Germany celebrates Christmas starting in late November with the four Advent Sundays where they light another candle each week. On December 6th, children put their shoes outside hoping Sankt Nikolaus will fill them with treats if they were good or birch switches if they were bad. Families decorate trees on the 23rd and exchange gifts on Christmas Eve after church, when children perform for Santa Claus before opening presents under the tree and sharing a family meal.

1. Christmas in Germany

2. “ The Advent“ In Germany we start celebrating Christmas sometimes as early as at the end of November. The four Sundays before the 24th of December are the first, the second, the third and the fourth “Advent”. Each Sunday we light one more candle.

3. Calendar On the first of December, all the children get a little calendar. The calendar is made of paper and it has 24 little doors. Each day the children can open one door. Behind the doors are little pictures or chocolate.

4. “ Sankt Nikolaus” The sixth of December is called the day of “Sankt Nikolaus”. On the evening of the fifth of December, the children clean their shoes and put them outside the door over night. At night, “Sankt Nikolaus” comes with his donkey. If the child was good, he puts lots of chocolate and nuts in the shoe. If the child was bad in the last year, he puts a birch in the shoes.

5. Christmas Food In December, the children bake lots of little cakes, biscuits and gingerbread. We also eat a cake which is called “Stollen”.

6. Christmas Tree On the 23 rd . of December we put a Christmas Tree in our living room. The Christmas Tree is decorated with little glass spheres in different colours and with gingerbread and little figures of angels or reindeers and with candles.

7. 24th of December The 24th of December is the most important day for the children. The whole day, we are not allowed to go into the living room, where the Christmas Tree is. In the afternoon or early evening, most families go to church. After church, the children have to wait for Santa Claus.

8. Santa Claus puts the presents under the Christmas Tree. In some families, the children have to say a poem or sing a song to Santa Claus before they can have the present. After that, we have a big meal with the whole family.