The Complete Christmas
Collection
Christmas Recipes, Crafts
and Kids Activities and xmas stories. Germany
has numerous traditions that it shares with the 9 neighboring countries that abut
it. They also have quite a few that they have started themselves. In
the United States children write their letters to Santa Claus and mail them to
the North Pole with their respective wish lists. In some other countries the children
will write their letters and throw them in the fire so that the smoke will take
their lists to Santa at the the North Pole. German
children have a slightly different tradition though. They write their letters
to the Christkind or Christ Child. They seal them in envelopes and decorate the
envelope with sugar and glue to make them glitter in the moon light. They then
place them on the windowsill where their parents usually pick them up to leave
the appearance that the Christkind has stopped by to receive them. Another
tradition is for the children to fill their shoes with hay, straw and carrots
and leave them out in front of the door. They are trying to tempt Saint Nicholas
to stop and feed his white stallion. He will then repay them by refilling their
shoes with candy and toys. The
tradition of the Christmas tree was started in Germany and Christmas trees are
quite popular there. How the tradition of the Christmas tree started is a matter
of much debate. The
first tale is of a wood cutter who encountered a lone hungry child while out cutting
trees. He befriended and fed the child. After the meal the child continued on
his way. The next day the child appeared to the wood cutter and his wife as a
spirit and thanked him for his kindness. He then explained that he was the Christ
Child, Christkind to the Germans. He
gave the wood cutter a sprig from an evergreen tree and explained that this tree
would bear fruit year round. This lead to the Germans felling evergreen trees
and decorating them with ribbons, candies, etc. to celebrate the Christkind. The
other tale of how the Christmas tree came about is attributed to Martin Luther.
He supposedly brought in an evergreen tree one year from outside and decorated
it with candles. The candles were to represent the light of Jesus Christ and the
heavens according to tradition.
Michael
Paetzold is the webmaster of http://ChristmasAcrossTheGlobe.com
where you can find more information on various tradittions for the Christmas season
from around the world along with a variety of Christmas tips from decorating to
gift buying. | 