Christmas in Germany

‘O Du fröhliche, o Du selige, gnadenbringende Weihnachtszeit’ (‘O how joyfully, O how blessedly, Cometh the glory of Christmastime’). This is how one of the most popular German Christmas carols begins. And indeed, Christmas in Germany is both a time for celebration and a time for reflection.

Christmas

At Christmas, Christians all over the world celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, whom they revere as the Son of God. But Christmas in Germany, as in other Christian-influenced areas around the world, is far more than just a religious festival. It is one of the highlights of the year, celebrated with enthusiasm by the whole country – even though less than half of the population actually identifies as Catholic or Protestant.

Christmas treats

People in Germany love Christmas so much that the build-up starts months in advance. Christmas treats, such as lebkuchen, Dominosteine (layered Christmas cookies) and Christmas stollen, start appearing on supermarket shelves as early as autumn.

Christmas baking

It’s not Christmas without Christmas baking – and Germany certainly has plenty of special sweet and spiced treats for the festive season. Lebkuchen have been a favourite for many centuries. These small honey-sweetened cakes/cookies are flavoured with many spices also used in savoury cooking. Stollen, a rich buttery, cake-like bread packed with sultanas and candied orange and lemon peel, has also been traditional Christmas fare since the Middle Ages. And since about the 18th century, Germans have enjoyed Spekulatius, a flat, spiced shortcrust cookie. Most traditional German Christmas cookies are made from shortcrust pastry.

Advent: Counting down to Christmas

The festivities begin in earnest on the first day of Advent, which is the fourth-last Sunday before Christmas. The Advent season is more or less the countdown to Christmas, and in many homes and workplaces you’ll find an Advent wreath made out of fir branches and decorated with four candles. The four candles symbolise the weeks left until Christmas: in the first week of Advent, only one candle burns; in the second, two; and so on. The Advent wreath is a German invention – the first wreath was hung by the Lutheran pastor Johann Heinrich Wichern in 1839 in Hamburg. Over the next hundred years, the custom made its way into Catholic households in the west and south of the country, eventually spreading all across Germany.

St. Nicholas

Advent calendars are another way Germans count down the days to Christmas. The calendar holds a small gift or a treat for every day from 1 December to Christmas Eve (24th December) to help build the suspense and excitement.

Christmas markets: Pre-Christmas joy in the town square

One thing a lot of people don’t know is that in Germany, the first day of Advent actually marks the end of a period of reflection and solemn remembrance. In late November, the victims of war and violent oppression are commemorated on Volkstrauertag (‘Remembrance Day’), a secular day of mourning. This is followed by Totensonntag/Ewigkeitssonntag (‘Sunday of the Dead’/‘Eternity Sunday’), a religious day of remembrance for the dead. And then the mood brightens with the start of Advent. All around the country, festive lights and garlands appear in the streets, and Christmas markets are set up in the town squares.

German Christmas markets

Germany’s wintry Christmas markets, with their elaborate, cabin-like wooden stalls, are world-famous. The Christmas markets in some of the older cities like Nuremburg (Christkindlesmarkt), Cologne or Lübeck have a long tradition and attract hundreds of thousands of visitors. But markets are also found in many of the smaller towns.

Christine from the Philippines and her friends visit the Karlsruhe Christmas market and have a list of strange-sounding food and gifts for Christine’s parents. See what she experiences during her visit to the Karlsruhe Christmas market in the following video.

Christ-child

Christmas market enthusiasts love the classic smell of punch, tea and mulled wine, sweet treats and hearty hot food.

Christmas markets are all about community – they are places where people get together with their workmates, classmates and friends to socialize and sample the culinary delights on offer.

Christmas markets are all about community.

Christmas decorations

Many stalls also sell Christmas decorations for the home. The production of wooden figurines and nativity scenes, Christmas pyramids, Schwibbögen (Christmas arches), and filigree baubles and ornaments has a long tradition, especially in the mountainous regions of Saxony, Thuringia and Bavaria. Christmas decorations produced in these regions are exported all over the world. In fact, Germany’s Christmas industry is now so big that its products can be found in specialist shops all year round.

Interview

Ayo on Christmas in Germany

Interview with Ayo from Nigeria

Ayo is from Nigeria and came to Germany as an exchange student in October 2021. Currently, he lives in Berlin and studies Biosphere Reserves Management at the Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development.

Is Christmas important to you and what does Christmas mean to you personally?

Christmas is highly significant to me and a lot of people in my country because we are very religious. It signifies the remembrance of the birth of Jesus Christ who was sent to the world to save mankind. It is a big deal for me because it reminds me of the fact that a saviour was born into the world to save my soul. It is also a period when extended family members get together to celebrate with each other.

What do you associate with Christmas in Germany and did anything seem strange to you?

One major thing I associate with Christmas in Germany is the fireworks on Christmas eve. The sight of it accompanied with the joy in the environment is amazing.

I found it super weird and unusual that people didn’t go to church on Christmas day. Something amazing about Christmas in Germany was the Christmas lights already set up from the 1st of November on the streets and people’s homes. In the Christmas period, there was life in a different way in the city I live in. It was spectacular.

Do you celebrate Christmas back home in Nigeria with your family and do you have special Christmas traditions and rituals?

Yes. Most of the time, we go to church on the 25th of December to mark the birth of Jesus. Sing Christmas songs and carols, watch some Christmas movies and also exchange gifts with fellow church members.

Christmas in my family is always celebrated in a grand style where food delicacies such as fried rice, jollof rice (a traditional rice dish from Senegal), pounded yam are prepared in large quantities to give to visitors and neighbours.

One major tradition accustomed to people in my country on the day of Christmas is the killing and cooking of Hen, Fowl or Turkey for the celebration.

The months of November and December are very much a highpoint in the German social calendar, with practically every company, organisation and club holding Christmas parties. People living in shared flats and student residences commonly also get together to share the Christmas cheer.

Read what Ayo thinks about the Christmas season in Germany and what was new for him in his interview.

Friends and family: Celebrating with loved ones

The busy build-up to Christmas is followed by a return to peace and quiet, and Christmas itself is usually celebrated in a small circle of close friends and family. In the biblical Christmas story, Mary and Joseph travelled from Nazareth to their home town of Bethlehem for the census, and in Germany too, most people return to their home towns and villages to celebrate with their families. Bustling and busy university towns are suddenly empty and quiet.

Unlike in the UK or the USA, where the Christmas holiday period begins on the 25th of December, in Germany, Christmas Eve on the 24th of December is considered the main day for Christmas celebrations. That’s when the Christmas tree is put up and decorated and presents are opened. For Christian families, going to church is an integral part of the celebrations.

The festive feast: Time for good food

On the morning of the 24th of December, the shops in Germany are still open. Many people still have to work, while others are busy with last minute preparations for the festivities. That’s why some families traditionally prepare just a simple meal for Christmas Eve – there’s plenty of time for more elaborate festive dishes on the 25th and 26th of December, which are public holidays. For many, roast goose with red cabbage and dumplings is an essential part of Christmas. Others serve roast venison, and many in the north enjoy the local seasonal speciality of kale with copious amounts of sausage and salted meat. Raclette and fondue are also popular in some parts.

Christmas tree

And after the Christmas celebrations?

The return to ‘normal’ is a gradual and gentle affair in Germany. The days leading up to New Year’s Eve are called ‘die Zeit zwischen den Jahren’ (‘the time between the years’): shops are open on weekdays, but apart from that there is a distinctly relaxed holiday mood in the air. People in the south and southwest of Germany tend to take the most time to mark Christmas and the turn of the year. There, the new year only really starts after Epiphany on 6 January.

Germans like to start the new year wishing each other Frohes Neues Jahr (Happy New Year) – a greeting that remains in common use until about mid-January. And after that, it’s only another nine months until Christmas biscuits and Dominosteine are back in the shops.

Franconia

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O how joyfully, O how blessedly!