(Christmas in Germany)

•Saint Nicklaus

•Krampus

•Tannenbaum

•Christkindl Postamt

•Mahlzeit im Deutschland

•O Tannenbaum

•Karte

Saint Nicklaus comes every year on December 6th. He is dressed like a bishop and he has a long beard and gray hair. He knocks on doors, and asks how the kids have been acting. He leaves candy in the

shoes of the children who have been good throughout the year. For those who have been naughty, there’s always his helper…

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Krampus is the companion and helper of Saint Nicklaus. While Saint Nicklaus rewards the good children, Krampus punishes the bad. He carries a chain or a whip the he uses for their punishment. He wears a tattered, black

robe, and he will take the children, put them in a sack, and carry them away. He is also known as Knecht Ruprecht, “Knecht” meaning servant.

The “Tannenbaum,”or Christmas Tree, is part of the pre-christian tradition of 12 Rauhnächte, or 12 harsh nights. This later became the 12 nights of Christmas. The tree is put up on December 24, and taken down on the 12th night, January

6th. The “plündern”is part of the tradition of taking down the tree. This is when the tree is raided of cookies and sugar plums. They thought that evil spirits killed the trees in winter, but that evergreens were resistant to the evil spirits, so they brought the trees into their homes. Home

Ferdinand Sertl lived in Steyr in the 16th century. He suffered from epilepsy, and found solitude in a small forest near the hamlet of Unterhimmel. He was a religious man, and put a picture of theholy family on a fir tree. He cut a niche in the tree for a wax figure of baby Jesus, or “Christkindl.” He visited this tree several times a week, and he soon got better. He thought that praying in front of the statue made him recover. For this reason, a chapel was made around the tree in 1699. So many pilgrims came, that they had to build a church in 1708. The trunk of the tree is really the alter. They then built a post office in 1959 to be open in the winter. Home

In Germany, Christmas meals can be very different from what we are used to in America. In rural areas, when the hunting was good, they might have venison for their main course. If it was cold enough to slaughter pigs before Christmas, they would have pork. Christmas eve was once a fast day for the Catholics, so they would eat fish for Christmas, commonly carp. They would also use Spätzle (small dumplings), kraut and Metzelsuppe as the broth for the

sausage. Bier, Glühwein, or mulled cider are favorite drinks.

                       

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O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum,

Wie grün sind deine Blätter.

Sie grünst nicht nur im Sommerzeit,

Nein, auch im Winter, wenn es schneit,

O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum,

Wie grün sind deine Blätter.

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Fröhliche Weihnachten

Glückliches Neues Jahr

Mit den besten Wünschen zum Jahreswechsel

____ wünscht Ihnen fröhliche Weihnachtsfest und ein Glückliches Neues Jahr

Merry Christmas

Happy New Year

With Best Wishes for the New Year

____ wishes you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

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