During the Advent season in Alsace, towns and villages transform with decorations of pine branches on houses and illuminated windows. Large pine trees adorned with balls and garlands are erected in town squares. Christmas markets called "Christkindlmarik" are installed in small wooden houses, with the oldest dating back to 1570 in Strasbourg. Today there are markets in all small Alsatian towns featuring small cabins and stalls selling handcrafted Christmas decorations and toys.

2. Traditions de l'Avent en Alsace
A l'approche des fêtes tout le pays se transforme : les maisons se décorent
de branches de sapin, les
fenêtres s'illuminent de décors étoilés. Sur les places des villes et des
villages s'élèvent de grands
sapins, décorés de boules et de guirlandes.
Des marchés de Noël "Christkindlmarik" s'installent dans de petites
maisons en bois. Le plus
ancien en France existe depuis 1570, c'est celui de Strasbourg. De nos
jours il y a des marchés, dans
toutes les petites villes d'Alsace comme Colmar, Sélestat et celles de la
route du Vin et du Ried
(coté plaine). Il y a des petites cabanes et des étalages, ou l'on trouve
toutes sortes de décorations de
Noël, des jouets fabriqués de manière artisanale.
Les marchés en Alsace http://www.marche-de-noel-alsace.com/
En Alsace http://www.marche-de-noel-alsace.com/avav.htm
Marché de Strasbourg http://www.aquadesign.be/news/article-3331.php
A Strasbourg http://www.weihnachtsmarkt-deutschland.de/marche-de-
noel-strasbourg.html
The Advent Crown
The Advent Crown made of woven fir branches and four candles
representing the four seasons of the year, emerged quite late in the
Protestant regions of Germany. It reached Scandinavia, before spreading
to various other countries..The four candles are lit one by one each
Sunday before Christmas.
The Advent Calendar
The Advent Calendar is a tradition of German origin to encourage children
to be patient until Christmas. So that they feel they have less time to wait,
children are given an Advent Calendar at the beginning of December
which has twenty four little doors. They open one of them every evening;
the last door is opened on Christmas Eve,just before the arrival of Father
Christmas. Originally, the closed doors would hide pious images but these
have now been replaced by sweets. The first Advent Calendar is thought

3. to date back to 1851.
The Christmas tree
The evergreen Christmas tree, like holly and ivy symbolizes eternal life.
This tradition was first recorded in the 16th century, in Alsace; but as early
as the 11th century, houses seem to have been decorated wiith“greenery
taken from trees”. Very early on, the Christmas tree was covered with
various decorations and candles to light it up when Christmas came. In
Hungary, for example,the tree is decorated with biscuits, sweets and
chocolates, which can be eaten from December 24, making sure that the
colored wrappers are not removed so as to leave the tree bare. In the
18th century, the Christmas tree reached the whole Germany and then
spread to many other countries, such as Italy and Spain, didn’t adopt this
tradition for quite some time. In Greece, the Christmas tree does not
exist, but the people cultivate a Christmas rose called a Hellebore.