Sankt Nikolaus dos not come around christmas. His specific date is the 6.12. Do not mix him up with the Weihnachtsmann, wich is not allover Germany, but ore in the north
Yeah, as a Dutchman (hello neighbours!) I understand the traditions surrounding Christmas and Saint Nicholas are not the same all over the country. Not so strange, seeing the size of the country and the very different people, cultural-wise, that live in it.
@@bramscheDave As in the poem "Von drauß' vom Walde komm ich her" (Knecht Ruprecht on his way with a bag of treats is greeted by the Christkind from heaven at the end) one can have both, in a way. Or actually St. Nikolaus on the 6th, Christkind on Xmas eve and Knecht Ruprecht as assistant (for the rough work carrying bags and wielding the "Rute") for one or even both of them?
Well, in Vienna the 6.12 is the day for Nikolaus (St. Niclas) with the Krampus as assistant. (The Nikolaus does have a big book with the Names and information about all children, Krampus helps him by punishing the naughty kids.) At the evening of the 24.12. the Christkind does come and brings presents. (At least my family had the tradition to ring a small bell when everything is ready. If the Children hear the bell they rush into the room seeing the christmas tree, the presents and maybe the window is open where the Chriskind flew away.)
I think you haven't understand the concept of german christmas yet :D Der Nikolaus comes only on the 6th of december and puts candy (nowadays) in boots. Der Nikolaus nowadays is based on a historic person that really existed in the past (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Nicholas -> there you can read about it). On actuall Christmas (on the 24th) eighter the Weihnachtsmann (is actually "copied" from the US Santa Claus) or the Christkind (some people imagine it as an angel some as baby jesus) depending on the region you are is coming. In my family the Christkind came and it always came in the afternoon when we were at Church (so my parents had time to put down the presents)
Selbst "Allvater Odin (Wotan) hat wohl als einen Nebennamen Nikolaus - Weil zum Julfest kam das Christkind bestimmt noch nicht. Und dan haben wir noch Knecht Ruprecht . Der kam meistens zu mir
When I was a child, growing up in western Germany, neither St. Nick nor Santa Claus brought the Christmas presents. It was the Christkind who was bringing them, and I'm a huge fan of this tradition. In contrast to Santa Claus, who kids have a clear picture of, the Christkind is somewhat more mysterious and leaves more room for imagination to the kids.
yeah I got my presents from the Christkind too! St. Nikolaus is only a part of our Christmas tradition because he comes at the 6. Decembe. (at least in my family it's that way)
It confused me so much. A long time I imagined the Christkind as a little angel but than I realized that the Christuskind is the little Baby that somehow brings the presents... super confusing picture :D
@@WrenKati "Christuskind" is Jesus Christ in the Barn. The "Christkind" (without -us because it is not Jesus Christus) is an angel like character that brings the presents, if it is not the Weihnachtsmann who does it. I hope I could help you. BTW: Jesus Christ is Jesus Christus in German.
Since I grew up in an area in which the different tradition kind of clash, my parents solved the problem by telling me that the Weihnachtsmann and the Christkind work together to deliver presents.
Don't confuse christmas with advent. In Germany and Austria the christmas tree and the presents are set up on the 24th of dezember and not after black friday. At the beginning of advent (4 sundays before christmas) christmas decoration is set up but not the tree itself. The tree traditionally stays until 6th of january, but this can be prolonged to 2nd of february.
We put our christmas tree up when it was about... 20th or something and put it away before it got silvester like 28th or 29th every year... I am German btw. So maybe that is a tradition (that I never heard before) but not everyone does it like that with the tree.
But who is even still collecting the old trees when you keep it up until february. Here the tree collection comes mid-january I think... But how should I know... i just put up my very first own tree yesterday and it stays until January 6th at least...i am still hoping to be at my parents on christmas and I plan to quarantine 5 days beforehand, so getting the tree this weekend was just convenient.
You make a good point, but most Americans do confuse the two. The Puritans observed neither Advent nor Christmas. When observance of Christmas started becoming more widespread in the mid-1800's, Advent was not part of it. Hence, most Americans use the term "Christmas time" to refer to the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas. We have a song called "The Twelve Days of Christmas" which refers to the twelve days beginning with December 25th (which is the actual Christmas season), but most Americans are baffled by it. "I don't get it," they'll say, "Christmas is just one day, not twelve!" This is true even of the Catholics I know.
@@ninjakeks9326 Germany is bis and the north does have different traditions than the south. Austria has pretty much the same traditions as Bavaria. When I was a kid my dad, my sisters, and I would go buy the tree around the 20th or something. Afterwards the room was locked, so that on the 24th the Christkind could decorate the tree and bring in the presents withouth disturbance. After the Christkind rang a bell (usually after dinner) all were allowed to see the decorated tree and the presents. As christmas time goes until 6th of january that's how long the tree stayed.
And don't try to go to the grocery store at 23rd, it would be like the store won't never open again and we are all going to starve the next few days. It feels like everybody will buy food for the next month.
Good video but you forgot the most important thing about Nikolaus: he comes on December 6th, making that day a possibility for sort of a prequel to Xmas for children, which is also reflected with slightly bigger doors on some advent calendars. Christkind brings the presents on Xmas Eve. And Weihnachtsmann is the guy in the red coat with the white beard at the mall.
Yeah, I don't know what the Chistkind is honestly. It's always been the Weihnachtsmann only. We don't let children work in Germany, let alone on Christmas :P
yeah I think that's the difference we make here in Germany the Weihnachtsmann is the one in red and white like Santa Clause. But St. Nikolaus is the Bishop of Myra!
Die Tradition, dass das Weihnachtskind die Geschenke bringt, fand ich schon als Kind bescheuert. Warum sollte ein Neugeborenes Geschenke verteilen? Und hat es nicht Geschenke von den drei Heiligen aus dem Morgenland erhalten? Daher fand ich den Weihnachtsmann schon seit Jahrzehnten die logischere Instanz. 😀
@@maxipaduser3553 Nein, coca cola hat den Weihnachtsmann nicht erfunden. Den gab es schon davor. Coca cola hat nur das Erscheinungsbild von ihm geprägt.
@@maus201 Nicht ganz richtig, der „Weihnachtsmann“, den es vorher gab war St. Nikolaus. Cola Cola hat daraus dann den Weihnachtsmann gemacht, also den mit dem Nordpol, der Kaminanlieferung, dem Schlitten und mit Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen und natürlich Rudolph.
It depends on the calender. If it‘s chocolate or one with pictures I sometimes Open the doors later. But if it‘s one my mum filled for me I Open them each day Expect if it’s like a really busy one.
As a kid I got at some years three or four advent calendars - by my parents, by my godfather, by aunts or even by the parish. The latter one came usually not before the end of the first week, so it was already a few days over. But also with the others I often did open doors only each other day or (when I was very little) I liked to have a sneak preview. Especially the content behind the bigger doors was alluring! But I had to be cautious and to cover the tracks so my parents did not see I had opened some doors before the day...
One year as a kid I got so greedy I opened all the doors and ate all the chocolate at the start of December. I then felt so guilty I just closed the little paper doors and pretended like the chocolate was still inside. 😬
Adventskalender.......... well, maybe for experiencing their magic you must have had them as a child. I will never ever forget waking up in the morning, stepping out of bed with the thought of "wow, today Mum will allow me to open the next door". No matter what was inside, even the outside appearance was something magical for me. (In the 60ies most advent calendars had lots of fairy dust, glitter and bling bling.) The inside was mostly milk chocolate which wasn't very tasty to me, but the chocolate was not what mattered. Because mostly those little choc pieces were molded in forms like an elf, a fairy, a car, a windmill, instruments or whatever.......so it was the excitement of "what will I find?" more than being keen on having a treat. Moreover - when opening the first door it was clear......Christmas is only 24 days ahead! What means the second "task" of the advent calendar was to give us kids sort of a countdown to Christmas Eve. And to steadily remind us of the great time coming soon. The calendar door of the 24th held the biggest of all surprises......it was something outstanding. And we knew after opening that one: Tonight the Christkind will come, bring a tree and gifts. (Yes, where I grew up the tradition was to send children out of the house or at least room in the late afternoon, and secretly install the tree and gifts. My parents used to send me to my Granny who had a TV - not everyone had one at that time - and I was allowed to watch all the children's series I liked while waiting for the Christkind.) When the tree was set up, the parents rang a bell (erm..... that's wrong. Of course the Christkind did ring the bell as a good bye!!!), and we were allowed to get back and there it stood! The wonderful lit tree in all its splendour and glory :) And all the surprise gifts underneath. Okay. Long story short - an advent calendar was much more than a simple spender of treats. It was an overall concept to be prepared and excited for Christmas to come.
We also have Santa, he's called Weihnachtsmann. But he only brings presents in some regions of Germany (more the northern ones). In the south it's rather the Christkind! (It's actually Jesus, but many imagine it as an angel-like being.) But still Nikolaus comes on Dec 6th and brings some presents (usually candy and maybe little toys).
Stille Nacht does not stem from Germany. It was written in Oberndorf which is close to Salzburg which is in Austria. Actually it is close to where I live and my friends and I are calling it "Silent Night Town". ;) de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stille_Nacht,_heilige_Nacht
The most beautyful story about Silent night is: One christmas in WW I someone began singing it in his ditch and everyone, even the enemys in the other ditches, startet singing together. Later they refused to shoot each other and both thr british and the germans had to replace the soldiers where this happend
There is a beautiful video of that. It's actually an ad, but it's done so great, it doesn't matter... search for "christmas truce advert" and you'll find it. It brings tears to my eyes.
I (German) have never heard of a "Pfand Token Chip" on the Christmas Market, as the cup _itself_ is the "token" ... Bring back the cup, and you either get another "Glühwein" or you get your "Pfand Money" (usually 2 Euro) back.
Yes, I think this is a local. Each Christmas market has its own style. I have seen the token on some other events outside christmas markets. I rather like cup is the token. The cup the token works also on Biergarten and if you leave the cup, the "homeless" come and collect. Its like a charity.
It's a Munich thing I guess? They started it four, five years ago or so? As I remember not needing them AND suddenly needing them, it must have started sometime in the past 10 years when I still lived there.
As an American, I heard about the Christmas pickle a couple of times in the 70's. Forgot it was German. Have met someone from there who mentioned it. It was mentioned on the Simpson's; that's probably where it became widespread.
The "Silent Night" song has been composed and first performed by a village school teacher and pastor in the small village "Oberndorf" in Austria near Salzburg, very close to the german frontier. A chapel reminds to this fact en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent-Night-Chapel
@@HeyItsSarah30 Some Germans have begun to incorporate that tradition into their christmas celebrations. I recently saw the tradition used in an episode of the Bavarian Broadcasting Service's weekly soap "Dahoam is Dahoam". So it's even catching on in the most conservative part of Germany now :P
My German daughter brought a pickle a couple of years back, "as a cute American decoration." It only went on the tree once, my wife found it ugly and it hasn't come out of the box since.
Much better than a pickle: In Switzerland there is chocolate specificaly made to be hung up on the christmas tree. When I was a child my family did this. The chocolate was supposed to be eaten as a comforter when it was time to dispose the tree.
I‘m from western Germany and we still decorate our Christmas tree with sweets. You can do it yourself with wire but there are also sweets you can buy at the supermarket that are literally made for it (tiny chocolate balls etc. which have a string on them to hang it)
On the evening 5th of december (Nikolausabend, evening of Nicolaus) we put our cleaned! shoes/boots to the chimney or door. In the night, Nikolaus comes and puts tangerines, oranges and nuts, nowadays chocolate, in the boots. This comes from a time, when shoes were very expensive. You cleaned them well, Nikolaus put his blessing in the shoes so you carry the luck and blessing into the new year. Because shoes carry you through life, even better when they are blessed :) Nikolaus is a combination of two persons. The saint from Myra and another, later saint called Nikolaus as well. He gave gold to three girls, who couldn't afford to marry accordingly to social status. So in the night he put gold on their bed and they could marry :) (dowry, I suppose. Mitgift in german, it includes the word gift, same meaning in english. Today, Gift means toxic in german, and ein Geschenk is a gift or present). Technically you could call the german Nikolaus Santaclaus, because it derives from the dutch sinterklaas, meaning saint Nicolaus. The dutch brought their sinterklaas to America. Sinterklaas is celebrated on the 5th of december with pakjesavvond (package evening). The dutch took their red sinterclaas to America. That's why Santaclaus is known to wear red. He's supposed to be made widely known by the artist Thomas Nast at the end of the 19th century. Long before Coca Cola started heavily marketing their Santaclaus in the 1930s to 60s, because the known image matched their colours. Europe knows red, green, blue, yellow coats, very regional. Blue is father frost in Russia, green is more nordic and Scandinavia (king of solstice, green man). Big gifts are brought by Weihnachtsmann (northern Germany) and Christkind (christ child) in the south. The Christkind is not Baby Jesus but a female angel (why tho? I don't know...) A lot of traditions...
That’s interesting; I (American) work in a kindergarten in Germany and my boss asked me if my family does the pickle in the tree thing bc she read somewhere that it’s a big American tradition but I had never heard of it. ???
*_You are a very loving person and radiate on all of us your wonderful positive aura. This is a great gift for Christmas to us Germans and of course to your American compatriots. All the best for your Christmas and the transition into the next year._*
Stille Nacht is sung in some 300 or 400 languages nowadays, though we Austrians are the only ones who take pride in the song as a national cultural heritage. Very few people know more than one or two stanzas of the text, and half of the original text is never sung (it does carry a rather outdated theological message).
I went the opposite direction, I got used with these German traditions in Germany. When I came to the USA in 1951, I had to get used to the American traditions. The hardest one was celebrating Christmas on Christmas day morning. The other thing that took some time getting used to was not having real candles on Christmas trees. For a while after I arrived there were electric candles on the trees but no more!
So you also don't really mix him up with Santa as is very common, if you look at all the Schokonikoläuse, etc. that would actually be the Weihnachtsmann but they are made to look like a mix, with the robe, but in red.. of course: need to sell after Dec 6th. Did you also put your boots out? 😀
@@Xnhl yep! Put our snow boots out and Dad would fill it with chocolate Saint Nicholases, chocolate coins, and when we were little, a little toy. For a few years, he did give my sister coal chewing gum until he bought her actual gag coal.
@@ZakBaganslover4ever9 Haha..asking, bc. in Germany all the kids put their boots out, apart from maybe Jehovah's witnesses and the like. It's a kids fest. I also got a Barbie once, but mostly sweets, glittery stationary items, and maybe a little pocket money. Although it's mainly a kid's fest (not an official holiday here either, btw) it is not unusual for companies to organize little chocolate treats for their workers. Tbh. Santa and St. Nicholas are mixed up where I live, and why not since the name Santa Claus derives from the Saint, and it's just a nice day for all that way? Did they also tell you to be nice, or else Knecht Ruprecht would get you? Who brought your presents and when? Because as Donna says, we open them on Heiligabend, the 24th. But who brings them differs here, and it's actually the more catholic regions to the south that don't have a Weihnachtsmann, but another confusing thing called Christkind. I live pretty much in the middle of Germany and had the Nikolaus bring trinkets on the 6th and the Christkind bringing the actual Christmas presents on the evening of the 24th. Mom would ring a little bell, indicating, that it had come and that is was time for the unpacking.
@@Xnhl We were told to be good all year or else we'd get coal instead of toys. We didn't have Knecht Ruprecht or Krampus, but we'd watch the "Santa Tracker" on Google and my family would playfully threaten that if we weren't in bed when we went home, Santa wouldn't stop by and give us presents. We opened presents from extended family on Christmas Eve night when we'd go to my Great Aunts' houses, but from my parents on Christmas morning. My parents organized it as stuff we wanted, like toys, "From Santa" on the gift tag, but "from Mom and Dad" on stuff we needed, like clothes. Santa rewards you for good behavior. We would go to our Grandma's in the afternoon for Christmas "dinner" and open presents from her at night.
@@Xnhl is it a thing in Germany to set out treats for Santa and the Reindeer? We do cookies and milk for santa and carrots for the Reindeer, but in Kindergarten my class got a visit from a Santa for photos and we all got a little envelope of "magic Reindeer food," which was dried corn and glitter to help them keep flying.
I went to Catholic elementary school so we had an Advent Calendar in school and we were told in school that Silent Night was originally in German. When I was very young we had our Christmas presents on the 25th, but when we got a little older we opened presents on Christmas Eve after a meal with our extended family.
@@bjorn980 es läuft seltsamerweise grad ein tv spot von mcdonalds hier in deutschland der diese saure glasgurken tradition beschreibt. hatte erst gedacht man würde eine mit dem happy meal bekommen. aber nö. totally random. also es wird ein spreewaldgurken ornament mit lustigem gesicht und nikolausmütze so in den baum gehängt, dass es schwer zu finden ist und wer aus der familie die gurke als erstes entdeckt bekommt ein kleines geschenk xD
Well, two points to add I am a native German, and I did my advent calendars the same way Dana does. Second, traditionally we would also open presents on the 25th, but in the night after attending the Christmette, the church service at midnight between the 24th and 25th, the night Christ was born. But the Christmette hast usually moved back to the evening in the last centuries, and so has the Bescherung, the opening of the presents. Some still attend a church service before, some not.
Yeah, I think it's hard for the kids to stay up until midnight for christmette, that why there's the church service at 4pm or 6pm on dec24th, also called "Kindermesse". We usually went there with my grandmother and when we came home, the door to the living room was closed and when we heard the bell we knew Christkind just left the presents under the tree and disappeared.
Mein bester u. wichtigster Adventskalender war ein ganz billiger mit wirklich schlechter Schokolade. Er sah nicht mal gut aus. Aber zu der Zeit war ich in Hessen bei meinen Großeltern. Mutti u. Pappa waren in Beruflicher Ausbildung in Bayern.....weit weg für einen 6 jährigen........aber ich wusste das an Weihnachten Mutti u. Pappi kommen^^
I grew up in the 80s in the US and we sometimes did Advent calenders. They much more common today: you can buy Pokemon and Lego Advent calendars, with each door containing a figure.
Hey Dana, I wanna wish you a very Merry Christmas from all the way up north (Flensburg, right at the danish border) This year I made my mother an advent calendar ... a music based calendar ... on each day my mother got a little story of about a site in length ... each day is about a person's December day and at the end of the story it implies a Christmas song ... my mother also got the lyrics to the song and each day I sent her a version of the song from youtube and a self-made translation of the song (my mother isn't good at understanding English) and also a few sentences about the song itself ... and on Christmas, I give her a USB Stick with all the songs as a playlist ... she was very happy and now that we cannot see each other she felt very special ... because I took some time to prepare the calendar ... well that isn't that true ... but I am so happy she likes it ...
Being an Austrian American, I grew up knowing about Silent Night, an Austrian Christmas Carol, but I am sure most Americans have no clue...yes on Advent and the calander🎄😊
One thing I "miss" from Britain is the moving of Bank Holidays to the next working day, if they fall on a weekend. In the UK, everybody said the Germans were lazy, they have so many bank holidays. But on average, even though we have more bank holidays in Germany, many of them will fall on a weekend, especially a Sunday, so for the majortiy of people the day is "lost", in the UK, if Christmas falls on a weekend (25 + 26), the bank holiday is then extended to include the 27 and 28 - Monday and Tuesday).
When I used to have advent calendars with chocolate in them, I kept forgetting about them, too. But now I have a tea advent calendar and I look forward to opening mine every morning so I can sit down with nice cup of tea. Can definitely recommend getting one you'd actually enjoy opening, not just having one just for the sake of it
I mostly have self-made ones, but for the ones you can buy, I am very fond of those which have pictures. I don't need more stuff, but a beautiful or cute picture can really make my day.
Yeah, I love Silent Night. Best Christmas song and it’s way better in German. The Dresden choir performance does one of the most beautiful things I’ve heard. Who knew it was over a 200 year old song from Austria?
when it comes to advdent calenders you forget that the most people who answered your question probably had one each year in their childhood! i think the concept of it and the remembering is way more ingrained in the time before cristmas these way ;)
I have the same problem like you, Dana. I also sometimes forget to open up the doors each day and then end up opening 3 doors at once... It‘s nice to have an advent calendar, but it‘s not the most important thing in life!
The tradition of the Christmas pickle comes from a German who emigrated to the US and that's why so many Americans think it's a German tradition. But it was not made up here. 🙈
I have never heard of the "Pfandtoken" at Christmas Markets. You bring back the cup and you get the "Pfand" back. Thats it. At least in Magdeburg, Quedlinburg, Dresden, Hamburg.... Well I have never been in South Germany for Christmas, maybe its a regional thing
I have one chocolate advent calender, one literary one with quotes of feminist writers and one with presents that my boyfriend made for me:) I´m obsessed with advent calenders, they always get me in the right mood for christmas !
I post a picture of my door / my content of my calender every day on a facebook group "Lemax addicts". I love it! It's filled with little figures for my christmas village
I have a Lego Star Wars Advent Calendar for the third year now. Yes, I'm am 43. What does that have to do with it? ;) When I was little I had three. We have a multi generation house and back then my grandparents and my godparents lived here as well. So in the morning I got to open three doors and got some chocolate before heading to school. xD
In Germany the 6th December is "Nicholas Day" (Saint Nicholas puts sweets in your shoes) and Santa Claus is called "Weihnachtsmann" ("Christmas man"). I've read that Martin Luther invented giving gifts on Christmas so that the children focus on Jesus instead of Saint Nicholas (because evangelicals don't worship saints).
I guess German children are trained from a young age to "properly" use an Adventskalender, so as an adult you have no choice but open it the "right way", you can't help it :D (but I confess that as a child, I always got a cheap chocolate Adventskalender and though I really loved the shape of the little chocolate squares with the relief pictures on it - they are just fascinating to touch! -, they don't taste very well and so at about mid december, I dutifully opened my calender door every day, but didn't eat the chocolate any more ... For a few years now, I swap a self-made Adventskalender with my twin sister. It's just perfect! We collect little things we know the other one likes all year and make a different calender design every year. So though it's not super expensive, it only contains nice things :)
I grew up in California, and always had Advent calendars as a kid and I do the Lego ones every year even now. And I've known about Silent Night and O Christmas Tree being German songs. And we opened at least one gift on Christmas Eve, lots of families do gifts on the 24th and just the ones from Santa Claus on the 25th.
I think the people responding to the Adventskalender question meant "don't open doors in advance". I think it's fine if you forget it sometimes and then open two doors the next day (the ones for the days in the past)! I forget it too, sometimes. But you're not supposed to open a door for a day in the future.
My girlfriend and I made one for us, we filled the doors with little notes with treats like "hot chocolate" or "we'll play your favorite computer game together" - I filled the odd numbers to treat her and I get the even ones. It's our first try on making an Advent calender, but we think it's a very sweet thing treating each other every day with a small gift, so we are planning to do it the next years as well :)
what? An advent calendar is a must-have around christmas! No matter if a chocolate advent calendar, a toy calender or a book with 2 pages each day - it's awesome! I open also one door each day. However I knew people who just ate one advent calendar at the first day of december - and that is not how it is meant to be done and ruins all the fun. I never heard of the pickle tradition as well xD
I am not the advent calendar type, I have found... You are right that the fun is in opening one thing every day and it quickly becomes less fun if you let go of that. But I am like Dana and will always forget, play keep up etc so I just stopped with them altogether.
Back when I was a kid, we didn't have Pfand chips or tokens, so we kids could just run around the christmas market and collect cups to bring them back, it was a nice income for the one day we visited the market. Although, often there were just no cups standind or laying around, because everybody had brought theirs back. On other christmas markets, you get a really cool mug that you would normally buy in the store, so it's actually cheaper to keep the thing and take it home as a memento, which is probably intended that way.
I was staying in a hotel in Germany during Christmas time couple of years ago. Someone left a chocolate statue of Santa Claus out side as surprise. I have also seen super markets selling same chocolate statues. I think for some people It is Santa Claus.
We have quite a collection of Christmas market mugs from different towns all over Germany. We have paid the deposit and sometimes just keep the mug. If it says the town AND the year on the mug, they're not going to be able to use them again anyway. They make lovely souvenirs.
I live in Germany and we always open presents on the 25th. We are the exception though, because both of my parents work on the 24th so it was nicer for us to have a dedicated day.
I think that it was one of your older videos that made me start a new Christmas pickle tradition in my family. And it wasn’t easy finding one. I had to go to a Christmas market in the next big city to buy one. So, yes, I can confirm that it’s not a well known tradition over here.
I made an Advent Calendar for my girlfriend with several small cube-shaped presents with some chocolate treats, Walnuts and small beauty products in them. On top of it all I wrote a 24-verse poem that I printed and cut into 24 stripes. So every day there is another line of text for the whole poem. :)
A big pet peave of mine is the time when decorations go up (and down again) I'm very much the traditionalist. Which means no Christmas decoration at all before Monday after "Totensonntag". And the tree goes into the house on the 23rd and will be decorated on the morning of the 24th. By the evening of January 6th everything needs to be gone.
Have you ever done a video explaining US American Thanksgiving and Christmas or New Year traditions that every German thinks are typical all over the place (because we've seen them in movies and TV shows), bur they are not? I would definitely watch that!
With family from Milwaukee, Wisconsin (once the "most German city in America"), I grew up celebrating Saint Nicholas' Day on December 6th. It was odd moving to Virginia as a grade schooler and discovering kids who didn't know about putting out for stockings for St. Nick's Eve. We also had Advent calendars as a kid, though they were the paper ones, with images, rather than with candies. I did learn that "Stille Nacht" was originally Austrian in middle school.
I had an English lesson in my sixth grade about Joseph Mohr and Franz Gruber and how Silent Night was sung in the court of some emperor (I don't remember). The story was about how Gruber (or Mohr, I'm confused now) came up with the song taking inspiration from a mother and a child who came to visit on Christmas Eve.
Oh wow, I haven’t done the advent calender correctly since I was, like, 10.... I think the last door I opened on my chocolate one this year was around a week ago... but they have milk chocolate and I prefer dark chocolate.
Santa kommt doch auch an einem ganz anderen Tag als St. Nikolaus. Die Geschenke hier (Österreich) bringt das Christkind, wobei es auch hier Familien gibt zu denen Santa kommt.
Das ist wohl ein weiterer Nord-Süd-Unterschied. Bei uns, mitten in Deutschland , kam am 24. auch immer das Christkind - so mit raus geschickt werden und aufs Glöckchen warten.....
I think that some people make the mistake of thinking that what a few German--American recent arrivals did in 19th century America for Christmas celebrations was what everyone in Germany was doing at the same time and today. German--American traditions are different from German traditions.
American here. We do have advent calendars here. There are chocolate advent calendars and those with toys. They also come in themes. For example this year we got each child one with the following themes: Fortnite, Minecraft and Dragonball Z. There are also LEGO or playmobil ones that are popular.
I am German and also live in Bavarian. For many years I have a pickle in my Christmastree. I heard the story of the pickle in a movie and I like her. :)
You have a sister with the advent calendar 😆 I actually have it all from 2019 😆🙈 I got a lottery advent calendar this year too from my mom, and I have not open/scrape up any, that calendar I always do in one sitting, since it make some mess with the scraping, and I actual found it extra fun that way. I am Norwegian and chocolate advent calendar are very common, and they come from very cheap to more fancy with kinder egg, and other chocolates, both for kids and adults. We also have lego advent calendar, and many different types with toys and small things in them that future what is popular on tv/Netflix/other for kids. Many parents also make there own 24 small gifts wrapped in. My mom had a self made sew one for my and my brother, but she never got 24 gifts, she was not the one that gave her soul for the project, so often she started good, and we always got on Christmas Eve (the last day of the advent calendar here in Norway), but there was some missing in between 😆 We also have gift advent calendar in school, where everyone gave and got one gift before Christmas. Thank you for sharing and the best for the new year, form Johanne, Norway
(I did already post it, but I cannot find it anymore): An Advent calendar works actually only with children, because one has as a child from 1 December to 24 December nothing else in the head than Christmas (Christmas Eve). As a child, you already think about it when you get up (direct path to the Advent calendar), and throughout the day, again and again, until you go to bed (look at the calendar, also several times a day. And not only the already opened and the not yet opened doors are looked at, no, also the imprinted motive becomes more detailed and more vivid from day to day). For children, such a calendar is something wonderful.
And by the way: An Advent calendar is one of the few things that become more interesting and exciting the more they are used up (and thus unusable). And what must be mentioned about an advent calendar is that the last door is twice as big as all the others! And the chocolate inside then of course! And that you get then even in the morning. So: feeding through the calendar has two nice goals: once Christmas Eve itself, and the other the biggest piece of chocolate! But that's not the end of it: after the calendar has now done its duty, it may now be disassembled to find out the secret of the chocolate molds, as well as the small motifs (icons) that are printed behind the respective transparent forms. And so on.
I love the "Eigenwerbung!" I always have to smile imagining you really hand out quotes for Stefan to read in random situations! Can you top this still? #Challenge
I have a selfmade one with Candy. My boyfriend got one with beer. I usually do it like it should be. But my bag on Dec 6th was soooo fill that i skipped the next few days.
I noticed a lot of people in Germany do not put a tree up until Christmas eve or even lights until then either. I was in Frankfurt one year for Christmas and noticed this. 🎄 🎁
I'm German and as a kid I had every year an Adventskalender, made by my mom or my dad. It was always filled with sweets and chocolate, but at 6th of december there was a special treat like a toy, a book or cards for the cinema. This was the only door I didn't forgot to open in time. Normaly I opened the last ten door at chrismas eve. My little brother had the same "issues".
I have an Advent calendar with cereal and granola (mymuesli), i looooove this tradition and will catch up on it until I am old lol. It motivates me to geht up in the morning 😂
Usually I simply can't forget the Adventskalender - some little monsters wake me up half an hour before the usual time to get their "Adventskalender" in the morning :-)
Sankt Nikolaus dos not come around christmas. His specific date is the 6.12. Do not mix him up with the Weihnachtsmann, wich is not allover Germany, but ore in the north
Yeah, as a Dutchman (hello neighbours!) I understand the traditions surrounding Christmas and Saint Nicholas are not the same all over the country. Not so strange, seeing the size of the country and the very different people, cultural-wise, that live in it.
We have the Christkind, where I live in Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony)
@@bramscheDave As in the poem "Von drauß' vom Walde komm ich her" (Knecht Ruprecht on his way with a bag of treats is greeted by the Christkind from heaven at the end) one can have both, in a way. Or actually St. Nikolaus on the 6th, Christkind on Xmas eve and Knecht Ruprecht as assistant (for the rough work carrying bags and wielding the "Rute") for one or even both of them?
Well, in Vienna the 6.12 is the day for Nikolaus (St. Niclas) with the Krampus as assistant. (The Nikolaus does have a big book with the Names and information about all children, Krampus helps him by punishing the naughty kids.)
At the evening of the 24.12. the Christkind does come and brings presents. (At least my family had the tradition to ring a small bell when everything is ready. If the Children hear the bell they rush into the room seeing the christmas tree, the presents and maybe the window is open where the Chriskind flew away.)
@@bramscheDave the Christkind is a catholic tradition and therefore not the standard in merely protestant Lower Saxony.
I think you haven't understand the concept of german christmas yet :D
Der Nikolaus comes only on the 6th of december and puts candy (nowadays) in boots. Der Nikolaus nowadays is based on a historic person that really existed in the past (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Nicholas -> there you can read about it).
On actuall Christmas (on the 24th) eighter the Weihnachtsmann (is actually "copied" from the US Santa Claus) or the Christkind (some people imagine it as an angel some as baby jesus) depending on the region you are is coming.
In my family the Christkind came and it always came in the afternoon when we were at Church (so my parents had time to put down the presents)
Totally agree with you, it is not explained properly in the video. Also different regions of Germany have slightly different ways of doing things.
Ditto
Selbst "Allvater Odin (Wotan) hat wohl als einen Nebennamen Nikolaus - Weil zum Julfest kam das Christkind bestimmt noch nicht. Und dan haben wir noch Knecht Ruprecht . Der kam meistens zu mir
When I was a child, growing up in western Germany, neither St. Nick nor Santa Claus brought the Christmas presents.
It was the Christkind who was bringing them, and I'm a huge fan of this tradition. In contrast to Santa Claus, who kids have a clear picture of, the Christkind is somewhat more mysterious and leaves more room for imagination to the kids.
yeah I got my presents from the Christkind too! St. Nikolaus is only a part of our Christmas tradition because he comes at the 6. Decembe. (at least in my family it's that way)
@@WindspielArt Nailed it! 👌
It confused me so much. A long time I imagined the Christkind as a little angel but than I realized that the Christuskind is the little Baby that somehow brings the presents... super confusing picture :D
@@WrenKati "Christuskind" is Jesus Christ in the Barn. The "Christkind" (without -us because it is not Jesus Christus) is an angel like character that brings the presents, if it is not the Weihnachtsmann who does it.
I hope I could help you.
BTW: Jesus Christ is Jesus Christus in German.
Since I grew up in an area in which the different tradition kind of clash, my parents solved the problem by telling me that the Weihnachtsmann and the Christkind work together to deliver presents.
Don't confuse christmas with advent. In Germany and Austria the christmas tree and the presents are set up on the 24th of dezember and not after black friday. At the beginning of advent (4 sundays before christmas) christmas decoration is set up but not the tree itself. The tree traditionally stays until 6th of january, but this can be prolonged to 2nd of february.
or as my grandma said: christmas trees can stay even longer. it is okay until carneval but not as long as easter ;)
We put our christmas tree up when it was about... 20th or something and put it away before it got silvester like 28th or 29th every year... I am German btw.
So maybe that is a tradition (that I never heard before) but not everyone does it like that with the tree.
But who is even still collecting the old trees when you keep it up until february. Here the tree collection comes mid-january I think...
But how should I know... i just put up my very first own tree yesterday and it stays until January 6th at least...i am still hoping to be at my parents on christmas and I plan to quarantine 5 days beforehand, so getting the tree this weekend was just convenient.
You make a good point, but most Americans do confuse the two. The Puritans observed neither Advent nor Christmas. When observance of Christmas started becoming more widespread in the mid-1800's, Advent was not part of it. Hence, most Americans use the term "Christmas time" to refer to the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas. We have a song called "The Twelve Days of Christmas" which refers to the twelve days beginning with December 25th (which is the actual Christmas season), but most Americans are baffled by it. "I don't get it," they'll say, "Christmas is just one day, not twelve!" This is true even of the Catholics I know.
@@ninjakeks9326 Germany is bis and the north does have different traditions than the south. Austria has pretty much the same traditions as Bavaria. When I was a kid my dad, my sisters, and I would go buy the tree around the 20th or something. Afterwards the room was locked, so that on the 24th the Christkind could decorate the tree and bring in the presents withouth disturbance. After the Christkind rang a bell (usually after dinner) all were allowed to see the decorated tree and the presents. As christmas time goes until 6th of january that's how long the tree stayed.
And don't try to go to the grocery store at 23rd, it would be like the store won't never open again and we are all going to starve the next few days. It feels like everybody will buy food for the next month.
Or on 24. in the morning. Even worse...
@@ninjakeks9326 naaah never be silly and shop on 24th :p
In all fairness, "Stille Nacht" is Austrian
Vikar Joseph Mohr & Franz Xaver Gruber !
As is 'Advent, Advent, ein Lichtlein brennt' - written by an Austrian writer during her 'exile' in Upper Swabia.
Oh... I havent known that ever. But good to know.
Did not know, something I learnt as a German.
Auch die Österreicher sprechen deutsch...
Good video but you forgot the most important thing about Nikolaus: he comes on December 6th, making that day a possibility for sort of a prequel to Xmas for children, which is also reflected with slightly bigger doors on some advent calendars. Christkind brings the presents on Xmas Eve. And Weihnachtsmann is the guy in the red coat with the white beard at the mall.
Weihnachtsmann also brings the presents in some parts of Germany too
Yeah, I don't know what the Chistkind is honestly. It's always been the Weihnachtsmann only. We don't let children work in Germany, let alone on Christmas :P
I like listening to your English. It's very understandable, clear, and enthusiastic.
I never said Santa Claus ... we always say „Weihnachtsmann“ 😅
yeah I think that's the difference we make here in Germany the Weihnachtsmann is the one in red and white like Santa Clause. But St. Nikolaus is the Bishop of Myra!
Den Weihnachtsmann hat Coca Cola erfunden, wir haben das Christkind.
Die Tradition, dass das Weihnachtskind die Geschenke bringt, fand ich schon als Kind bescheuert. Warum sollte ein Neugeborenes Geschenke verteilen? Und hat es nicht Geschenke von den drei Heiligen aus dem Morgenland erhalten? Daher fand ich den Weihnachtsmann schon seit Jahrzehnten die logischere Instanz. 😀
@@maxipaduser3553 Nein, coca cola hat den Weihnachtsmann nicht erfunden. Den gab es schon davor. Coca cola hat nur das Erscheinungsbild von ihm geprägt.
@@maus201 Nicht ganz richtig, der „Weihnachtsmann“, den es vorher gab war St. Nikolaus. Cola Cola hat daraus dann den Weihnachtsmann gemacht, also den mit dem Nordpol, der Kaminanlieferung, dem Schlitten und mit Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen und natürlich Rudolph.
There's actually a children song about the differences between Santa Claus and St Nicholas by Rolf Zukowski. It's really fun! And educative
What's the title of that song, please? Never heard of it!
@@kenninast Nikolaus und Weihnachtsmann - Rolf Zuckowski
Here is the video with that song
th-cam.com/video/ssZbMLChOfE/w-d-xo.html
To comfort you, as a german, I always forget opening the advent calemdar doors. I just opened six forgotten doors - lots of chocolate to catch up on.
I only NOW remembered that I have an advent calendar too... I did not open one door this year 😅
That never happened to me as a kid because I opened all of them up on the first day
It depends on the calender. If it‘s chocolate or one with pictures I sometimes Open the doors later. But if it‘s one my mum filled for me I Open them each day Expect if it’s like a really busy one.
As a kid I got at some years three or four advent calendars - by my parents, by my godfather, by aunts or even by the parish. The latter one came usually not before the end of the first week, so it was already a few days over. But also with the others I often did open doors only each other day or (when I was very little) I liked to have a sneak preview. Especially the content behind the bigger doors was alluring! But I had to be cautious and to cover the tracks so my parents did not see I had opened some doors before the day...
One year as a kid I got so greedy I opened all the doors and ate all the chocolate at the start of December. I then felt so guilty I just closed the little paper doors and pretended like the chocolate was still inside. 😬
Adventskalender.......... well, maybe for experiencing their magic you must have had them as a child. I will never ever forget waking up in the morning, stepping out of bed with the thought of "wow, today Mum will allow me to open the next door". No matter what was inside, even the outside appearance was something magical for me. (In the 60ies most advent calendars had lots of fairy dust, glitter and bling bling.) The inside was mostly milk chocolate which wasn't very tasty to me, but the chocolate was not what mattered. Because mostly those little choc pieces were molded in forms like an elf, a fairy, a car, a windmill, instruments or whatever.......so it was the excitement of "what will I find?" more than being keen on having a treat.
Moreover - when opening the first door it was clear......Christmas is only 24 days ahead! What means the second "task" of the advent calendar was to give us kids sort of a countdown to Christmas Eve. And to steadily remind us of the great time coming soon. The calendar door of the 24th held the biggest of all surprises......it was something outstanding. And we knew after opening that one: Tonight the Christkind will come, bring a tree and gifts. (Yes, where I grew up the tradition was to send children out of the house or at least room in the late afternoon, and secretly install the tree and gifts. My parents used to send me to my Granny who had a TV - not everyone had one at that time - and I was allowed to watch all the children's series I liked while waiting for the Christkind.)
When the tree was set up, the parents rang a bell (erm..... that's wrong. Of course the Christkind did ring the bell as a good bye!!!), and we were allowed to get back and there it stood! The wonderful lit tree in all its splendour and glory :)
And all the surprise gifts underneath. Okay. Long story short - an advent calendar was much more than a simple spender of treats. It was an overall concept to be prepared and excited for Christmas to come.
I haven't seen the Pfand chips here in Köln, we've just had to give back the cups themselves to get the deposit back.
Same here in Flensburg. And because very often one takes "one last Eggnog" before the Market closes, you'll end up with a nice cup every year.
Same in Bavaria, at least my area. But maybe it's the case for the smaller markets and you get chips in big markets?
It‘s probably a Munich thing. Life is so expensive there that they have to avoid „Pfanddiebstahl“ 😜
We also have Santa, he's called Weihnachtsmann. But he only brings presents in some regions of Germany (more the northern ones). In the south it's rather the Christkind! (It's actually Jesus, but many imagine it as an angel-like being.) But still Nikolaus comes on Dec 6th and brings some presents (usually candy and maybe little toys).
I bet there are much more xmas songs stemming from Germany, too. Eg Oh Tannenbaum or Schneeflöckchen, where the melody is known in the US
O Tannenbaum is the anthem of one US state - forgot which one, but find this rather cringy.
@@peterkoller3761 Maryland, Florida, Michigan and Iowa - according to de.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_Tannenbaum
Stille Nacht does not stem from Germany. It was written in Oberndorf which is close to Salzburg which is in Austria.
Actually it is close to where I live and my friends and I are calling it "Silent Night Town". ;) de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stille_Nacht,_heilige_Nacht
The most beautyful story about Silent night is:
One christmas in WW I someone began singing it in his ditch and everyone, even the enemys in the other ditches, startet singing together. Later they refused to shoot each other and both thr british and the germans had to replace the soldiers where this happend
The true story about the writing of the song in rural Austria in the 19th century is also pretty nice. There is even a movie about that or two.
There is a beautiful video of that. It's actually an ad, but it's done so great, it doesn't matter... search for "christmas truce advert" and you'll find it. It brings tears to my eyes.
@@silkwesir1444 Reminds me to watch it again...great reminder that there is so much worse than celebrating christmas in lockdown.
I (German) have never heard of a "Pfand Token Chip" on the Christmas Market, as the cup _itself_ is the "token" ... Bring back the cup, and you either get another "Glühwein" or you get your "Pfand Money" (usually 2 Euro) back.
Yes, I think this is a local. Each Christmas market has its own style. I have seen the token on some other events outside christmas markets. I rather like cup is the token. The cup the token works also on Biergarten and if you leave the cup, the "homeless" come and collect. Its like a charity.
It's a Munich thing I guess? They started it four, five years ago or so? As I remember not needing them AND suddenly needing them, it must have started sometime in the past 10 years when I still lived there.
Same here in Vienna
I live in Tübingen and here it is encouraged to bring your own cup
Augsburg definitely has the token. No token - no money.
Dear Dana,
Thank you! In the name of all book sellers here in Germany, thanks for mentioning Genialokal and Random House before referring to Amazon. 👍
As a German Rheinländer never ever heard about the Christmas pickle.
As a Hessian with relatives in Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein (and Frankonia, and east Germany, I think...) No Christmas pickle anywhere 🤣
No German has.
Ich kann mich dunkel entsinnen das es in einem Stickeralbum von Rewe mal erwähnt wurde.
I bet that those few Germans who have, got that during the USA without realizing it.
As an American, I heard about the Christmas pickle a couple of times in the 70's.
Forgot it was German. Have met someone from there who mentioned it.
It was mentioned on the Simpson's; that's probably where it became widespread.
The "Silent Night" song has been composed and first performed by a village school teacher and pastor in the small village "Oberndorf" in Austria near Salzburg, very close to the german frontier. A chapel reminds to this fact
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent-Night-Chapel
I have never heard of a Christmas pickle! It sounds so weird and random haha
You hide it somewhere in the tree and whoever finds it has good luck
@@HeyItsSarah30 Some Germans have begun to incorporate that tradition into their christmas celebrations. I recently saw the tradition used in an episode of the Bavarian Broadcasting Service's weekly soap "Dahoam is Dahoam". So it's even catching on in the most conservative part of Germany now :P
My German daughter brought a pickle a couple of years back, "as a cute American decoration." It only went on the tree once, my wife found it ugly and it hasn't come out of the box since.
@@bramscheDave lol it’s supposed to be hidden inside so you’re not supposed to see it from the outside haha
Yeah, she keeps on harping on this as if it is a "thing". It is not. I have family all over the US. Nobody has heard of this.
Much better than a pickle: In Switzerland there is chocolate specificaly made to be hung up on the christmas tree. When I was a child my family did this. The chocolate was supposed to be eaten as a comforter when it was time to dispose the tree.
I‘m from western Germany and we still decorate our Christmas tree with sweets. You can do it yourself with wire but there are also sweets you can buy at the supermarket that are literally made for it (tiny chocolate balls etc. which have a string on them to hang it)
On the evening 5th of december (Nikolausabend, evening of Nicolaus) we put our cleaned! shoes/boots to the chimney or door.
In the night, Nikolaus comes and puts tangerines, oranges and nuts, nowadays chocolate, in the boots.
This comes from a time, when shoes were very expensive. You cleaned them well, Nikolaus put his blessing in the shoes so you carry the luck and blessing into the new year. Because shoes carry you through life, even better when they are blessed :)
Nikolaus is a combination of two persons. The saint from Myra and another, later saint called Nikolaus as well. He gave gold to three girls, who couldn't afford to marry accordingly to social status. So in the night he put gold on their bed and they could marry :) (dowry, I suppose. Mitgift in german, it includes the word gift, same meaning in english. Today, Gift means toxic in german, and ein Geschenk is a gift or present).
Technically you could call the german Nikolaus Santaclaus, because it derives from the dutch sinterklaas, meaning saint Nicolaus. The dutch brought their sinterklaas to America. Sinterklaas is celebrated on the 5th of december with pakjesavvond (package evening).
The dutch took their red sinterclaas to America. That's why Santaclaus is known to wear red. He's supposed to be made widely known by the artist Thomas Nast at the end of the 19th century. Long before Coca Cola started heavily marketing their Santaclaus in the 1930s to 60s, because the known image matched their colours.
Europe knows red, green, blue, yellow coats, very regional. Blue is father frost in Russia, green is more nordic and Scandinavia (king of solstice, green man).
Big gifts are brought by Weihnachtsmann (northern Germany) and Christkind (christ child) in the south. The Christkind is not Baby Jesus but a female angel (why tho? I don't know...)
A lot of traditions...
That’s interesting; I (American) work in a kindergarten in Germany and my boss asked me if my family does the pickle in the tree thing bc she read somewhere that it’s a big American tradition but I had never heard of it. ???
We learnt Stille Nacht in school in England.
Did you also learn O Tannenbaum? To celebrate a very red christmas.
@@guffaw1711 We learnt O Tannenbaum as well, yes,.
In English or German?
@@grace-yz2sr In German. We sung it in English in assembly, but in Music, we learnt the history of the song and learnt the German words.
That sounds fun. It's like learning about plum pudding in Germany - in way better xD
Why is exploring my own country from a different perspective so fun?!
*_You are a very loving person and radiate on all of us your wonderful positive aura. This is a great gift for Christmas to us Germans and of course to your American compatriots. All the best for your Christmas and the transition into the next year._*
What else NOT to do on Christmas in Germany:
DO NOT go through a chimney. Germans neither expect nor appreciate it. 😏
Stille Nacht is sung in some 300 or 400 languages nowadays, though we Austrians are the only ones who take pride in the song as a national cultural heritage.
Very few people know more than one or two stanzas of the text, and half of the original text is never sung (it does carry a rather outdated theological message).
Truth never goes out of date.
Neither does the statement "There is an invisible pink unicorn in my kitchen."
@@carudatta Silence, blasphemer!
No name-calling, or my unicorn is gonna get you.
..not sure what is outdated about the theological message, it is just somewhat pointless to go on about it for so long.
St. Nikolaus isnt Santa because he comes on December 6th. While der Weihnachtsmann ( Santa Claus) comes on December 24th
I went the opposite direction, I got used with these German traditions in Germany.
When I came to the USA in 1951, I had to get used to the American traditions. The hardest one was celebrating Christmas on Christmas day morning. The other thing that took some time getting used to was not having real candles on Christmas trees. For a while after I arrived there were electric candles on the trees but no more!
I'm an American, and my family does Saint Nicholas day, because it's a separate day for Catholics.
So you also don't really mix him up with Santa as is very common, if you look at all the Schokonikoläuse, etc. that would actually be the Weihnachtsmann but they are made to look like a mix, with the robe, but in red.. of course: need to sell after Dec 6th. Did you also put your boots out? 😀
@@Xnhl yep! Put our snow boots out and Dad would fill it with chocolate Saint Nicholases, chocolate coins, and when we were little, a little toy. For a few years, he did give my sister coal chewing gum until he bought her actual gag coal.
@@ZakBaganslover4ever9 Haha..asking, bc. in Germany all the kids put their boots out, apart from maybe Jehovah's witnesses and the like. It's a kids fest. I also got a Barbie once, but mostly sweets, glittery stationary items, and maybe a little pocket money.
Although it's mainly a kid's fest (not an official holiday here either, btw) it is not unusual for companies to organize little chocolate treats for their workers.
Tbh. Santa and St. Nicholas are mixed up where I live, and why not since the name Santa Claus derives from the Saint, and it's just a nice day for all that way?
Did they also tell you to be nice, or else Knecht Ruprecht would get you?
Who brought your presents and when? Because as Donna says, we open them on Heiligabend, the 24th. But who brings them differs here, and it's actually the more catholic regions to the south that don't have a Weihnachtsmann, but another confusing thing called Christkind. I live pretty much in the middle of Germany and had the Nikolaus bring trinkets on the 6th and the Christkind bringing the actual Christmas presents on the evening of the 24th. Mom would ring a little bell, indicating, that it had come and that is was time for the unpacking.
@@Xnhl We were told to be good all year or else we'd get coal instead of toys. We didn't have Knecht Ruprecht or Krampus, but we'd watch the "Santa Tracker" on Google and my family would playfully threaten that if we weren't in bed when we went home, Santa wouldn't stop by and give us presents. We opened presents from extended family on Christmas Eve night when we'd go to my Great Aunts' houses, but from my parents on Christmas morning. My parents organized it as stuff we wanted, like toys, "From Santa" on the gift tag, but "from Mom and Dad" on stuff we needed, like clothes. Santa rewards you for good behavior. We would go to our Grandma's in the afternoon for Christmas "dinner" and open presents from her at night.
@@Xnhl is it a thing in Germany to set out treats for Santa and the Reindeer? We do cookies and milk for santa and carrots for the Reindeer, but in Kindergarten my class got a visit from a Santa for photos and we all got a little envelope of "magic Reindeer food," which was dried corn and glitter to help them keep flying.
I went to Catholic elementary school so we had an Advent Calendar in school and we were told in school that Silent Night was originally in German. When I was very young we had our Christmas presents on the 25th, but when we got a little older we opened presents on Christmas Eve after a meal with our extended family.
I have 2 advent calendar. One with chocolate and one with little presents.
Christmas Pickle in Germany? Maybe in Spreewald...
Even there we don't have Christmas pickles.
my family in Schleswig-Holstein does it :D
Ach sie meint ernsthaft ne saure Gurke?🤣🤣🤣🤣 so weird
@@bjorn980 es läuft seltsamerweise grad ein tv spot von mcdonalds hier in deutschland der diese saure glasgurken tradition beschreibt. hatte erst gedacht man würde eine mit dem happy meal bekommen. aber nö. totally random.
also es wird ein spreewaldgurken ornament mit lustigem gesicht und nikolausmütze so in den baum gehängt, dass es schwer zu finden ist und wer aus der familie die gurke als erstes entdeckt bekommt ein kleines geschenk xD
@@hightidemidafternoon ahh witzig und interessant 😂
The origin of "Stille Nacht" is also a topic of a nice TV movie called "Das ewige Lied" and you can watch it on 3Sat around the 25th.
Even the dog of our neighbours has an advent calender 😅
Well, two points to add
I am a native German, and I did my advent calendars the same way Dana does.
Second, traditionally we would also open presents on the 25th, but in the night after attending the Christmette, the church service at midnight between the 24th and 25th, the night Christ was born. But the Christmette hast usually moved back to the evening in the last centuries, and so has the Bescherung, the opening of the presents. Some still attend a church service before, some not.
Yeah, I think it's hard for the kids to stay up until midnight for christmette, that why there's the church service at 4pm or 6pm on dec24th, also called "Kindermesse".
We usually went there with my grandmother and when we came home, the door to the living room was closed and when we heard the bell we knew Christkind just left the presents under the tree and disappeared.
Mein bester u. wichtigster Adventskalender war ein ganz billiger mit wirklich schlechter Schokolade. Er sah nicht mal gut aus. Aber zu der Zeit war ich in Hessen bei meinen Großeltern. Mutti u. Pappa waren in Beruflicher Ausbildung in Bayern.....weit weg für einen 6 jährigen........aber ich wusste das an Weihnachten Mutti u. Pappi kommen^^
Wie süß! So eine schöne Geschichte :-) Waren deine Eltern sonst schon zu Hause?
I grew up in the 80s in the US and we sometimes did Advent calenders. They much more common today: you can buy Pokemon and Lego Advent calendars, with each door containing a figure.
Hey Dana, I wanna wish you a very Merry Christmas from all the way up north (Flensburg, right at the danish border)
This year I made my mother an advent calendar ... a music based calendar ... on each day my mother got a little story of about a site in length ... each day is about a person's December day and at the end of the story it implies a Christmas song ... my mother also got the lyrics to the song and each day I sent her a version of the song from youtube and a self-made translation of the song (my mother isn't good at understanding English) and also a few sentences about the song itself ... and on Christmas, I give her a USB Stick with all the songs as a playlist ...
she was very happy and now that we cannot see each other she felt very special ... because I took some time to prepare the calendar ... well that isn't that true ... but I am so happy she likes it ...
Being an Austrian American, I grew up knowing about Silent Night, an Austrian Christmas Carol, but I am sure most Americans have no clue...yes on Advent and the calander🎄😊
One thing I "miss" from Britain is the moving of Bank Holidays to the next working day, if they fall on a weekend. In the UK, everybody said the Germans were lazy, they have so many bank holidays. But on average, even though we have more bank holidays in Germany, many of them will fall on a weekend, especially a Sunday, so for the majortiy of people the day is "lost", in the UK, if Christmas falls on a weekend (25 + 26), the bank holiday is then extended to include the 27 and 28 - Monday and Tuesday).
When I used to have advent calendars with chocolate in them, I kept forgetting about them, too. But now I have a tea advent calendar and I look forward to opening mine every morning so I can sit down with nice cup of tea. Can definitely recommend getting one you'd actually enjoy opening, not just having one just for the sake of it
I mostly have self-made ones, but for the ones you can buy, I am very fond of those which have pictures. I don't need more stuff, but a beautiful or cute picture can really make my day.
Yeah, I love Silent Night. Best Christmas song and it’s way better in German. The Dresden choir performance does one of the most beautiful things I’ve heard. Who knew it was over a 200 year old song from Austria?
I have one with chocolate and one with tea! When I was younger my mom made me one with tiny presents every year
when it comes to advdent calenders you forget that the most people who answered your question probably had one each year in their childhood! i think the concept of it and the remembering is way more ingrained in the time before cristmas these way ;)
I have the same problem like you, Dana. I also sometimes forget to open up the doors each day and then end up opening 3 doors at once... It‘s nice to have an advent calendar, but it‘s not the most important thing in life!
The tradition of the Christmas pickle comes from a German who emigrated to the US and that's why so many Americans think it's a German tradition. But it was not made up here. 🙈
I have never heard of the "Pfandtoken" at Christmas Markets. You bring back the cup and you get the "Pfand" back. Thats it. At least in Magdeburg, Quedlinburg, Dresden, Hamburg.... Well I have never been in South Germany for Christmas, maybe its a regional thing
Cologne too has no tokens.
There is even a song about not too Mix up Santa and st. Nicolaus.
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Believe me: German kids won't miss a single day to open their advent calendar doors 😁
I have one chocolate advent calender, one literary one with quotes of feminist writers and one with presents that my boyfriend made for me:) I´m obsessed with advent calenders, they always get me in the right mood for christmas !
I post a picture of my door / my content of my calender every day on a facebook group "Lemax addicts". I love it! It's filled with little figures for my christmas village
Stille Nacht ist für mich das schönste Weihnachtslied ❤
I have a Lego Star Wars Advent Calendar for the third year now. Yes, I'm am 43. What does that have to do with it? ;) When I was little I had three. We have a multi generation house and back then my grandparents and my godparents lived here as well. So in the morning I got to open three doors and got some chocolate before heading to school. xD
Silent night was written by Franz Xaver in Oberndorf bei Salzburg Austria 🇦🇹. 💋
In Germany the 6th December is "Nicholas Day" (Saint Nicholas puts sweets in your shoes) and Santa Claus is called "Weihnachtsmann" ("Christmas man").
I've read that Martin Luther invented giving gifts on Christmas so that the children focus on Jesus instead of Saint Nicholas (because evangelicals don't worship saints).
Actually "Stille Nacht" is an austrian christmas song. de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stille_Nacht,_heilige_Nacht
I guess German children are trained from a young age to "properly" use an Adventskalender, so as an adult you have no choice but open it the "right way", you can't help it :D (but I confess that as a child, I always got a cheap chocolate Adventskalender and though I really loved the shape of the little chocolate squares with the relief pictures on it - they are just fascinating to touch! -, they don't taste very well and so at about mid december, I dutifully opened my calender door every day, but didn't eat the chocolate any more ...
For a few years now, I swap a self-made Adventskalender with my twin sister. It's just perfect! We collect little things we know the other one likes all year and make a different calender design every year. So though it's not super expensive, it only contains nice things :)
Silent Night is original an Austrian song!!! Stille Nacht!
I have an advent calender with different craft beers. I never forget to open it!
I grew up in California, and always had Advent calendars as a kid and I do the Lego ones every year even now.
And I've known about Silent Night and O Christmas Tree being German songs.
And we opened at least one gift on Christmas Eve, lots of families do gifts on the 24th and just the ones from Santa Claus on the 25th.
I think the people responding to the Adventskalender question meant "don't open doors in advance". I think it's fine if you forget it sometimes and then open two doors the next day (the ones for the days in the past)! I forget it too, sometimes. But you're not supposed to open a door for a day in the future.
My girlfriend and I made one for us, we filled the doors with little notes with treats like "hot chocolate" or "we'll play your favorite computer game together" - I filled the odd numbers to treat her and I get the even ones. It's our first try on making an Advent calender, but we think it's a very sweet thing treating each other every day with a small gift, so we are planning to do it the next years as well :)
what? An advent calendar is a must-have around christmas! No matter if a chocolate advent calendar, a toy calender or a book with 2 pages each day - it's awesome!
I open also one door each day. However I knew people who just ate one advent calendar at the first day of december - and that is not how it is meant to be done and ruins all the fun.
I never heard of the pickle tradition as well xD
I am not the advent calendar type, I have found... You are right that the fun is in opening one thing every day and it quickly becomes less fun if you let go of that. But I am like Dana and will always forget, play keep up etc so I just stopped with them altogether.
My American family always got the cheapest Advent calendar. The only thing behind the door was a picture on paper.
Back when I was a kid, we didn't have Pfand chips or tokens, so we kids could just run around the christmas market and collect cups to bring them back, it was a nice income for the one day we visited the market. Although, often there were just no cups standind or laying around, because everybody had brought theirs back. On other christmas markets, you get a really cool mug that you would normally buy in the store, so it's actually cheaper to keep the thing and take it home as a memento, which is probably intended that way.
Normally, you would give a f*** on the Pfandchip (auf den Pfandchip pfeifen) and keep the nice ceramic mug.
I had a visitor from overseas that drank six Glühwein to have six little boot shaped mugs as a souvenir.
@@gluteusmaximus1657 Worth the effort, I assume.
I never heard of Christmas pickles until this year, and I'm 49. I think it's regional
I've got a tea advent calendar. Just 6€ or so by Sonnentor (Austrian brand I think?). Can totally recommend it.
I have the same one😍😍😍
I was staying in a hotel in Germany during Christmas time couple of years ago. Someone left a chocolate statue of Santa Claus out side as surprise. I have also seen super markets selling same chocolate statues. I think for some people It is Santa Claus.
We call him Weihnachtsmann in Germany (Christmas man)
Actually I am surprised the us candy industry passed the chance to make st. Niclas day 12/6/ a thing, what a chance to sell even more....😇😅😅😅
Not to mention advent calendars and wreaths...
Right??
We have quite a collection of Christmas market mugs from different towns all over Germany. We have paid the deposit and sometimes just keep the mug. If it says the town AND the year on the mug, they're not going to be able to use them again anyway. They make lovely souvenirs.
"Do you have an advent calander?"
Yeah I've got three. One with pictures, one with sweets and one electronic engeneering advent calander.
That is not how it is done xD
You got one. Every one more is just showing that you are kind of greedy. (At least in my Bundesland/state.)
@@ninjakeks9326 nah, i got them as a present from different people.
I live in Germany and we always open presents on the 25th. We are the exception though, because both of my parents work on the 24th so it was nicer for us to have a dedicated day.
I think that it was one of your older videos that made me start a new Christmas pickle tradition in my family. And it wasn’t easy finding one. I had to go to a Christmas market in the next big city to buy one. So, yes, I can confirm that it’s not a well known tradition over here.
I made an Advent Calendar for my girlfriend with several small cube-shaped presents with some chocolate treats, Walnuts and small beauty products in them. On top of it all I wrote a 24-verse poem that I printed and cut into 24 stripes. So every day there is another line of text for the whole poem. :)
We have St. Nicholas day on Dec 6 in the USA. But then, m Catholic and of German ancestory.
A big pet peave of mine is the time when decorations go up (and down again)
I'm very much the traditionalist. Which means no Christmas decoration at all before Monday after "Totensonntag". And the tree goes into the house on the 23rd and will be decorated on the morning of the 24th. By the evening of January 6th everything needs to be gone.
Have you ever done a video explaining US American Thanksgiving and Christmas or New Year traditions that every German thinks are typical all over the place (because we've seen them in movies and TV shows), bur they are not? I would definitely watch that!
With family from Milwaukee, Wisconsin (once the "most German city in America"), I grew up celebrating Saint Nicholas' Day on December 6th. It was odd moving to Virginia as a grade schooler and discovering kids who didn't know about putting out for stockings for St. Nick's Eve. We also had Advent calendars as a kid, though they were the paper ones, with images, rather than with candies. I did learn that "Stille Nacht" was originally Austrian in middle school.
I had an English lesson in my sixth grade about Joseph Mohr and Franz Gruber and how Silent Night was sung in the court of some emperor (I don't remember). The story was about how Gruber (or Mohr, I'm confused now) came up with the song taking inspiration from a mother and a child who came to visit on Christmas Eve.
Oh wow, I haven’t done the advent calender correctly since I was, like, 10.... I think the last door I opened on my chocolate one this year was around a week ago... but they have milk chocolate and I prefer dark chocolate.
Santa kommt doch auch an einem ganz anderen Tag als St. Nikolaus.
Die Geschenke hier (Österreich) bringt das Christkind, wobei es auch hier Familien gibt zu denen Santa kommt.
Das ist wohl ein weiterer Nord-Süd-Unterschied. Bei uns, mitten in Deutschland , kam am 24. auch immer das Christkind - so mit raus geschickt werden und aufs Glöckchen warten.....
I think that some people make the mistake of thinking that what a few German--American recent arrivals did in 19th century America for Christmas celebrations was what everyone in Germany was doing at the same time and today.
German--American traditions are different from German traditions.
American here. We do have advent calendars here. There are chocolate advent calendars and those with toys. They also come in themes. For example this year we got each child one with the following themes: Fortnite, Minecraft and Dragonball Z. There are also LEGO or playmobil ones that are popular.
My advent calendar routine: Be done with opening all of the doors on December 6 latest.
I believe I learned this in my HS choir, AND I had to sing it for a concert for sure. I think I still remember how to sing it in German, too.
I am German and also live in Bavarian. For many years I have a pickle in my Christmastree. I heard the story of the pickle in a movie and I like her. :)
You have a sister with the advent calendar 😆 I actually have it all from 2019 😆🙈 I got a lottery advent calendar this year too from my mom, and I have not open/scrape up any, that calendar I always do in one sitting, since it make some mess with the scraping, and I actual found it extra fun that way. I am Norwegian and chocolate advent calendar are very common, and they come from very cheap to more fancy with kinder egg, and other chocolates, both for kids and adults. We also have lego advent calendar, and many different types with toys and small things in them that future what is popular on tv/Netflix/other for kids. Many parents also make there own 24 small gifts wrapped in. My mom had a self made sew one for my and my brother, but she never got 24 gifts, she was not the one that gave her soul for the project, so often she started good, and we always got on Christmas Eve (the last day of the advent calendar here in Norway), but there was some missing in between 😆
We also have gift advent calendar in school, where everyone gave and got one gift before Christmas.
Thank you for sharing and the best for the new year, form Johanne, Norway
(I did already post it, but I cannot find it anymore): An Advent calendar works actually only with children, because one has as a child from 1 December to 24 December nothing else in the head than Christmas (Christmas Eve). As a child, you already think about it when you get up (direct path to the Advent calendar), and throughout the day, again and again, until you go to bed (look at the calendar, also several times a day. And not only the already opened and the not yet opened doors are looked at, no, also the imprinted motive becomes more detailed and more vivid from day to day). For children, such a calendar is something wonderful.
And by the way: An Advent calendar is one of the few things that become more interesting and exciting the more they are used up (and thus unusable). And what must be mentioned about an advent calendar is that the last door is twice as big as all the others! And the chocolate inside then of course! And that you get then even in the morning. So: feeding through the calendar has two nice goals: once Christmas Eve itself, and the other the biggest piece of chocolate!
But that's not the end of it: after the calendar has now done its duty, it may now be disassembled to find out the secret of the chocolate molds, as well as the small motifs (icons) that are printed behind the respective transparent forms. And so on.
I am a german but I don't know that silent night is original a german song. And by the way, Dana, your hair soooooooo beautiful!!
Yes, I knew Silent Night was German. We sang it at my American school in German.
I love the "Eigenwerbung!" I always have to smile imagining you really hand out quotes for Stefan to read in random situations! Can you top this still? #Challenge
I have a selfmade one with Candy. My boyfriend got one with beer.
I usually do it like it should be. But my bag on Dec 6th was soooo fill that i skipped the next few days.
I noticed a lot of people in Germany do not put a tree up until Christmas eve or even lights until then either. I was in Frankfurt one year for Christmas and noticed this. 🎄 🎁
I'm German and as a kid I had every year an Adventskalender, made by my mom or my dad. It was always filled with sweets and chocolate, but at 6th of december there was a special treat like a toy, a book or cards for the cinema. This was the only door I didn't forgot to open in time. Normaly I opened the last ten door at chrismas eve. My little brother had the same "issues".
I have an Advent calendar with cereal and granola (mymuesli), i looooove this tradition and will catch up on it until I am old lol. It motivates me to geht up in the morning 😂
Usually I simply can't forget the Adventskalender - some little monsters wake me up half an hour before the usual time to get their "Adventskalender" in the morning :-)