How to Celebrate a Czech Christmas

In the Czech Republic, the Christmas celebration is a festive event. It begins on December 24 and lasts through December 26.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Christmas Gifts
• Advent Calendar
• Christmas Tree Ornaments
• Christmas Trees
• Bells
• Brown Sauces
• Carp
• chocolates

1. Kick off the holiday season on December 1, with the arrival of Advent. Keep an Advent calendar to count off the days until Christmas arrives.

2. Celebrate St. Mikulash (St. Nicholas) Day on December 6. Remember that the evening before, St. Mikulash will come to your home with Angel and Devil, his messengers. Angel leaves candy for well-behaved children, while Devil leaves coal and potatoes for children who have been bad.

3. Go to some public Christmas festivals if you live in a large city. Be sure to buy delicious baked chestnuts to eat.

4. Collect unique Christmas ornaments for your tree, such as glass balls, gingerbread cookies in the shape of carp, colorful cones and straw figures.

5. Prepare a large feast on Christmas Eve, and invite friends and relatives. Serve breaded, fried carp for the main course, and present a platter of strudl or vanocka, traditional Czech pastries, for dessert.

6. After dinner, cut an apple horizontally to tell your fortune. If the core looks like a star, that means the coming year will be filled with happy events. A cross-shaped core means your luck will be poor.

7. Remember that Jezisek (baby Jesus) or Santa Claus will come to your home to pay a visit. Ring the Christmas bell after dinner to announce that he has already come and gone, then watch the children open their presents under the tree.

Tips & Warnings

• Begin cleaning your house and buying gifts on December 1, when Advent begins.
• The Czech Republic is divided into several different regions and the population is roughly 50 percent atheist, so Christmas traditions can be quite diverse. The preceding steps are simply a few examples of local traditions that may or may not be appropriate for your personal celebration of Christmas.

Resources

• Santa Letters
• Christmas Recipes

[Hucul]

on 12/20/2007 I would like to comment on the atheistic society. I am Czech and I remember the last people counting event in the country. Among other questions for statistics, Czechs were asked whether they do have any belief whatsoever. Even I ticked yes, as I believe in people's goodness and strength. Not much of a religion, huh? And even after this count, the result has shown that the percentage of religious people in the country is way below 10%. In my region it was 4%, in the most religious region, Southern Moravia, the number was 11%. We are a nation of atheists and we are proud of it. We do not opress religions, but we mostly do not need them either. Merry Xmas. ;)

on 1/4/2006 During your Czech Christmas feast served at around 5 p.m., make sure the children know they must clean their plates for Santa to come. When they have finished eating tell them to go brush their teeth. They must continue brushing until they are called. During that time Santa arrives and presents appear under the tree. The children are called to come and see and then they open their gifts.

on 11/22/2005 Svaty Mikulas - St. Nickolas -will bring fruit, nuts and sweets to good children who hang their stockings on 12/5. The angel will help; the devil will swat bad children and leave coal or onions and potatoes.