Christmas in Deutschland
Callan Mantyvirta
Callan Mantyvirta
Servus!
We are now into the last week here in Deutschland and it
couldn't be more busy and exciting. I couldn't be more happy to see lots of
snow falling in the past week and the Christmas spirit has began already as the
1st of December marks the first day of the Adventskalendar. I have been lucky
enough to go to a lively Christmas market on the Fraueninsel which is an island
on the Chiemsee and to see the very popular FC Bayern. Australia is coming very
fast now and it is a bit sad to only have a week left.
Culture is very common in both
Australia and Deutschland but there are differences and one of the biggest is
Weihnachten (Christmas). Even though we both celebrate Weihnachten, Deutschland
celebrates it very differently. They have all kinds of fun traditions that they
do in the weeks before Weihnachten like the famous Christmas markets and St.
Nicholas.
It all starts off in Deutschland at the beginning of
December when the Christmas markets, also known as Christkindlmarkt, begin to
be set up. Many wooden huts can be seen all over Deutschland which attract
thousands of tourists from all over the world. Most of these huts sell handmade
Christmas crafts and the many lights above the huts really lift the mood of the
event.
Also at the start of December in Deutschland many children
get an Adventskalendar which is a box with many doors with all kinds of chocolate
or sweets. They are a very popular gift at this time of year and children get
to open one door every day until Weihnachten. Each day, they can't wait
to open the next door.
On the evening of December the 5th a man named St Nicholas
visits all the children in Deutschland and brings with him a sack full of
chocolate, nuts and mandarins. He is very similar to the Weihnachtsmann as he
wears a red suit but he looks more like a bishop or wizard because he carries a
big decorative staff (crozier).
The Christmas tree is one of the most special things
about Weihnachten and many families do it differently in Deutschland. Most
families put there Christbaum up on Christmas Eve. Only a few families
put them up before then, anytime in December. In Australia many families have
non-traditional plastic trees but here in Deutschland they do it the
traditional way and use real pine trees. A similarity is that they also
decorate there Baum with tinsel, baubles and lights.
Heiligabend is one of the biggest nights of the year in
Deutschland with many families all getting together to enjoy a nice warm meal
as the snow falls outside. Once the family dinner has finished, the children
all run straight to there presents before anything else and enjoy the surprise
of their favourite gift. At 11:00pm when all the children are asleep the adults
go out to church and celebrate the birth of Jesus.
Finally Weihnachten day starts with an early morning
Mass where they sing and everyone fills themselves with Gutsle (Christmas
biscuits). Many families have their own traditional lunch and spend the day
celebrating and enjoying each others company.
Deutschland's traditional Weihnachten is very special to
them and is very different in many ways to the hot Australian Christmas.
