14 January 2012

Christmas Traditions

Well, it's that time of year again! At least it was, a few weeks ago. I thought I would wait until well after Christmas to give those who were sick and tired of preparing for, reading about, and being bombarded by advertisements centered around the holidays some time to recover from their holiday burnout.

The first question you may have right now is why I'm writing about Christmas and not the other holidays that take place in December, such as Hanukkah and Kwanzaa. The reason is that no other holiday in the USA or Germany has such a public, national prominence. Schools plan their winter breaks around Christmas and New Year's Day, stores make a big show of their Christmas sales (at least in the USA), and Christmas trees are displayed in public spaces. Christmas is no longer a pure religious holiday (although for many people it still is), but a national and commercial event as well. Since it's easier and safer to make general observations about public traditions than private, family ones, I'll focus on those today. Also, since my family and I (here and in Germany) celebrate Christmas, I am better able to make comparisons of the less public traditions of Christmas than for any other holiday.

The topic of political correctness with regard to religion is probably worth a mention here. The idea of political correctness as I interpret it is based of two principles. The first is the separation of church and state: Any public or governmental institution is not allowed to endorse a specific religion; this is a founding principle of the American government. Displaying a nativity scene on public property, e.g. the city hall or a public park, could be seen as an endorsement of Christianity. The second principle is the basic fact that it's insulting to assume the person you're addressing is the same religion or celebrates the same holidays as you when in fact this is not the case. If a TV station only wishes everyone a merry Christmas, Jewish viewers are probably going to feel put off or annoyed.

Of course there are places where political correctness is ignored. Retailers probably realize they'll make the most money if they focus their sales and advertising campaigns on Christmas instead of a different December holiday. In Germany the role of Christmas is upheld mostly by tradition. It's probably due to tradition, for example, that Christmas markets take place every December in public places in several German cities. It may be that a higher proportion of people are Christian in Germany compared to the USA -- Christianity is definitely the majority religion in Germany -- although the German Jewish and Muslim populations form a not insignificant minority. I can't really comment on the public awareness in Germany of religions, holidays, and traditions other than those relating to Christianity and Christmas. I can say that in the American schools I attended we did receive some education on this topic.

But before I spend the entire article talking about political correctness, I should start on the actual holiday. As I just mentioned, Christmas is a public event in both the US and Germany. In Germany, however, it seems a lot less commercialized. Most stores, except for maybe some large retail chains, are closed on Christmas Eve and Day, and they don't start blasting cheesy Christmas music and promoting sales the second the previous holiday is over. What they usually do is put up decorations ranging from a modest Christmas tree to a spectacular curtain of lights outside the store. The exception might be electronics stores, who stand to make huge amounts of money on Christmas presents if they advertise enough and encourage their demographic to be as materialistic as humanly possible (one advertisement asserted, "Christmas is decided" -- decided -- "under the tree").

If you're looking to buy Christmas presents that aren't a new laptop or camera, many German cities have world-famous Christmas markets. Hundreds of independent craftspeople have a chance to sell their handmade creations at these markets. You can find amazing hand-painted glass ornaments, traditional nutcrackers, and wooden candle-powered carousels. There are many food stands as well with delicious regional specialties. The experience most visitors will remember the most is probably drinking Glühwein (glowing wine), or hot red wine with spices such as cinnamon and orange mixed in. As you can see from the photo, it's very popular:



Another terrific holiday drink is Feuerzangenbowle (fire-tongs punch), prepared by soaking a sugar loaf in rum and burning it over a pot of Glühwein, adding lots of rum to keep the loaf burning:



As far as holiday drinks go, that creamy American swill known as eggnog can't hold a candle to rummy fire punch.

Those are the only photos of the Christmas markets I have right now, but I'm sure a Google Image search for "Nuremberg Christkindlesmarkt" will turn up some nice postcard-worthy overview photos. All in all, it's pretty safe to say: If you haven't ever been to a German Christmas market it's definitely worth a visit.

I mentioned Christmas music earlier, which is another tradition where the USA and Germany differ. The Christmas music heard on American radios consists largely of modern music consisting of original songs or new, updated, and occasionally unbearable takes on older popular or traditional songs. Older popular songs like "White Christmas" or "Silver Bells" are also played in their original forms, at least on the stations I listen to. These songs are, as far as I can tell, much less popular in Germany. It seems to be more common to listen to classic (here meaning before 1900) choral or orchestral songs. On Christmas Eve, television stations almost always broadcast a classical Christmas concert performed by an orchestra and opera singers (or singers who perform the same general type of music). Also, due to the sheer amount of classical music that has been written, you won't hear songs being repeated ad nauseam and be completely sick of them by the end of the holiday season.

The last difference I'll write about here is the celebration of Christmas-related holidays leading up to Christmas itself. Whereas in America these weeks are usually filled with gift-shopping, making cookies, and decorating, perhaps putting up the Christmas tree (something which in Germany is traditionally reserved for Christmas Eve), in Germany the holidays of St. Nicholas Day and Advent are observed. St. Nicholas Day was the original day when St. Nicholas (Santa Claus) was supposed to come and give presents to children, through the admittedly odd method of having them leave their shoes out on the doorstep. Hopefully when the children open the door in the morning they will find their shoes not stolen, but filled with goodies. This is a tradition I have never seen observed in the US.

Advent is another holiday I would never have known about without living in Germany. One Advent-related tradition in Germany is the Advent calendar, which is apparently gaining popularity in the US. For those who have not heard of this, it's a type of calendar that marks the days from the first day of December leading up to Christmas Eve. Little doors numbered 1 through 24 are opened on the corresponding days of December, usually with some kind of treat or little picture inside. I remember it as a fun way to build up anticipation for Christmas Eve. The other Advent tradition that I haven't really seen in the US is the lighting of candles on the four Sundays leading up to Christmas Eve, which is apparently the traditional way of celebrating Advent.

In short, it seems Christmas in Germany has managed to maintain its traditional charm, even as a public national holiday. This is yet another example of how old traditions seem to be much better preserved in Germany than in the US, where many European traditions appear either to have been abandoned due to practicality and commercialism or were not even brought over from Europe in the first place.

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