, which was baking them as early as the 1300s. These "Elisenlebkuchen" must have at least 25% nuts and no more than 10% wheat flour.
Carols
Singing Christmas carols at church, at home, and at friends' houses has been another special treat. A few German carols have been translated into English, most famously "Silent Night" ("Stille Nacht"). We've also sung "O Come All Ye Faithful," which was originally the Latin hymn "Adeste Fideles," and was translated into both English and German ("Herbei, o ihr Gläub'gen") about a century and a half ago.
But it's been a joy to learn new Christmas carols as well. Some favorites here are by Paul Gerhardt, a beloved German hymn writer of the 1600s. For example, here's John Kelly's translation of the first verse of his Christmas hymn, "Ich steh an deiner Krippen hier," which Bach incorporated into his Christmas Oratorio (see below).
Now at the manger here I stand, My Jesus, Life from Heaven! I stand, and bring Thee in my hand What Thou to me hast given. Take it, it is my mind and wit, Heart, soul, and all I have, take it, And deign to let it please Thee!
Bach's Christmas Oratorio
A couple weeks ago, I was thrilled to be able to hear Johann Sebastian Bach's Christmas Oratorio live. By late November or early December, posters go up all over town advertising a dozen or more performances of this oratorio. Bach wrote it in 1734 to be performed in church between Christmas and Epiphany. Almost three hundred years later, it is still extremely well loved. The words are entirely German, often reusing or adapting poems or hymns by Martin Luther, Paul Gerhardt, and others, interspersed with quotations of the Christmas story from the Gospels of Luke and Matthew.
I went with a friend who is an ardent Bach lover. This performance was by the choir of a local protestant church, together with a small orchestra. That said, the choir and soloists were quite exceptional, and the event was completely sold out. I sat transfixed by the music and was glad to have bought a program that included the words, which my friend occasionally helped me decipher. The experience was more deeply worshipful than any I've had in a long time. As my friend said, there's more truth in the words of this music than is heard from many a pulpit. I've always loved classical music, but being able to understand a bit of German now is opening up a whole new dimension of my appreciation for Bach.
Christmas Markets
As you may remember from our photo blog last year, we love visiting the Christmas markets (Christkindlmärkte or Weihnachtsmärkte), and we were able to do that this year with Tiff's parents. In addition to our established favorites, we saw a new market this year which has some really unique arts and crafts. Of course, one of the favorite things to do there is to eat roasted nuts and drink Glühwein (mulled wine) or, in this case (photo), the non-alcoholic kids' version, Kinderpunsch, a hot, spiced juice blend. Munich has had Christmas markets since 1310 or earlier.
Hot Kinderpunsch at the Christmas market
A knife and sword maker at the Medieval Christmas Market -- so cool
On Christmas Eve, a choir and woodwind ensemble delighted the visitors to the central Christmas market at Marienplatz.
The fam, trying to stay warm after browsing the arts and crafts
(Roasted) almonds -- so yummy
St. Nicholas & Krampus
The Medieval Christmas Market turned out to be a good place to catch a glimpse of St. Nicholas this year. St. Nicholas (Sankt Nikolaus) is the predecessor to Santa Claus (Weihnachtsmann), and as far as I can tell competes with him in modern Germany. Since the original Nicholas of Myra from the 300s was a bishop, the German St. Nicholas has retained a bishop's trappings, including mitre and staff (see photo). St. Nicholas Day is December 6, a day when children often receive small gifts and charities campaign for donations. (We got a knock on our door from the local office of the Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund, an international aid organization.) Here in Bavaria, the German Catholic charity Bonifatiuswerk and one of the bishops have tried to take back ground from Santa by establishing a Santa-free zone, selling Saint-Nicholas-shaped chocolates, and even offering a kit to clothe the typical Santa chocolates in a bishop's vestments!
While I'm rather ambivalent about Saint Nicholas, a tradition we do not plan to adopt is that of Krampus, a pagan demon who instead of rewarding good children, punishes naughty ones by beating or even kidnapping them. Groups of Krampuses tromp around the city during Christmas time, beating anyone who gets too close. While I wanted to get a picture of one for this blog, I'm just as happy not to have bumped into one. We hear that Munich children receive special training on how to react to Krampus sightings!
Saint Nicholas visits the Medieval Christmas Market.
"Original!" and "Fake!" reads the header of Bonifatiuswerk's "Santa-Free Zone" website (http://www.weihnachtsmannfreie-zone.de/).
The "genuine Nicholas fairtrade chocolates" are "sold out," according to Bonifatiuswerk.
Pickle Ornament
We did it this year -- we got a pickle ornament. "A what?!" you ask. A green, glass pickle ornament.
Many Germans wait to set up or decorate their Christmas trees until Christmas Eve, and they place a pickle ornament somewhere on the tree. The kids race to find the ornament in exchange for a prize. Well, we don't have kids in our household at this point, but we still thought hanging a pickle on the Christmas Tree was too fun to pass up!
