Advice on hosting a "German" Christmas Eve

[Fly4free]

The pickle ornament is NOT German. It is something an American made up and now the German ornament companies and souvenier shops capitalize on it. We were in the Black Forest a couple years ago for Christmas and I did some research on it.

Many german families have a tradition that to get your gift, you have to recite a poem or sing a Christmas song. Some children spend a long time prepping for this so they can get all their gifts! It is a cute tradition and beats all the kids just ripping into a pile of gifts.

Also, where we lived (north of Berlin about an hour) they didn't put the Christmas Tree up until Christmas Eve.

Have a Froelich Weihnachten!

My father is from Germany and he never heard of the pickle ornament either. Looked at me like I was crazy when I asked him about it!

I love the idea of having to recite a poem or singing before opening gifts. Which of course, we open on Christmas Eve.

Thanks to a pp who mentioned about the gifts coming to the house while everyone is in church. As a child I always wondered why my mom was always late getting into the car as my dad sis and I sat outside waiting for her to go to church. Never realized until I was much older that she was putting the gifts under the tree. My mom always said b/c they are European Santa brought the gifts early to our family (European time).

 

[hmdavid]

I think the traditions in Germany are so different from one region to the next that you could live in northern Germany and have completely diferent traditions than those who live in the south. Much like the variations of the German language from region to region. Could explain why many have not heard of the pickle tradition. Our first Christmas that we lived in Germany (11 years ago), our German landlord gave us a pickle ornament for our tree. I had never heard of it before moving to Germany.

 

[kyra's mommy]

Thanks guys! Very interesting! I appreciate your help.

 

[Liandro]

My father is from Germany and he never heard of the pickle ornament either. Looked at me like I was crazy when I asked him about it!

I love the idea of having to recite a poem or singing before opening gifts. Which of course, we open on Christmas Eve.

Thanks to a pp who mentioned about the gifts coming to the house while everyone is in church. As a child I always wondered why my mom was always late getting into the car as my dad sis and I sat outside waiting for her to go to church. Never realized until I was much older that she was putting the gifts under the tree. My mom always said b/c they are European Santa brought the gifts early to our family (European time).

I am in Germany at this moment and we have whopping storm blowing.
Never heard of the pickle but Christmas here means thousands of lights outside,and food,food food.

Lebkuchen,Rotkohl.Schweinefleisch,Wein, Schokolade und ein Holzfeuer.
O and this year rabbit meat is "out" but duck and turkey are the big sellers.
I myself bought duck breast for Christmas.

Frohe Weihnachten und ein glückliches Neujahr.
Just before I forget warm Glühwein is one of the most cherished traditions here.
Just curious bur why did you post this on the budged board? The Germans are spending thousands of Euro's so there is no real "budgeting"there.

 

[beansmom]

well, we were 'schooled' on the pickle when we did our HOlidays around the World Tour at Epcot. I just assumed they were correct.....however...

http://german.about.com/library/blgermyth11.htm

apparently it IS NOT a true German tradition but I would still probably do it because it would be fun. I mean, the truth has never been a real essential factor in me passing along information.

 

[Peri]

My Great Aunt was German and all that I remember (MANY years later) is that she served these square cookies that had little pictures on them. They were really hard and tasted like anis. Loved those. I have looked for them around here, but alas, no success.

You could show the kids Hansel and Gretel and then have them decorate Gingerbread Men Cookies. Is my memory correct? There are gingerbread men in Hansel and Gretel, right?

i make the cookies you love = they are called Springerle - you pretty much have to do these yourself and they are VERY labor intensive but so tasty. Find many recipes for these at ALLRECIPES - read the reviews, though - be sure to "dry" them overnight under a dish towel after rolling out and before baking. Note that your stamp or special rolling pin must be COMPLETELY clean and free of last year's dough (I use toothpick and naughty words to clean mine - lol). They are a good family project for older kids. Frustrating for little kids.

 

[janey99]

If you want to do a craft, google scherenschnitte(n) - they are intricate paper cutouts that can be one or three dimensional and there are TONS of Christmas patterns.

Have fun!

Jane

 

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

To the OP - what an awesome idea to do this!!

I grew up in Europe and most of my time was spent in Germany (10 years) so I've enjoyed reading the replies - many bring back lots of memories! I was fortunate to live in Nuernberg before heading back to the States (military brat) and the Christkindl Markt there is world famous and something everyone should experience just one time. I'd say any German town and their Christmas market is something to see and experience. I try to incorporate a few traditions in our Christmas holidays because, it's just who I am My DS actually has a special today at school and they go to different classrooms and learn about different customs and cultures. One of the three they are learning today is Germany so he was very excited since he knows a lot already.

Sorry if I overlooked it but something that stands out to me is the tradition of the Christmas Advent Wreath and lighting the candle every Sunday, leading up to Christmas. As another poster mentioned, a lot of the Christmas traditions in general originated from Germany!

Have a great time!
Heather

 

[NotUrsula]

For those of you that like Springerle cookies, it is possible to order them online. Here is one bakery that does them: http://www.heidelberghaus.com/index.php4?l=l_bakery.php4&r=r_bakery_springerle.php4
They are pricey, but considering how much work they are it is probably not outrageous.

My DH' family also did gifts on Xmas Eve only, and ate Lebkuchen by the pound. I'm not crazy about them, but I make them for DH, along with the poppy seed cake that his Polish grandmother also used to make for him. (BTW, I've always heard that the pickle thing was really Polish, but what do I know? I'm Irish, we have enough on our plates with painting the house. )

DH' family always had a large pork roast for Xmas Eve dinner, and did virtually nothing at all on Xmas Day; I found it a terrible anticlimax.

 

[stm61]

I think the traditions in Germany are so different from one region to the next that you could live in northern Germany and have completely diferent traditions than those who live in the south. Much like the variations of the German language from region to region. Could explain why many have not heard of the pickle tradition. Our first Christmas that we lived in Germany (11 years ago), our German landlord gave us a pickle ornament for our tree. I had never heard of it before moving to Germany.

I agree with this. My grandparents came from Germany in the 1920's. My dad was the only child born in the USA and that was in 1928. They brought the tradition with them and passed it on to all the grands and great-grands. I think my grandmother came from somewhere around Bonn, but I'm not sure. My grandfather had a very Polish last name, but was definitely German (he was in the German army in WWI, spent most of the war in a Polish POW camp). The borders changed frequently years ago, maybe that's why another poster suggested the tradition started in Poland.

 

[scbelleatheart]

This thread made me think of sauerkraut balls and sauerbrauten. Yum!