Christmas In Germany
When you think of Christmas you probably think of snow, Santa, and reindeer but do you think about how the same holiday is so different depending on where you live. Today we will take a trip to Germany the birthplace of modern Christmas where the Holidays are a beautiful site sure to thrill all five of your senses.
I had the pleasure of interviewing Viktoria Woltereck from Neubiberg a village outside of Munich and Katharina Funk from Friedrichsdorf which is next to Frankfurt.
Our first stop on this tour is going to be to the Christmas markets. These markets are always outside and extremely busy.
Viktoria said, “I have to pass through one of these markets to get to my school it’s extremely hard to walk through it without stopping at all the booths.”
When you walk through these markets you will hear Christmas music, people chatting and laughing. You will see smiling faces, cookies that are to die for along with booths as far as the eye can see. The smell of fresh-baked cookies fills your nose as you walk through the market. Christmas lights, light up the market casting a beautiful glow all over. Now if you really want to have fun bring along your skates to skate on the rink in the middle of the market.
On December 6th make sure to leave your shoes outside for Nikolaus to fill them with small things like nuts, fruits, and candies. Now don’t eat all those treats in one sitting because you need to save room for Butterplätzchen (a butter-flavored cookie) which is Katharina’s favorite or maybe you would like to try Baumkuchen (tree cake) which is Viktoria’s favorite.
Speaking of favorite things both girls agree that their favorite tradition is walking to church. No cars are allowed, the whole town walks to church more people join in the closer they get. When inside the church it’s often difficult to find a pew, often people have to sit outside. Once the service starts the little kids put on a play while the older kids narrate it.
No Christmas season is complete without a visit from Christkind/ Weihnachtsmann (Santa Clause). He brings all the presents. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday season. Frohe Weihnachten und schöne Feiertage/ ein frohes neues Jahr.
