Advent

The time of the Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas market), Christbaum (Christmas Tree) and Glühwein is upon us.

In Germany, the build up to Christmas officially starts on the first Sunday of Advent, the beginning of the new church year. This period leading up to Christmas is still widely celebrated and there are lots of old customs that go with it. The word 'advent' has its origins in Latin: adventus meaning 'arrival'. Advent is the time of preparation for and expectation of the arrival of Christ. As long ago as the 6th century, Pope Gregory decided that there should be four Advent Sundays, referring to the 4000 years which, in the church's view, mankind had to wait for the return of its saviour.

There are a number of German Christmas traditions related to the advent, such as the Adventskranz, or Advent wreath. You will find these on the tables of many German houses before Christmas. The wreath is traditionally made of sprigs of fir which encircle four candles. On each Sunday of Advent, one of these candles is lit, and families who cherish tradition will sing Advent hymns and songs. Of course all that singing makes you hungry, and there is some lovely food to be had. During the Christmas period the usual Sunday afternoon Kaffee und Kuchen (coffee and cake) takes on special significance. The normal Kuchen is often replaced by special pre-Christmas cakes and biscuits: there is the Christstollen, a very rich fruit-cake covered with powdered sugar, symbolizing the baby Jesus in his swaddling clothes. Spekulatius, thin spiced biscuits, come in traditional shapes, some of which tell the story of St Nicolaus. There are too many different types of Christmas biscuits to name them all – my personal favourites are the Bröselkollatschen, if only because they have such a great sounding name!

Apart from the four Sundays, there are other special days in December. The fourth of December is St Barbara's day. If you wish to have something blossoming in your home over Christmas, you can follow another old German tradition and cut off some branches of plum, cherry or pear trees and put them in water. They are supposed to flower on Christmas Day.

On the eve of the 6th of December, lots of children in Germany go to bed full of expectation. According to another ancient custom which dates back to the fourth century, they can expect their shoes or boots to be full of lovely sweets the next morning by St Nicolaus –but only if they have a (more or less) clean record and have behaved themselves throughout the year. And the boots have to be clean, too, before putting them out for St Nicolaus!

As already mentioned in an earlier article, there is a museum for (almost) everything in Germany. Should you be travelling to Germany during the Christmas period, you should perhaps consider visiting the Deutsche Weihnachtsmuseum (German Christmas Museum) in the picturesque German town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber. But it might be more convenient to go to its virtual version at: http://www.weihnachtsmuseum.de (the site is in German and English). When it comes to the Glühwein, though, there can be no talk of the virtual. Only the real thing will do.