The document describes some German Christmas traditions that the author experienced growing up in Scotland with a German mother. These included lighting candles on an Advent wreath each Sunday before Christmas, polishing shoes for St. Nicholas on December 6th, and attending Christmas markets in German towns. The author now lives in Canada and helps organize a Christmas market in their community that blends local and German customs. The markets feature traditional foods like glühwein, stollen, and spritzgebäck. The document shares memories of Christmas Eve celebrations with the Christmas tree, carols, and a nativity scene from the author's childhood.

2. On March 8, 2010 my mother died.
She was German.
Little did I know when I was growing up in
Scotland how many German Christmas
traditions she brought with her to her new
adopted country.

3. Advent
In Germany, the Christmas season starts four Sundays before Christmas.
As children, we went out for a walk and collected fir branches. My mother
made and decorated the Adventskranz. It sat on our dining table. Each
Sunday at dinner another candle would be lit until finally all four were lit the
Sunday before Christmas. After lighting the candles, we would sing German
Christmas carols. My great-aunt Lieschen taught them to us. I didn't
understand a word but I still remember most of the tunes.
Der Adventskranz hat vier rote Kerzen.
Jede Woche wird eine neue Kerze angezuendet.

4. 6ten Dezember
Nikolaustag

5. On the evening of December 5, our house was a shoe-polishing workshop! All the shoes
were polished. I suspect my parents made the most of this!!!! St Nicolaus would not be
impressed and we would not be left any goodies if the shoes were not gleaming.
A pair of nicely polished shoes would be left outside our bedroom door.
On December 6 when we woke up the shoes would be filled with nuts and fruit.
My Scottish school friends were jealous.
Nothing for them until Christmas Day.
“Am 6. Dezember feiert man in Deutschland den Nikolaustag. Kinder stellen ihre Schuhe
vor die Türe. Sie möchten, daß der Nikolaus sie mit Nüsse und Obst füllt. Nikolaus wird
von einem Helfer begleitet, dem Knecht Ruprecht. Er hat eine Rute für die bösen Kinder
und einen Sack voller kleiner Geschenke für die lieben Kinder. Aus einem großen Buch liest
er ihnen vor, was sie für gute und böse Dinge getan haben, und er verteilt kleine
Geschenke. Meistens aber bekommt jeder etwas.” http://www.derweg.org/mwbrauch/weihnach.htm

6. Der Weihnachtsmarkt
~ in Deutschland ~
und
~ in meine neue Heimat, Kanada ~

7. Erfurt

8. Luebeck

9. Jena

10. Muenchen

11. During Advent the historic cores of most major German cities and many
smaller towns light up with holiday decorations.
The Christmas market tradition (Christkindlmarkt or Weihnachtsmarkt)
dates back to the 15th century.
The market is usually located on the city's central square and commonly
features a nativity scene; bigger cities might have a stage for
traditional musicians and dancers.
You will find handcrafted gifts and Christmas decorations. Your
olifactory senses will be tempted by a mouthwatering array of grilled
sausages (Bockwurst oder Wuertschen) and meats, fried fish filets on a
fresh bread rolls (Backfisch) and a great variety of specialty sweets,
confections and baked goods.
Christmas markets are a treat for all the senses - beautiful to behold,
delicious scents wafting through the air and a feast for the taste buds.

12. I did not experience a Christmas market as a
child.
BUT
Here I am in the Kootenays,
with a growing resident German-speaking
population
And just look at what we have!!!

13. In Silverton BC
2011

14. German customs have followed me!
In 2010, my children, who have never been to Germany, and I
had the opportunity to volunteer at a Christmas Market.
In the Kootenays!
We have an increasing number of German-speaking New
Canadians from Austria, Germany and Switzerland in our area.
Add their nostalgia for the Christmas of their childhood to the
Canadian “can-do” attitude
and the result is a community-wide sharing of German customs
at our
Weihnachtsmarkt in den Kootenays

15. A melding of local mining heritage and German
customs

17. Gluehwein
~an old tradition in Germany ~
~ a new tradition in
Silverton BC~
Glühwein (Hot Mulled Wine)
Zutaten (für zwei bis drei Personen)
eine Flasche trockener Rotwein (750 ml)
eine Zitrone
2 Stangen Zimt
3 Gewürznelken
3 Esslöffel Zucker
etwas Kardamom (oder Ingwer)
Zubereitung
Den Rotwein in einem Topf erhitzen (nicht kochen). Die Zitrone in
Scheiben schneiden und hinzufügen. Dann Zimt, Nelken, Zucker und
etwas Kardamom (nach belieben) dazugeben. Alles etwa 5 Minuten
erwärmen - nicht kochen - und etwa eine Stunde ziehen lassen. Vor dem
Servieren nochmals erwärmen, durch ein Sieb abgießen, in vorgewärmten
Gläsern oder Bechern servieren .
http://german.about.com/library/blrezept_gluehwein.htm

18. By 16:30 it's dark in
Silverton and the lights
of the Christmas market
booths are twinkling.
Es is 1630. Es ist dunkel.
Die Weihnachtslichter
brennen. Es ist gemuetlich
– und kalt!

19. In the melding of cultures, a Canadian influence is at work. In the
Kootenays we have several world-famous ice sculptors who shared their
artistic talent at the Weihnachtsmarkt.

20. This is what you get when you add the truly Canadian skill of chain saw art
to traditional German wood carving

21. Der Weihnachtsbaum
Today we see Christmas trees everywhere.
Although in Germany the Christmas tree is a tradition dating
back as far as the 15th century, the English-speaking world was
introduced to the tradition in 1841 by Prince Albert, the
German-born husband of Queen Victoria. Prince Albert
installed a decorated Christmas tree at Windsor Castle in 1841
and woodcuts of the Royal Family’s tree appeared in London
fashion magazines c. 1848.

22. The first known Christmas tree was set up in 1419 in Freiburg by
the town bakers, who decorated the tree with fruits, nuts, and
baked goods. The children were allowed to remove and eat the
decorations on New Year's Day.
It was the Town guilds and associations that first brought
evergreens inside their guild houses, decorating them with
apples and sweets. Candles were eventually added to the
decorations.
Today the German Tannenbaum is usually put up
and decorated on Christmas Eve, though some
families opt to erect their tree during the
Advent season. Traditionally, the Germans used
the fir tree, but nowadays the spruce is widely
used. Decorations may include tinsel, glass balls
or straw ornaments and sweets. A star or angel
tops the Tannenbaum, and beneath the tree, a
nativity scene might be set up and the presents
next to it. It is not uncommon for Germans still
to use real lit candles instead of electric lights
on the tree.

23. My recollections of Christmas as a child bring back memories
of the sense of wonder and miracles that my mother created
with her German traditions.
On Christmas Eve the living room was barred to the children.
The door was locked after the Christmas tree was dragged
in by my father. Mysterious things went on in there!
We all had baths – youngest kid first. When it was my
mum’s turn, my dad bundled all of us up and we went
for a walk to look at Christmas lights in the streets.
When we returned, miraculously, der Weihnachtsman had
been to visit. The tree had been put up, decorated with
baubles and lametta (tinsel), and real candles were alight. A
Nativity scene was set up under the tree. There were
presents and each of us had a round Christmas plate with
fruit, nuts, Plaetzchen, Lebkuchen and a chocolate
Weihnachtsman. We sang carols around the tree and opened
our Christmas presents on Christmas Eve. Later we attended
midnight mass. Just like in Germany!

24. O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum, O Christmas tree, o Christmas tree
wie treu sind deine Blätter! How loyal are your leaves/needles!
Du grünst nicht nur You're green not only
zur Sommerzeit, in the summertime,
Nein auch im Winter, wenn es schneit. No, also in winter when it snows.
O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum, O Christmas tree, o Christmas tree
wie treu sind deine Blätter! How loyal are your leaves/needles!
O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum! O Christmas tree, o Christmas tree
Du kannst mir sehr gefallen! You can please me very much!
Wie oft hat nicht zur Weihnachtszeit How often has not at Christmastime
Ein Baum von dir mich hoch erfreut! A tree like you given me such joy!
O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum! O Christmas tree, o Christmas tree,
Du kannst mir sehr gefallen! You can please me very much!
O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum! O Christmas tree, o Christmas tree
Dein Kleid will mich Your dress wants to
was lehren: teach me something:
Die Hoffnung und Beständigkeit Your hope and durability
Gibt Trost und Kraft Provide comfort and strength
zu jeder Zeit. at any time.
O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum! O Christmas tree, o Christmas tree,
Das soll dein Kleid That's what your dress should
mich lehren. teach me.
http://german.about.com/library/blotannenb.html

25. Ganz
Traditional German Christmas foods
Marzipan

26. Stollen
My German grandmother used to
send us “care packages” at .
Christmas with German goodies
including Stollen. I first made my
own after I came to Canada. The recipe
was from the Five Roses cookbook. Making
Stollen is now part of my children's multi-cultural
Canadian tradition. And yes, we do open our presents on
Christmas Eve!

27. Stollen – Ingredients
2-1/2 cups (600 g) raisins
4 tablespoons rum
8 cups (1 kg) flour
1-2 cups (250-500 ml) milk
2 packages dry yeast (or 2 cubes of
Stollen – what to do
fresh yeast, if available)
1 cup (200 g) sugar Soak raisins in rum overnight.
1 teaspoon salt
Grated rind of 1 lemon Combine flour, milk, yeast, sugar, salt and butter
1/2 teaspoon ground mace (or nutmeg) to form a smooth yeast dough.
1 lb. (453.6 g) unsalted butter
3.5 oz (100 g) almonds, ground or finely Mix in almonds, candied lemon and orange peel,
chopped 4 oz (113 g) candied lemon mace and raisins, one after another always
peel, finely chopped kneading the dough thoroughly.
4 oz (113 g) candied orange peel, finely
chopped Unsalted butter Let rest for 1 hour.
Confectioner's sugar for dusting
Knead the dough once more, divide into two and
shape two Stollen loaves.
Bake for about 1 hour in preheated oven at 350 F
After baking the Stollen, brush them with melted
butter and dust generously with confectioner's sugar.
http://www.germanfoods.org/consumer/recipes/stollen.cfm

28. Spritzgebaeck
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
5 egg yolks or 3 whole
eggs
1/4 Tbsp. vanilla extract
or grated rind from 1/2
lemon
1 1/2 cups ground almonds
or hazelnuts
3 cups flour
Man nehme Butter, Zucker, Eier, Vanillen
Extrakt, Zitronensaft, Hazelnuesse and Mehl
Man bekommt Spritzgebaeck!

29. On the evening of Christmas Eve, we traditionally had trout or some
other sea food. Meat was not allowed.
Our traditional Christmas Day fare was
Spargelsuppe
roast goose with a prune/breadcrumb stuffing
red cabbage (made with lemon juice, cloves and peppercorns,
and sugar – just like Grandma’s)
Spaeztle
other miscellaneous vegetables –at least three
Schwarzwaldkirschtorte
Waldmeister (Dr. Oetker)