Many modern Christmas symbols, such as the Christmas Tree, come from German traditions.
Fröhliche Weihnachten! (Merry Christmas)
Germany is credited with giving the world many of our modern Christmas traditions, such as Christmas trees. German immigrants arriving in America during the 19th Century produced the first Christmas cards and the first modern image of Santa Clause. Despite these modern trappings, German Christmas traditions stretch back to the ancient Roman festival of Saturnalia and the pagan celebrations of the Winter Solstice.
According to German Legend, wealthy landowners would hold a great feast in their hall and build an altar of flat stones heaped high with fir boughs. When the fir boughs were lit on fire, it was believed that Heartha, the goddess of the home, would emerge from the smoke and bestow good fortune on the entire household. As Christianity gained power during the Middle Ages, old pagan rituals were replaced by the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.
German Christmas Foods
Popular Christmas foods in Germany include baked fruit loaves, bratwurst sausage, roasted nuts and the dessert known as lebkuchen. Lebkuchen is a reminder of Germany’s prime location during the middle ages, when it was a crossroads for international trade. The town of Nuremberg was the center of the spice trade, and lebkuchen, a pastry concoction of cardamom, coriander, cloves, cinnamon and sugar reflects the cities prosperity. Other popular German Christmas cuisine includes Zwetschgenmännla, or little men fashioned of prunes with walnut heads. In Bavaria, carp served with a gingerbread sauce is popular, as are small round cookies called pfeferkuchen.
Oh Tannenbaum
No other Christmas symbol is more associated with Germany than the Christmas tree. While trees, especially evergreens, have played an important role in religious rituals since ancient times, Christmas trees as we know them today, originated in Germany. There are two main legends relating to Christmas trees in Germany. One legend claims the Christ Child (Jesus) was lost in the forest, and a kind woodcutter and his wife took him in and gave him food and shelter. To reward them for their good deeds, the Christ Child broke off a branch of an evergreen and said that each year at Christmas time it would always bear fruit. Every year after that, the branch bore golden apples and silver nuts.
The second legend of the Christmas tree in Germany involves the father of the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther. On his way home one evening, Martin Luther was so overcome by the beauty of a fir tree and stars in the sky, he chopped it down and brought it home to share with his family. To mimic the stars that hung over the manger where Christ was born, Martin Luther decorated the tree with candle tapers. Voila! The Christmas tree was born!
German Christmas Traditions
While the Christmas tree became an important symbol for German Protestants, Catholic-Germans celebrate the holiday with a traditional nativity scene. Called a krippe, it is similar to the French Christmas tradition of a Crèche. Rather than Santa Clause or Saint Nicholas, the traditional gift bearer at Christmas is the Christkindl, or “Christ Child.” Usually portrayed by a young girl with a golden crown and white robe, the Christkindl is also attributed to Martin Luther, who opposed the growing popularity of Saint Nicholas. Click here for more information on Martin Luther and Christmas.
Sources:
Barth, Edna. Holly, Reindeer and Colored Lights: The Story of the Christmas Symbols. New York: Clarion Books, 1971.
Lankford, Mary. Christmas Around the World. New York: Morrow Junior Books, 1995.
Wernecke, Herbert. Christmas Customs Around The World. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press.
