Traditions are a funny thing - if you are more than a generation from the beginning of them, you have a sense that they have always been, and they have always existed as a part of your frame of reference. If I think about the whole idea of Christmas, as an American, of course the cutting down of the Christmas tree has always been American; of course the sending of Christmas cards has always been American; of course the coming of Santa has always been American. If there is one thing that makes it important to at least once travel outside of your home country, it is the idea of tradition.
I love the traditions I have grown up with, and yes, some of them truly are unique to my family. Opening presents at Christmas in my family is one of the most fun things to do. It is a mad dash to the tree, presents are spread as fast as one can get them out, and paper, bows and ribbons are flying everywhere. It doesn't last long, but oh it is so much fun to have that wild moment of chaos!! I think of it like a roller coaster ride - it only lasts less than a minute, but oh what a thrill! But, like me, you may be surprised at how many of your traditions are not your own family's, or even American. Ironically, Christmas in American was not declared a federal holiday until 1870. And many of these traditions originated before the United States was even a country!
Many of our current customs actually have their roots in Germany. We have already discussed some about that fatherly figure we call Santa. But did you know that the Christmas tree (and the lights and tinsel we put on them), gingerbread (and the men and houses we make from it), the advent calendar, the advent wreath, mulled wine, burning of the yule log, the giving of candy canes, cookie cutters for Christmas cookies, and a lesser known item of stollen (a fruit bread that originated around the same time as fruit cake in England) all came from German traditions.
The first Christmas tree in record was in Strasbourg, in 1539, from the cathedral's church record. It is thought that the lights put on the tree were propagated by Martin Luther, who while walking home one evening, noticed that the stars twinkled in the evergreen trees. To recreate the splendor he saw, he wired candles to the tree when he got home. Later, to recreate the snow, people began hanging metal strips upon the tree. This evolved into the tinsel many people use today. Decorating the tree with glass balls also originated in Germany, in a region called Thuringia in the 1840s. Shortly after, a product my mother uses to recreate snow, Angel Hair, was also invented in Germany. It is made from glass pulled into fine threads (fiberglass.) The side topic of mistletoe is also Germanic in its roots. It was a plant that remained green through the harsh winters and grew on trees common in the area. The practice of kissing under it, however, is an English invention. Mistletoe is very popular here. I have seen many folks scampering to buy the branches with the admired parasite.
Gingerbread (Lebkuchen) here is made with spices, honey and ginger. It has a very different taste to the product I am used to, but in Nurenburg, this special "cake" (the English equivalent for the word often used for cookie here) was taken to the next level. Nurenburg is famous for its gingerbread cookies. It is first recorded there as far back as the late 1300s. Nurenburg is the largest maker of this famous cookie, and even our coffee shop here has a Lebkuchen flavor drink. I tried it. Again, it was not my thing. Gingerbread men and gingerbread houses were also a fun way to present this favorite cookie, but the consistency of the dough was altered a little to get the firmer cookie. The brothers Grimm popularized the gingerbread house through use of it in Hansel and Gretel. Cookie cutters were another item popularized in Germany and then brought over by German immigrants to the US.
The advent wreath was a German Lutheran tradition that began in earnest in Hamburg in 1839 where the wreath was publicly hung in the prayer hall of the Rauhes Haus. Prior to that, it was a custom in the home as early as the 1600s. The advent calendar also originated with the Lutherans and was a way to help mark each of the passing days of Advent. It is disputed to the exact origin. It was either first printed in Hamburg in 1902 by an unnamed printer (according to my research), or in Munich 1908, by a printer named Gerhard Lang. He made the forerunners of the calendars we think of today, a calendar that had doors that could be opened that showed events leading up to the birth of Christ. After World War II, Richard Sellmer of Stuttgart, began the mass production of the calendars, and today his company is known as one of the largest producers of advent products. In a German town called Hünfeld, the city hall transforms itself into a giant advent calendar with the windows of the building serving as the 24 doors. Eventually, these calendars evolved to have small toys or chocolates to help children pass the time before Christmas.
The burning of the yule log was left over from non-Christian ceremonies and usually involved burning oak or ash. It was recorded in Germany as early as 1184.
Mulled wine likely existed long before people of Germany had it, but the popularity of (der) Glühwein certainly had its hold on immigrants to the US from Germanic regions. Glühwein (pronounced glooo vine where you trumpet that ooo sound) first appeared in documented form around 1420.
Candy canes are thought to have originated as stick candies that were given to children by a choir master in a Cologne cathedral to keep the children quiet during the services during the 1670s. Ironically, today I cannot find any candy canes here in this part of Germany!
Although the sending of Christmas cards originated in England, it is thanks to a German immigrant, Louis Prang, who came to Boston, that we have this tradition in the states today. Although Prang was named the "father of the American Christmas card", he was not able to compete with the actual German penny post cards, which were sent generally until the start of World War II.
I've told you of many German traditions, but did you know that the poinsettia plant has its American traditions as a Christmas plant from right there in Charleston? In 1828, a minister who was a missionary to Mexico, Joel Roberts Poinsett, brought the plants back to Charleston. These plants are also commonly used here today as decorations for the season.
What are your family traditions for Christmas? Where might they have originated?
The words for the day are Christmas tree: der Tannenbaum (tahn nehn boum where ou is like house - this tree can also be called der Weihnachtsbaum), tinsel: das Lametta (lah meht teh), and gingerbread: der Lebkuchen (lehb koo chen where the oo is like book and the ch is that cat cough).
The question of the day is "What does Germany have to do with a giant black hole at the center of the Milky Way?"
Auf Wiedersehen,
Frau Spitzer
