Surprising German Christmas Traditions We Wish The US Had 🇩🇪 

My familiy comes from Dresden, Saxony. One tradition we have is during the 12 Days of Christmas to visit each other and eat from 12 different Christstollen (Dresden is very proud of being the home to the Original Dresdner Christstollen). The basic idea of course is to visit as many members of the extended family as possible, but to make it more mysterious, someone invented the supposed superstition that eating from 12 different Christstollen during the 12 Days of Christmas counts as a lucky charm for the following year.

The Ludwigsburg Christmas Market doesn't take place this year because of corona virus. But you can come and visit the 3 castles and the Fairy Tale Garden (if it's open on winter season)

Our traditions were . On the 24th you stay at your family. The 25th with family from mother side and 26th family from dad side... or otherwise. In our region around Idar-Oberstein, Meisenheim, Kirn and Bad Kreuznach...in small villages... it is tradition on 27th dec ('Bündelchestag") to go with a 'Bollerwagen" filled with drinks and some small snacks to go from village to village in their pubs or Restaurant to stop by for drinks and food. And you end your day at your favourite pub or hometown pub to eat dinner and get more drinks ;)

How is it possible that people of your age don't know so much that happens in the USA and are so specific to say we DO NOT HAVE THIS.... Like Mulled wine. Which has been served in the US for over 100 years. Please please... stop using the words the USA doesn't have...as if you have experienced the whole of the USA because you haven't. It may be something that YOU have not experienced in the USA, this may be a fair statement. But referring to 1 eurppean national culture or even worst having such a "eurocentric view point" is (i'm sorry) ignorant. I LOVE you guys. But white wash our society because you are enjoying theres... not having experienced something in the USA doest NOT equal it not taking place in the USA.

I realy like the christmas tradition of the "Räucherkerzchen". Nice greetings from Saxony🙋🏼‍♂️

Yes that trifft den Nagel auf den Kopf i think ^^

Oder man lebt im Braunkohlerevier und weiß anhand der vielen Leuchtdeko mancher Häuser, wer von den Nachbarn alles bei RWE arbeitet und 'nen gewissen Stromanteil gratis bekommt 😂

Geklaut von einer Meme 😅

I do not want to have their power bill....

😂 Why do I hear my mother's voice in my head all of a sudden?

As a family we used to do a long walk through the forest, certainly to help digest delicious food from the first Christmas holiday. :-) One of the most beautiful Christmas Markets is in the city of Goslar

That's what we done as a family too, when I was a kid. Today we do that too with our children. But often we change the first and second day visiting grandparents, because the 25. is the favorite christmas day, while the 26. is more like an appendix and so no grandparent feels as a second one. But now, as the kids grew up and most living with their own families we have to plan it early in October to get all together on one day. That we do, so the hosts don't have to celebrate two days with cooking, preparing and cleaning afterwards.

same here. tradiotionally my grandma made a "buffet" so to speak for the whole family. but as she got older we "forced her" (not kidding) to "split the family" over 2 days. we ask her if she even wanna do it at all with age 86 but she got offended xD

Yeah we used to it do it but Not anymore

Same here...

True. Where I live there is one really "American" christmas house. It really disturbes the athmosphere

@@laerramarie2620 Saw the one in Ahnatal on tv last night. Rather tasteless combination if you ask me.

Yeah, it's like stars in the night sky. Not an sun that makes u blind if u look to long at it.

@@Kage_Fur Yes. This specific US tradition is so exaggerated, expensive and so absolutely not cozy and warm like here in Germany. :) But everyone as they like.

"Cozy", my favourite English word, I think. Goes perfectly with warm lights in nightly contexts.

That's completely same here in Czech Republic, 24th - parents, 25th - one grandparents, 26th - second grandparents. :-) But in last years, I am using Christmas mostly like second vacation for visiting other countries, but stupid covid.....

Same here also atthe 24, we only opened the presents our parents bought us, the gifts of auntsand grandparents we only opened when we met them

Same. Appart from the biscuits... Bethmännchen and Earl-Grey Sterne for me.

Same here, I think many Germans see the 24th december more as "the christmas das" than the 25th, because we already open the presents on the evening of 24th and celebrate with the parents on that day.

Same for me (in Hamburg) - 24th is for the core family, 25th and 26th for the respective grandparents.

I love those crazy lights, but have to admit that my brain screamed LIGHT POLUTION! ;)

Same to me, greetings from Hamburg

ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-7mLZxk0HQeQ.html 'nuff said

I thought the same

@Anja Murman Danke dafür. Lange nicht gehört 😁

And, "Der Kleine Lord" ☝

@@Mindspectrum oh, _Little Lord Fauntleroy_ is unknown across the pond ? a pity

Or watching Emil i Lönneberga from Astrid Lindgren. We always watch it with the whole family and it never gets old!

Bohemian version of cinderella? Aschenputtel is the root of cinderella. Bohemian means unkonventionell. 😄

@@oOIIIMIIIOo bohemian means _böhmisch_ too and who in the states know Aschenputtel as the root ? :D

That's right. The afternoon of Dec 24th and the afternoon of Dec 31st are public holidays. The mornings of those two are normal week days, so if you want them free, you need one holiday to replace the two halves. In a perfect year those two fall on a monday each, so with Dec 25th/26th and Jan 1st being public holidays you need to take only one holiday to get two very long free weekends, five days and four days respectively :)

Also many companies just open until noon - so you start working normally but work until 12.00 or 13.00 only. Also most stores close around noon on Dec 24th. Ususally christmas celebrations start with dinner (or with "Kaffee und Kuchen" earliest). There is plenty of time even if you do not take a day off.

@@dorderre Actually that’s not true. My husband and I just looked it up because we were debating about it. 24th and 31st of December are full regular work days according to the BurlG (Bundesurlaubsgesetz) and you have to take an entire day of vacation to get the day off ☹️. However, the question is whether your employer knows (or cares) about it 😉.

@@missis_jo1017 You are right that 24th and 30th are regular work days according to the law. However many companies have it in their policy that on those two days only half the day is going to be spent at work anyway (for various reasons) and so it would be counted only as 4 hours of work… therefore if one wanted to have the day off entirely they only needed to take half a day of vacation. So it has become customary in many work places to instate the half day vacation as a given. The half day vacation is by all means a very popular house rule.

Yeah. Or walking through the city to enjoy the gentle, warm lights there.

But you do get other days off instead, right? (I know it's not the same especially if the rest of your family has the typical days of so your days don't match). There are a lot of jobs that require people to work on holidays and they are forgotten so often in the general cheer. But I for one appreciate that people are doing it so the rest can enjoy those days. So thanks for bringing people from A to B on days like that (and on any other day as well)

@@kat76woman Yes, i got like 40 vacation days a year, plus some extra time. its fine for me working at these days. I dont have a gf/wife or kids. So my co-workers with families can have the days off spending with their families. also i love to make kids happy by wearing a santa hat and beard while driving! :)

Danke!

@@ItsMeTexx oh hört sich echt schön an, dass Du anderen eine Freude machen kannst!

Danke dafür 👍

Yea Brexit is just sade to be a thing . Still hope you will have a nice hollyday .

You really still believe in Bielefeld ?

Many greetings from Bielefeld 🥰🎄 🖐

@@dwagon6706 Ja, wir kommen aus dem Nichts und grüßen von dort alle ganz lieb.😉🎄🖐

@@dwagon6706 Yes, Bielefeld does not exist, ever!😂 It is funny that this myth has been perpetuated for so long.

If not, you can praise the same christmas tree twice or three times. Nobody judges you. ;-)

@@Maddrax23 Or just visit complete strangers. As long as you are drunk at the end of the day :D

I live in south Germany and never heard of this xD

That would annoy me 😅

We also have that in northern Germany. It is called Tannebaumsingen and everyone gets drunk obviously.

Hmhmm. It never occured to me that one has to use vaccation days for those two 'half days'. We close the office down on both days and all 650 employees get both days off without the need to trade in one vaccation day.

@@chrishieke1261 In this case the employer donates you one extra day of vacation, as of course they could insist that you come in on the 24th and 31th as these are no public holidays. And even in case of a company vacation (company closes down and everyone has to go on vacation), your employer is allowed to count these days as normal vacation days, as that's simply what they are (you don't go to work but you get paid = vacation). The Bundesgerichtshof has ruled that your employer can decide when you have to take your vacation for up to two weeks of your vacation time a year, so you cannot object that.

not if you work at a call center because the nutjobs under the customers won't stop just because it's a holiday or a Sunday- they have to be on call 365 days a year, just not 24/7 only 16/7 so that the german Karens can order stuff even on December 31 23:59h - worked there, had such calls

In my village there are a couple of houses lit up the American way and every time I drive by I wonder what the next electricity bill will be like for those people 🤔

blue light is so ugly compared to yellow light. yellow feels so much more cozy while blue is just annoying imo

More traditional German find the amounts of electric outside lights we already have garish and would not want more. I have not problems with a few lights, e.g. even 30 years ago, some people had one tree in the garden or frontyard as an additional Xmas tree with electric lights. But I am not fond of too much, anything flashing ore kitschy light reindeer etc.

@@bartolo498 one damn reindeer is ok. but the lights have to be dim, not like screaming into your face "LOOK AT ME, GIVE ME ATTENTION! I AM THE GREATEST REINDEER CAUSE YOU CAN SEE ME FROM SPACE!!!!11einself". :D

Interessant, hab davon noch nie gehört. Grüße aus Niedersachsen ✌🏼

"Rachermännel"? Klingt merkwürdigerweise eher wie Schwitzerdütsch als Sächsisch 😂 Bei uns im Rheinland werden die meist als Räuchermännchen bezeichnet. Mag die aus dem Erzgebirge aber defintiv lieber als die von Käthe Wohlfahrt, was das Design angeht ^^

God yes!! Living in Bavaria but being from Saxony with family in the erzgebirge i always get soooo delighted whenever i see someone else having a Schwibbogen in their window!!! And of course Herrnhuter sterne are just superior 😂

haha same. we always went on a walk with dad to look for Santa and when we got back home, mom told us that Santa has already been there and left D:

That's not generally like that in Germany. In many families there ist also Santa instead of Christkindl. The differences are that Santa ist normally not coming at night nur while the kids are awake - they meet wach other, kids present some music or poems and Santa leaves after that to the next kid.

It's interesting that in some regions of Germany it's still the Christkind that brings the gifts while in others (like the one I grew up) it's the "Weihnachtsmann" who is somewhat similar to Santa Claus

And THIS is the reason why Bavarians believe in the rumor that the Weihnachtsmann is an invention of CocaCola - oh the ignorance. Honestly, the amount of times I was told that we celebrate Coke since I moved to Bavaria 🙄. And it doesn’t add up either! I mean can anyone imagine that the DDR would celebrate an american/capitalist invention?

@@missis_jo1017 Hey, pretty sure we could switch to German but let’s stay with English for any foreign readers. I’m sorry I really forgot, that in northern Germany and some eastern parts the „Weihnachtsmann“ really is the bringer of present’s. But I would never assume that he is made up by Coca-Cola. Correct me if I’m wrong but isn’t he created after St. Nicolaus? I do not know though if it is the very same person that brings presents at 6th and 24th december. Maybe you can clarify…?

@@ameliewastl2784 I learned that Santa and St. Nikolaus are the same person, first being to shy to show himself on the 6th (hence the boots) but then coming back on 24th. But don’t take my word for it. I grew up in the most unreligious and undiverse environment possible. Out of 31 students only two were baptised and only one continued with Konfirmation. The rest didn‘t follow any religion at all. Religion also wasn‘t even a subject in my state 🙈. St. Nikolaus certainly did not wear bishops clothing like he does here in Bavaria. Actually, the way we celebrated christmas didn’t include any christian symbols 🤔. (And yes, let’s continue in English. I hate when I follow a conversation and they swap languages midway 😅).

For everyone, who doesn’t know Latin (or forgot everything): CMB means Christ blesses (blessed?) this house

@@jennyh4025 I hope I didn't forget all my latin, then benedicat (= 3. Pers. Sing. Präs. Konj. Akt. for benedicere e-Konj.), is German: "er, sie, es möge segnen" and English "he, she, it may bless". Thank you for the kind reminder.

@@berndegert9808 I actually forgot pretty much all of my Latin, I only remembered that much from an article I read about 10 or 15 years ago.

@@jennyh4025 A perfect memory! Congratulations. I would be proud if mine would be as good. My knowledge of Latin originated from a (brutal) nine year training at a Jesuit school in Germany (Bad Godesberg).

@@berndegert9808 I just had 4 1/2 years, hated every minute of it and only remember „sum, es, est, sumus, estis, sunt“ and „Marcus hodie in colosseo est, sed ubi est Cornelia….“ 😉

I live in a Protestant area or mostly Atheist and Dreikönigstags is known as such but recognized as a catholic thing. It isn’t celebrated by everyone but common knowledge. To wait until January 6th to move the Christmas tree out of the house is practiced here too. Not by everyone but quite many.

In the bible the namens aren't mentioned at all...

Its easy to make yourself Stollen Zimtstern my best 😋

Trigger Warning: includes the use of alcohol. I am not a big fan of Stollen but there has been the tradition to put a whole Stollen after Christmas in a pot and fill it with alcohol (usually korn but you can take rum (would be my choice) or any other spirit or liqueur as well) and keep it dark and a little cool until the Easter Holidays. And then you eat it.

@@ReisskIaue hmm just drink it right away 😂

Same here.

Yeah, especially with the pandemic and such. I haven't really 'wished' for a specific Christmas gift for the past 10 years; I'd be perfectly content with a pair of socks (because my socks all seem to end up in Narnia eventually), but I honestly just cherish these moments with my family.

So ist es

20*C+M+B+22 Actually both is true: C M B stands for "Christus Mansionem Benedicat" and additionally for the names of the three kings Caspar, Melchior, Balthasar. The wording was chosen carefully to match both interpretations. Also, the asterisc stands for the star that the wise men followed. The three crosses stand for God father, so'n and holy spirit (which one says when one crosses oneself).

CMB can be used for both... But the latin Christus mansionem benedicat is more likely right... Just like the RIP on Graves. Its latin for requiescat in pace (which is of course also Rest in Peace) but its latin and not english... Thats also why RIP is also used in Europe.

Funniest thing about the lights is that Germans seem to be very quick to det them up, but they dont seem to wanna take them down again for several months😂

@@000jimbojones000 And with both eyes and ears closed it translates to "Ruhe in (P)frieden" in german

I live in that part of germany and I like that kind of decorating the windows with lights way more than the american style.

Still, "flashy" lights in Germany are still miles and miles away from what Americans put on/in their houses. I'd get a seizure just looking at some of these. Not very healthy, I'd assume! x_x

Love a day of leftovers! 😃

that sounds great !

@@grandmak. hey, Grandma k.! Schönes Wochenende und schönen dritten Advent!

@@sisuguillam5109 Hallo ! Danke gleichfalls !🙋‍♀

@@grandmak. 🥰😄

Thanks that you explain it correctly!

And of course it has celtic origins. like every holiday in germany. and therefore most of the US american as well.

@@MrValour Some traditions have celtic origins, but most of the holidays itself have judaeo-christian origins.

@@Frohds14 of course the "history" and part of the rituals are of judaic or christian origin but the holidays themselves and their overall theme are almost always celtic or germanic celebrational events.

Sorry to inform you that the whole holiday was christianized and in it's origins had nothing to do with Jesus Christ or anything with christian beliefs. It was about the winter solstice, a nature related holiday, like most of them were.

The pickle is a tradition local to a very small area of Germany, but unknown to the rest of the country. I don't even remember where it was from.

Yes, I have a pickle in my tree, too. It means luck to the one who spots it first .

@@alexj9603 Now *that* would have been interesting to know, because that's the most I ever get: "It *is* a tradition in some part of Germany, but I don't remember where." No-one can ever tell. Which to me means it's NOT a tradition *ANYWHERE*.

@@alexj9603 Actually the Pennsylvania Dutch took that custom with them to North America. So it was never seen again here and therefore forgotten. It was a sign of frugality. What they harvested in fall was preserved to last through winter. No fancy stuff just a mundane vegetable. It reminds everyone of the hard work that was put in to have food. And to survive winter you have to prepare food and eat only as needed. So this reminded also of nature's giving and God looking after you if you worked hard.

Just noticed there is a Wikipedia article on the "Christmas pickle" (or "Weihnachtsgurke" in the German one). It doesn't give any exact information on the origins either. Just a couple of theories.

Punsch ist mit Alkohol....Kinderpunsch ohne ;)

What exactly is Adventsfenster? Does each family decorate a window of their house and then others can come and look at what you decorated? What is in the windows? It sounds very cozy :)

@@Lollilenaa yeah you got that right. In small cities you can choose or draw the number by lots, than you decorate your window (one looking towards the street on ground floor of course) with a „Krippe“ crib/crèche, a „Lichterbogen“ lightbow (you can google it), or just other Christmas items like little angles, snowflakes etc. Often the kids help with it and do some handwork things. German Christmas decorations are much more subtile compared to the American ones. There are mostly yellow lights or real candles and mostly red and golden tones. Also a lot of items are made of wood, straw or paper. Especially in small German cities you won’t find colorful lights or big plastic decorations on the yard. I really love Christmas here in Germany, it’s just sad we don’t get to see snow on Christmaseve as frequently as before. Climate change is an a-hole PS: Merry Christmas

Punsch is "Glühwein mit Schuß", which means Glühwein with rum. :)

@@EpOX2005 don't punch children

Not seen in Eastern Germany is no surprise. The ex-GDR regions aren't religious, so of course they're an Rarity there.

Sternsinger are a rather catholic thing, so you won't even see a lot of them in the north, too.

Schön geschrieben

@@loswochos9176 Dankeschön! :)

I‘m from Cologne. Here it’s the Eiserkuchen.

I'm from Schleswig-Holstein and I have never heard about it 🤷🏼‍♀️

My Grand Parents do this tradtion , i love them just plain

I'm from Hamburg and have also never heard of this. Seems to be a very regional thing

haha, you need strong teeth for the Printen !

@@grandmak. haha, I sometimes make them myself according to my grandmother's recipe, who came from near Aachen - and they were always rock hard! But if you leave them in your mouth for a few minutes without attempting to chew, they get a good consistency and taste heavenly!

@@grandmak. Only for Kräuterprinten, but they have the advantage to keep edible for a long time. The chocolate ones are soft.

@@claudiakarl7888 ok, thank you.

In some? In every German state.

Arthur you are wrong. In none state it is a half holiday. It is a workday by law. Only many companies have rules that the employee can get a day or a half off.

@@blubberdignubber The same with Silvester.

@@Frohds14 of course. My original post was longer but five times immediately somehow deleted. Only children and teacher might believe that 24th and 31st could be holidays

That definitely is a great idea for families that live near each other! 😃

Vanillekipferl = best cookies for sure! 🤤

In my little Hometown in North Germany we had/have? a tradition of the "Posaunenchor" (Brassband of the church) to get around town on 2nd Christmas day and to play Christmas carrols at different places throughout the town.

Actually its the organisation The Sternsinger that, together with the youth organisation BDKJ is doing the overnight organisation like printing the stickers etc. And in most parishes the money is sent to that organisation which transfers it to children in need in various countries. It’s actually the oldest event where children help children in need.

So pretty much like in Germany.

@@swanpride Yes

In the UK whenever a public holiday falls on the weekend it will be added to the next day(s) after the weekend. So, this year 27th and 28th December are public holidays as a substitute for 25th (Saturday) and 26th (Sunday). Very employee friendly.

According to collective bargaining agreements(Manteltarifverträge), some professions actually have these days off. For some there is a holiday regulation (additional salary / additional free working hours), but there is no official regulation. So if you don't have a special job with shift and weekend work, you benefit from the (old) regulation that work is over after 2 p.m. In the past, my workplace was open until 12 p.m. on New Year's Eve and the regular end of work would have been 4 p.m. Like Christmas Eve, this day has been off work since the late 1980s. Some customers are still confused about this;)

It depends on the individual Christmas market that you're talking about. Our version had deposits of 4 Euros in 2019, which was also the price for buying a mug. We did this on purpose, for people who hold on to their mugs as a souvenir. I've seen other christmas markets, who did it in a similar way as well.

agreeing with dnocturn84, it really depends on the market. Here in Vienna the mugs cost the amount of the deposit for the most part. AND it is expected that one 5th will be taken home as a souvenir. There are some markets in the countryside where one is asked to kindly return the mugs and that they can be bought after the market closes for the year.

I always ask if I can keep the mug as a souvinier and never got told no. Cause they would destroy the mugs afterwards anyway. I actually just told somebody I don't want the gluhwein, since I have to drive my mom home, but I wanted the mug. I got the mug for the 1€ deposit.

I was the designated lametta collector each year as a kid/teen. And yes we also always waited til the 24th to decorate our tree together, right after lunch.

@@adrianaheiler9794 So was I And yes the tree was moved in and decorated at the 24th

@@adrianaheiler9794 Norwegian tradition is that the "main event" is the evening of 24th. Specifically five o'clock. All church bells rings then and it marks the official start of Christmas (or Jul/Yule as we call it). At this very point most families sit down and eat the big xmas dinner. A little later - usually around 8 in the evening (depending on how small your kids are) - coffee, baked stuff, candy etc. is served - and one unwarps the presents. This is often done in a very orderly fashion with one person - designated as the "handler of the gift". The duty is to pick a gift from under the tree and read out the label (to and from) and hand it over to the person. Meanwhile everybody nibbles cake and watches "in excitement" on what the person is unpacking. Then the "gift handler" picks the next xmas gift from the tree - the trick is to make this a bit even so that everybody gets a gift before a person gets the second gift and so on. This goes on for a couple hours. (If you have small kids that just cant wait for dinner to be over so one can get on with the gifts - many allow kids to pick one present before dinner. But they have to promise to be nice for the entire dinner then). After this people are usually very full and getting a bit tired. So people sit around, maybe have a drink or two - studying their gifts and watching some xmas movies on tv. The day before this (23.) - "little xmas eve" - the tree is brought it and decorated. First day of xmas (25.) usually starts with a huuuge breakfast for the extended family - but usually a bit late. So more of a brunch. This breakfast usually includes many xmas specialties only served on this day. Then people sit around and talk, watching a bit of TV, maybe play some board games and then more coffee and cake. Later in the evening oftentimes the same breakfast is served again. Because people are too full for a full on dinner (and many of the specialties are hand made fresh for the occasion and wont keep for ever in the fridge). Then more coffee and cake. Second day - big family dinner - usually involving some "alternative" xmas dinner for your area. Maybe xmas ham. Maybe a big salmon dinner. More coffee and cake. And in the evening - whatever remains of that huge first day "breakfast". Throughout all this it is common that most coffee tables, side tables etc. have a constant supply of xmas treats. Nuts, figs, marzipan, chocolates, etc.