Winter Traditions & Holidays in Germany
Winter is an especially festive time in Germany and a good time to visit the country to experience German holidays and traditions. Starting in December, holiday decorations and lights in people's homes and in the streets transform the country into a veritable winter wonderland. Germany is a large country, with many different regions, so some customs and traditions may differ according to location.
Other People Are Reading
-
St. Nicholas Day
-
On the evening before St. Nicholas' Day, December 6, children leave their shoes outside their bedroom doors. If they've been good, St. Nicholas will fill the shoes with chocolates, dried fruit or other goodies. If they've been naughty, they will get a twig or nothing at all. Along with his assistant, Knecht Ruprecht, St. Nicholas appears at schools to give out presents. Parents often brief St. Nicholas beforehand, so he may display a remarkable knowledge of misdeeds the children committed that year.
Advent
-
An Advent wreath. Advent, beginning December 1, marks the start of the Christmas season. Children receive advent calendars, with windows for each day until Christmas Eve. Every day they open a new window and receive a treat. People go to Christmas markets, featuring festively decorated booths selling traditional gifts and tasty treats, such as gingerbread and mulled wine. Many families set up an Advent wreath with four candles representing the four weeks of the season. On each Sunday leading up to Christmas, the family lights another candle and sings carols.
-
Christmas
-
Christmas traditions vary widely by region. In most homes, people eat a big, celebratory meal featuring goose or turkey and open gifts on Christmas Eve. Some have their feast on Christmas Day at lunchtime and open their presents afterward. The family may read from the Bible and sing carols before opening presents. In Germany, the Christkindl, or Christ Child, brings gifts to children on Christmas.
Silvester or New Year's Eve
-
Germans bring in the new year with fireworks. Germans traditionally bring in the new year with fireworks. Revelers also celebrate by drinking sekt, a sparkling wine, and eating karpfen, or jelly doughnuts. To predict what fortunes the new year will bring, put a bit of lead in a spoon, hold it over a flame and, when it melts, drop the lead into cold water. German custom holds that you can see your future in the shape the lead takes as it solidifies in the water.
Fastnacht, Fasching or Karneval
-
Cologne is the capital of Karneval. Whether you call it Fasching, Karneval or Fastnacht, the period leading up to Lent is a time of drinking and merrymaking. People dress up as demons, witches or evil spirits and often go to work or school in their costumes. Some villages hold parades, with entire groups wearing identical wooden masks. For example, the club from Meersburg, on Lake Constance, dresses up in creepy plague-doctor costumes, with beaked masks and black robes. The best known Karneval celebration takes place in Cologne.
-
References
- Photo Credit colmar image by silonos from Fotolia.com advent wreath image by Miroslav Beneda from Fotolia.com Fireworks 7 image by Stanislaw Zaremba from Fotolia.com Cologne I image by Dreadlock from Fotolia.com
