European Tour of Christmas Traditions
’Twas nearly Christmas and all through the house nothing could be heard but a keyboard and a mouse. Christmas traditions we all have and keep each year, but what do other countries do through this season of cheer?
In FRANCE, around Christmas you will often find Yule Logs made of cherry wood. On Christmas Eve, the log is brought into the home and sprinkled with red wine to make the log smell nice while it is burning. It is custom that the candles and log are left lit all night with some drinks and food left out in case Mary and the baby Jesus come past in the night.
In GERMANY, mainly the south-east of the country, children write to ‘Christkindl’ asking for gifts. They decorate the letters to the Christkind with sugar, which is glued to the envelope, which makes it sparkly and attractive to look at. The children place the letters on the windowsill during Advent.
In NORWAY, a Christmas Tree tradition is to make small hanging paper baskets called Julekurver’, which are made in the shape of a heart. It’s said that the writer Hans Christian Andersen might have invented them in the 1860s!
It is a tradition in POLAND on Christmas Day to place 12 dishes on the table — they are meant to give you good luck for the next 12 months. The meal is meat free in order to remember the animals who cared for the baby Jesus in the manger. Everyone must eat or at least try some of each dish. For catholics, the 12 dishes symbolize Jesus’ 12 disciples. Like in many Catholic countries, Christmas Eve is often a ‘fasting day’ meaning that some people don’t eat anything until after sunset (when the Church day officially ends). So that’s where the custom of the first star comes from. Some people in central Poland say that at midnight the animals can talk.
In the Catalonia province of SPAIN, there’s a Christmas character called ‘Tió de Nadal’ (the Christmas log), he’s sometimes known as ‘Caga tio’ (the pooping log!). It’s a small hollow log propped up on two legs with a smiling face painted on one end. From the 8th of December (the Feast of the Immaculate Conception), Catalan families give the log a few morsels of food to ‘eat’ and a blanket to keep it warm. On Christmas Day or Christmas Eve, the log then ‘gives out’ small gifts! People sing a special song and hit the log with sticks to help its ‘digestion’ and the log drops sweets, nuts, and dried fruits. When garlic or an onion falls out of the log, all the treats are finished for the year.
SWEDISH families sometimes have goats made of straw in the house to guard the Christmas tree. Straw is used as a decoration in homes, to remind them that Jesus was born in a manger. Christmas Tree decorations that are made of straw are also very popular.
I hope you have enjoyed your European Tour of Christmas traditions. We would love to hear what you think of them and especially if you have adopted some of the fun, cute or other ones!
Merry Christmas everyone, let’s make this year special.
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