I am from the north and I think I don't know anyone who opens the gifts on the 25th as far as I know it is common to open them on the 24th and we do christkind and weihnachtsmann together they just help each other :)
A little remark: Sankt Nikolaus is celebrated all over Germany, not only in the South. We even have a Sankt Nikolaus market in our town in North West Germany. Concerning the Christkind, we believe that the Christkind and Santa Claus together bring the presents on Christmas Eve. So the Christkind also isn’t an exclusively Southern tradition.😄
Yep, I've never heard of anyone opening gifts the next day in Germany, this is all done on Christmas Eve. It may just be Santa that brings the presents on Christmas Eve and some people will even arrange for a relative to show up in a Santa's costume so the kids will have their gifts handed over by Santa personally.
I was just about to write the same comment, I come from northern Germany and a relatively evangelical Lutterian family. Us visited both St. Nicholas on 6.12. and the "Christkind" on 24.12. evening, announced by a small bell that already rang my great-grandmother at Christmas. I would say that Weihnachtsmann does the same as the Christ Child in the more atheistic households. Religion is beside the point for many families and the Christmas season is so much fun and has so many non-church traditions, so why do without it when there can be another magical being bringing gifts? But I really don't know any German family that opens presents on Christmas Day. What is actually a southern German or Catholic tradition is Krampus and Knecht Ruprecht. I mean we know them, but they are not really part of the traditions. But that makes sense somewhere, considering that one of the main differences of the two faiths is whether there is a hell and thus a punishing God. Catholics say yes, the Evangelical Lutheran Church (the largest Protestant church in Germany) says no. So most church traditions exist in both northern and southern Germany, but mostly a "light version" without devil figures.
Another difference to the US is that most people in Germany put up the Christmas tree later, like on the 23rd or even at the 24th of December. So when we light the candles at Christmas or the Christmas holidays (25th and 26th), the tree isn't that dry. In my familiy the tree always stands until the 6th of January, but by that time it is really dry, so we don't light the real candles anymore because the tree would burn so fast completely.
In my region ( Frankfurt/Main) most people put up their Christmas tree on the 1. Adventstag. So they can enjoy it the whole month. Mostly with electric lights though
Ich komme aus der Region Osnabrück in Niedersachsen in Norddeutschland. Auch bei uns kam das Christkind. Den Weihnachtsbaum bekamen wir erst am Heiligen Abend zur Bescherung zu sehen. Vorher war der Zugang zum Wohnzimmer für mindestens eine Woche mit einer Decke abgehangen und für uns Kinder eine "No go Area". Am heiligen Abend nach Kirchenbesuch und gemeinsamen Abendessen wurden wir dann weggeschickt. Wenn die Klingel (Das Glöckchen) erklang durften wir zurückkommen zum Wohnzimmer. Sahen zum ersten Mal den festlich geschmückten Raum, den Christbaum und unsere verpackten Geschenke. So war unser Weihnachten. Spannung und Überraschung bis zum Schluss, bis zur Bescherung :o)))
It honestly waters my eyes to see how you embrace German Christmas traditions and adopt them into your very personal family traditions. Just wonderful.
For such a relatively small channel, I'm always amazed at how professionally done and visually pleasing your videos are filmed and edited. You deserve way more subscribers!
I live in the most northern part of Germany and St. Nikolaus Day ist also common here. In fact I think that everybody celebrates the 6th of December everywhere in Germany. The only regional difference is whether Krampus or Knecht Ruprecht accompany St. Nikolaus - as you've already pointed out. Even though I live way up north, my parents told me, that Christkind brings all the gifts. And well, yes, everybody in Germany opens their gifts on Christmas Eve. My parents used to place little and special gifts under or even in the tree on December 25th and 26th and told me, that the Christkind had come back because she had forgotten about one of my presents...
Das ist nicht fair! Sie wohnen ja auch im Märchenland Bayern und nicht in Gelsenkirchen oder anderen Brennpunkten in Germany. Alles Gute und Gesundheit gewünscht!
The “Christkind” isn’t a tradition exclusive to the south of Germany. I have ultra fond memories of it and I’m from the Northwest (the “Ruhrgebiet”). My mom used to open the balcony door a moment before calling us in to find our presents. As a child, you’d come into the room and there would still be a bit of cold air in the room, of course brought in when the Christkind had brought the gifts. Pure magic!
And it's not a catholic thing at all: It was invented my Martin Luther, founder of protestantism, tho shift away from Saint Nikolaus as a gift giver. Happend to become quite popular in all german speaking countries regardless of confession, catholic areas just kept on Nikolaus as an additional gift giver.
@@idnwiw It is not a Catholic invention but was adopted by Catholics when the gift giving part shifted from St. Nikolaus Day to Christmas Eve. These days it is mostly associated with the (historically) more Catholic areas of the country since the (historically) Protestant ones went over to "Weihnachtsmann" instead. Which also fits with the Ruhrgebiet, since that is culturally also more Catholic than Protestant influenced.
@@skyee277 it's effin hilarious, ain't it? Luther creates the Christkind to replace that darned "Saint" Saint Nicholas... and a few centuries later, the Catholics adopted the Christkind and the Protestants over all switched over to the "Weihnachtsmann"/Santa Claus. And Santa Claus is primarily a combination of english Father Christmas and Dutch "Sinterklaas". And guess who "Sinterklaas" is...
In Frankfurt we always had Christkind and real candles. And my father drove us to the American military housing area because of the decorated homes there.
Wir sind in Augsburg zuhause und in meiner Kindheit (60er und 70er Jahre) genauso. Wir sind auch immer wieder ins Viertel der amerikanischen Soldaten gefahren, um die mit Lichtern geschmückten Fenster anzuschauen. Sonst war es bei uns nicht üblich
When I was a little child we had also this Christkind tradition. Was waiting for the little bell to ring. And I can not tell how big the joy was when I was allowed to enter the dark living room just with the candles lit. Beautiful. And till today we have real candles on our tree.
Clearly, the simplicity of the decorations and traditions make December both meaningful and festive in Germany. And you've helped my Christmas here in NYC be those things too. Thank you!
Sara, hello from America. Just today, I learned about your channel by watching Kirsten & Joerg's video about when they rented an English cottage. I just subscribed to her channel and yours today. I think you and Kirsten will be best friends, that is, if you both aren't already. Christmas is a most beautiful time of the year and I'm sure it was very beautiful and festive in Germany. I enjoy the colder weather/season. I wish you and your family all the best.
Hello, my friend 👋 hope you are well 🌹 It's a pleasure to visit such splendid sharing 👍excellent, entertaining videos. Your video is so impressive! I'm happy to be here! Thanks for showing us these outstanding views 😊 much appreciated 💯👪 Have a pleasant day ahead 🌹 God bless you and your family 🙏 See you again! Here is your friend Athir from Canada 😊 🌹🇨🇦
What a beautiful video ! I love how you are diving into a real cozy and old-fashioned German Christmas ! Your kids will have so many lovely memories of family christmases that include cookie baking, snowman building, decorating, advent afternoons, real wax candles on a real tree and so much more , what a gift you are giving ! Happy Christmas to all of you ! 🎄🥰
My husband and I loved living in Nuremberg in 1966 and 1977. My husband was stationed with the US Army in Nuremberg. Our first child was born at the US Army Hospital. Germany has a very special place in our hearts and traditions. I am a new subscriber and I enjoy your Vlogs!
next year: build your own lebkuchenhaus! bake lebkuchen-shindles, build a house and decorate it with dried fruits, candies and sugar-icing 🙂 (and buy a living tree which you can plant out later)
...the following is completely off-topic, but only for information, because I found out from friends in Landshut that the medieval spectacle "Landshut Wedding" will take place again this year from 30.06. to 23.07., and that advance ticket sales start today. This is only because your boys are relatively interested in it 😁
Had to laugh out loud when the closed captions turned Käthe Wohlfahrt into Katie Boulevard 😅 (Btw I grew up in north germany and we always do Nikolaus und when I was little the Christkind came too, so it’s not a strictly southern thing) Thank you for another year of taking us along with you! Frohe Weihnachten, ein besinnliches Fest und einen guten Rutsch in ein gesundes, glückliches neues Jahr!
Christkind may be a catholic thing, but time of opening christmas gifts is not, at least not in Germany ;) Germans are opening their gifts on Christmas eve, no matter what denomination.
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife That was bc M. Luther disapproved the worshiping of saints (hl. Nikolaus). So the Nikolaus could not bring presents anymore - before that most children got there presents on the 6th of December. It seems like his commitment was to no avail, now both days are celebrated. 😂
As a catholic kid in Südbaden I had the privillege of getting presents on December 6th and 24th. In the good old days the presents were bought at the Klausenmarkt at the beginning of December. In our mainly catholic region most modern Weihnachtsmärkte started in the1980s. They have the Apres ski feeling. I think the traditional Weihnachtsmärkte were bigger and more important in the protestant regions. E.g. Nürmberg, Sachsen, Thüringen.
In Saxony „Herrnhuter Weihnachtssterne“ are very common. These are available from small to large, single (?🤔) or as a chain of lights, for inside and outside. I love them very much. It’s a must like Pyramide, Räuchermännel and Schwibbogen.
Merry christmas, McFalls family! You invented the German-American "Double Fun Christmas"...with "Christkindl" in the Eve and "Santa Clause" on Boxing Day morning! AWESOME!
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife Yes der Weihnachtsmann starts gibing gifts and Germany and then goes around the world for all the other children. 24h are not nearly enough for the whole world. It has to do with an old tradition that the day ends with sundown and the next day starts.
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife Yes in many families der "Weihnachtsmann" comes to place the presents under the tree when the family goes to church. And no child ever wonders, why somebody has to stay at home with a flimsy excuse 🤣. Or my parents sent my sister and me upstairs in our room and we heard a very loud knock at the front door. My mom opened and talked to the Weihnachtsmann who answered in a very deep voice (that of course belonged to my Dad but I didn't realize and was very excited). Then my parents rang a little bell and we were allowed to enter the living room to see the enlightened christmas tree with all the presents. So wonderfull memories....
Merry Christmas! We live in the middle of Germany (Hesse), we are Protestant, and we celebrate Nikolaustag (no Krampus here, but Knecht Ruprecht instead). Also, to us the "Christkind" comes on Christmas Eve.
I hope you feel no pressure to implement all the traditions. I hope you feel no pressure at all to fit in. Sometimes I have the feeling you try so hard to do everything right. Frohe Weihnachten! 😊
Awe thank you for thinking of that. Yeah sometimes I do feel pressure to get it all right because people can be very critical and rude in the comments sometimes. However, most people are so nice and kind, so I have to focus on them! And as a foreigner and as an American I feel like we need to go above and beyond to Iearn about other customs because Americans can be so ignorant about the rest of the world. But I do also love to learn about German customs and incorporate them. So it’s also genuine. Haha, anyway, thank you for your concern! 💕🎄
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife Yeah you are really taking it to the next level (in a positive way). Take your time to have some introspection during the cold times and enjoy yourself. Simple as that! Merry Christmas!
About the Christkind/Nikolaus/Weihnachtsmann confusion: During the 19th century, the Weihnachtsmann (and/or Santa Claus) evolved from St. Nicholas (or German Nikolaus), Bishop of Myra, who in the 4th century AD distinguished himself as a merciful rescuer of starving children: boots, a sack with presents and a long white beard from the childish idea of the loving God were combined with the red bishop's regalia and the generosity of St. Nicholas. The Christkind (= Jesus, originally), on the other hand, was strongly promoted as the gift-giver by Martin Luther. He criticized the Catholic veneration of the saints (including St. Nicholas). In 1535 Luther postponed the giving of presents to Christmas. As it is obvious nowadays, the revolution was not fully successful. Nuts, almonds and chocolate, and often presents, are given on Christmas Day as well as on St. Nicholas Eve. The “Holy Christ” whom Luther had chosen to deliver the gifts to the children gradually merged with one of the angelic figures that stood by Mary and Joseph on the night of the birth. The connection between the Christkind and Jesus became less and less clear, until the Christkind was widely considered to be a female angel with golden hair. Strangely enough, the originally Lutheran Christkind tradition is nowadays widely spread in Catholic regions, whereas the Weihnachtsmann persisted in Protestant areas. How that exchange of customs, in which the Catholic gift-giver St. Nicholaus (Santa Claus) became Protestant and the Protestant Christkind became Catholic, actually happened has not yet been conclusively researched.
Interesting to read, even as a German. Grew up protestant in the south-west, Christkind brought the presents and was considered to be baby Jesus. That Christkind is female in other parts of Germany was something I learned as an adult and still feels weird to me
So Jesus still brings the presents in some regions … Interesting. I grew up in Swabia and the „Christkindle“ was always imagined as an angel girl. One day I started to wonder why baby Jesus wasn’t called „Christkind“, which would make sense. That’s why I did some research.
We always go to some Christmas-tree plantation here in our forest. There you can saw off the tree that you want and so you make sure that is it freshly-cut and has not been felled weeks before. It is immediately put into a bucket with water and has to wait there a couple of days before we take it in around the 23rd of December. And again the tree stand is a stoneware basin that is filled with water. It is only in early January that the tree "understands" that it is dead and stops sucking up water. We always see to it that is is a blue spruce. The needles are all aroud the twigs, they are hard and stingy, but they smell very strong and the twigs are very firm and stiff. Secondly the branches are not very close together and that is ideal when you have real candles as we do.
We twice took a museum steam train to Remscheid. There we went into such a plantage and saw our own x-mas tree. The trees were taken by bus to the steam train. And we travelled back with that train. The most difficult part later was the last mile to get our huge chrustmas tree home in the crowded S-Bahn. 😂
Let me whisper something into your ear: You sawed your tree, not saw it. Be sure, you are not the first one to be confused by "see- saw-seen" and "saw-sawed-sawn". I remember that someone in my class once wrote "I did not saw my sister." instead of "I did not see". @@maxmustermann3285
Yeah, the advent's calendar is a big deal here. My mom used to hang up a chain of 24 tiny hemp socks. Each sock was filled with different sweets for us kids and sometimes they would be in the shape of little presents and stick out of the sock. We children would be extra-excited when one sock looked especially well-stocked. By the way, if you get a Blautanne for Christmas, you will love the warm, foresty fragrance of it.
I'm so so glad that you guys and especially your kid's could finally have the real experience how Christmas time is celebrated in Bavaria Germany with snow again. Christmas is the time to slow down everything a bit, going back to what is really important at this time and little gifts are of course a nice thing, but just as a surprise. Being together with people we love and spending time together, feeling the magic is for me the best. Doing some traditional things and watching out for new things to open up our minds is pretty cool and you lovely people did it. I'm happy to see you. I wish you a lot of fun, merry Christmas for all family members. Enjoy your holidays 🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️ 🎅🥂🍻🎄🌟🎀🌠🎊✨
übrigens, den alten baum kann man, wenn man wie ihr einen garten hat, nach weihnachten auch noch eine weile rausstellen und mit vogelfutter schmücken. meisenknödel, äpfel, meisenringe und vieles mehr sind dann futterquellen für die wildvögel und spannend für die kinder zu beobachten. außerdem kann man vogelfutter auch prima selber mischen und zum aufhängen zb mit kleinen tontöpfen basteln. es gibt hier bei yt viele tolle videos, wie man solche projekte mit kindern gestalten kann.... 🙂
Christmas magic, beautifully summarized. Children are influenced by it, for their entire lives. My two kids are already adault, but until two years ago they still wanted Christkind to ring the bell while we looked out the window on the upper floor looking for it... what fun for our children. Santa Claus had to come, too, although both had seen through the "game" for a long time. Everyone can attest to how much the Christmas tradition has influenced them and every family has its own Christmas tradition. Merry Christmas. Hans
Merry Christmas! Finally you got the original Christmas smell in your house. Real tree plus honey wax candles. You didn't tell about, but I'm sure this must have been a special experience for you, if you never smelled it before 🎄
There is always something depressing about November and December with the short days and long, cold nights. But the candles and the joy of Christmas make up for it. And then the year is over and a new one begins. When snow falls in February, the world is enchanted.
Another beautiful video! So well explained. Love all your decorations. I also mixed the two cultures for Christmas being from Germany and moving to the States. Now I pass some of the German traditions down to my grandkids. They both love Lebkuchen and they like to light the pyramid every year! Have an awesome time with family in Georgia! Safe travels!
Advent Sunday is huge in the Methodist church here in America, at least in my churches that I belonged to in Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee. I had an advent wreath when my children were small and they had the calendar. Love the “citizens of the world”! Great video!
Adventskalender: Maybe next year you make them yourself for your kids (or yourselves). Take 24 containers (boxes, socks, bags...), number them, and fill them with the appropriate gift for that day.
@@nothingspecial123Q my mother used to fill them equally with sweets, usefull things and various fun things. i had chocolate, make up, pens, erasers, decorations and so on.
As a kid I liked the DIY Adventscalendar more. St. Nicolaus day and the 24st were special of course and the bigger package always made me wonder what could this possibly be. I remember one year a pair of red socks were used for storing the special things on St. Nicolaus day. I just perceived them as a container and not clothing and so they became victim of the scissors before any adult could intervene.
Choosing the Christmas tree as kids is one of the best parts of Christmas! Watching you do that just makes me happy 😊. To make it smell really nice in the house, in my family we puck a few pine needles and burn them... everything you talked about was and is a really big thing in our whole extended family. It just makes the time before Christmas and up to Jan 6th (bank holiday in southern Germany caled "three holy kings" so special. Add to that the snow and the outdoor fun in the snow and cold winter can be one of the best times of the year, especially when you have hot chocolate to warm you up at home ! Have a wonderfulfamily time and einen guten Rutsch ;-)
When your husband and your daughter installed the Christmas tree I felt just as excited as them and realized in that moment what a wonderful joint adventure it must be for your family to go abroad and build your life there together, doing and experiencing everything for the first time. I’m sending you the best wishes, hugs and a (belated) warm welcome ❤. I hope you’re happy here.
The smell of a real Christmas tree, the slightly sulphurous almost-but-not-quite stench of a match flaring up, and then the inviting aroma of real wax candles burning is such an amazing combination. Add a plate of different cookies on the table, with all their spices, butter, and honey, all of it blends into what I remember as Christmas. It is wonderful to see you delving into it, incorporating what you like into your own traditions. The Christbaumkugeln are one more ornament that is very typical for German Christmas tree decorations.
Thanks a lot for an addiconal adorable video .still love your Intros.you are soooo open minded. Enyoy the chrismas time and stay well. Best regards Jürgen
Hello from South Africa! Me and my mum are planning on moving to Bavaria next year and we love your videos :) We really appreciate your help and advise 🥰💕
Es war so schön zu sehen, dass ihr echte Kerzen am Weihnachtsbaum hattet. Ich denke , die Stimmung ist eine ganz andere, als wenn man eine LED-Lichterkette hat. Ich hoffe ihr hattet schöne Weihnachten - so wie ich.
Merry christmas my friends. I hope you have a fantastic time, lots of presents for the kids (and the parents of course 😁), and some quiet peaceful days. And then comes the more stressful part of travel again. Fingers crossed that the current weather situation in the US doesn't impact your travel plans too much.🤔 I wish you a good trip and a wonderful time with your families. See you all next year. 😊
I grew up in the US but celebrated St Nicholas Day. My parents were familiar with it (alpine roots) and had enjoyed it while living in Europe. I think it is lovely and wish more Americans were aware of it.
Merry Christmas! Being a Lutheran, we celebrate advent and light the candles each Sunday. On Christmas eve we celebrate a service for the arrival of Christ. On Christmas we have lessons and carols.
Is American Xmas amazing. I always feels it comes second to Thanksgiving. I don’t think they even get 26th off. We call it Boxday here in U.K. public holiday.
I love the German Christmas decorations also. I have a small smoker that I am in love with. It relaxes me and makes me happy. It's on the table next to my chair. I like to drink my coffee with it burning. I can't wait to get more. The tree is lovely. My ex husband is 50% German so our grown children are 25%. Their Oma and Opa would receive huge boxes of German candy every Christmas that Oma would give out to all her children. Merry Christmas 🎄❤️
I'm from a protestant family (actually my parents left the "church" before and shortly after I was born - so I grew up without any religion) and I live in north Hessia - and still it was the Christkind for me. One of my grandmas came from a very catholic region though, may that's why. I also believed in the "Weihnachtsmann" but he was someone more present in Christmas songs and not so much as a figure coming to my home. As soon as I learned that in the US kids get the presents a day later I alwas felt sorry for them when I opened mine. Merry Christmas to all of you!
We got electric lights on our Christmas tree that look like actual candles - so perfect middle ground between a somewhat traditional look, convenience and safety regards. By the way, I love your tree ornaments and the popcorn chain looks like something I'd try as one of your more American decoration ideas. It looks awesome 🥰
I think it’s great that you have incorporated Christkind on Christmas Eve! It must just add to the whole cultural experience for the kids. I have only just, since last year, managed to get organised early enough to actually start Christmas on Christmas Eve after years of being caught out! Merry Christmas, Sara! Best wishes for 2023 🤗
Merry Christmas, or should I say, Happy Christmas in the British way? 😊 yeah it’s been so fun to add in Christkind. And it helps so that the kids understand what their friends are talking about and doing here. The more we incorporate German customs, the more we feel like this is home. Otherwise we will always feel like outsiders.
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife exactly, that’s just what I thought- your kids can join in the conversation with their friends. We say Merry Christmas, too! And all good wishes are welcome, no matter how they are phrased ❤️
