How Germans Spend Christmas

Transcript

Manuel:
[0:09] It's December 24th, 2022, and I am not in Berlin. I am sitting in the room that used to be my room as a teenager and I am spending time with my family, as most Germans and people in Germany do over Christmas. And before I go to spend time with them, I wanted to share a little bit about how Germans spend Christmas. Obviously, everybody's different. Every family is different. Not everybody is Christian and even celebrates Christmas. But overall I would say that Christmas is the most important holiday of the year. It's the time that most everybody goes to spend time with their family, and almost everybody celebrates Christmas in one way or the other, even in secular households. 

Advent

[1:00] So before we talk about Christmas in and of itself, I think we need to talk about Advent, the Adventszeit. So that's the time leading up to Christmas, kind of the four weeks before Christmas. I'm not one hundred percent familiar with all the kind of Christian background details, but basically it's the time leading up to Christmas and you kind of celebrate, especially the Sundays before Christmas are important. So many households have a Christmas wreath, which is a thing with four candles. And then each Sunday leading up to Christmas you light one more candle, and so the Sunday before Christmas all four candles are lit. I used to go to a Christian school, and we even had one of those in our classroom, usually made by a parent or something. And so it's something that is cosy and kind of signals okay, one more week to go, two more weeks to go, whatever it is.

[2:08] The more exciting thing, maybe as a child, is the advent calendar. And this is something ... I think it's a very old tradition as well. I think way back in the day, people had advent calendars and you would basically open a little door each day before Christmas. So it starts on December 1st and then goes up to December 24th and you have doors numbered from 1 through 24. You open a little door, and back in the day it was just like a little drawing behind each door, and those advent calendars still exist as well. But nowadays it's taken a different form where there's usually chocolate or some kind of treat behind the door. So you can buy these advent calendars in the supermarket. And then, at the most basic, it's just a piece of chocolate behind every door. And then there's like more fancy ones that have different kind of candy or chocolate behind each door. And then there's ones for adults that even have, I don't know, alcohol or other things behind each door. 

[3:15] But the really cool ones and the ones that I have fond memories of, are the ones that your parents make for you. So my mum was super ambitious and creative with those I used to have. I remember one year I had kind of a hot air balloon, like a mini hot air balloon, hanging from the ceiling. And then the basket underneath it had these sacks, these weights that you need when you're using a hot air balloon, and those were little pouches. And in the little pouch there was one gift, one little tiny toy or chocolate or whatever it might be, for each day. And I just remember climbing up the kitchen chair every morning to find the right number and open it. And it's just ... it makes that time really special. 

[4:10] And it's something that many adults do for their significant other, for example. So it's something that, maybe if you're moving to Berlin, maybe if you're in a relationship with a German, you might be surprised that they might make one of those advent calendars for you. And then on December 1st, you get to open kind of the first door or the first package and it's ... yeah, it's really nice. It's really sweet.

Christmas Markets

[4:38] The advent time is also the time of Christmas markets. Those range from being just complete, commercial bullshit like the one at Alexanderplatz in Berlin or whatever, where it's just like, you know, food and drinks and, I don't know, stuff that you can buy that's made in China basically, to these really lovely, beautiful, magical Christmas markets that are often kind of in smaller towns or in the countryside. I know a few that are in front of a castle, literally, or on a farm that they then use for a few weeks to do the Christmas market where there's really these artisanal merchants, people making stuff at home and selling it. So that's really nice. And I would definitely recommend trying to go to a nice Christmas market if you're in Germany in December. 

Buying a Tree

[5:32] Buying a tree, I think is different from from family to family. Some people buy the tree kind of early ... early December. Many people buy it kind of shortly before Christmas, or even on Christmas Eve you can still go and buy a tree and then decorate it. And then, yeah, I think my family always decorated on like the morning of Christmas Eve, so on the 24th we would decorate the tree, and then it stays until January 6th usually. And then you take it down and you can put it on the street. In many cities there's like a service where they will pick up all the trees.

Holiday Shopping

[6:15] And then December is obviously the time of holiday shopping. I guess that's kind of universal. I think what's special maybe in Germany and Berlin is that normally all stores are closed on Sundays by law. You can't really open a store on Sunday unless it's like a gas station that has a little store inside or if it's in a train station. There are some exceptions but normally most malls and stores are closed on Sunday. But in many cities there are like special exceptions where stores can open three or four Sundays of the year, and those are usually happening in December because that's when everybody goes crazy. So there's usually like a buying shopping frenzy in December which I have no part in. I try to stay away from all of that, and try not to go to any stores during that time. But it's definitely a time where everybody buys gifts and stuff. 

Going Home for Christmas

[7:14] And then, people go home. People go home for Christmas. If you are traveling through Germany in December, I can only recommend kind of avoiding the 23rd, 24th, and then the days like right after Christmas, like those will be the busiest - the trains are crazy packed. And then if there's any bad weather at all, if there's snow or like extreme temperature, then for some reason our train system isn't well suited and then trains break down and stuff like that, and then it's just ... it's always a disaster. This year it's seemed to be pretty chill overall because the weather is also mild right now. But yeah, I would just recommend: buy your train ticket early. And if you can go on the 22nd, for example, already, that makes it easier. I traveled on the 22nd and the train was still packed, but I had a reservation, so I was fine.

Christmas Eve

[8:15] And then, yeah, I think the 23rd and 24th are kind of crazy. So the 24th is Christmas Eve, and that is the most important day, or the most important kind of part of Christmas here. Whereas in America, for example in the US, gifts are given on the 25th, here it's the eve, the night of the 24th. So depending on the family ... religious families usually go to church on the 24th, and then the gift giving is called Bescherung. That is a word that can't really be translated. It just means the giving of Christmas presents. And there's different kind of traditions of who brings the presents in different regions of Germany. It's interesting, where I grew up in the west of Germany, the Christkind, a little child, the child of Christ, comes to bring the presents. But I know that in eastern Germany there are different kind of traditions and stories.

[9:25] But yeah that, I think for many families, that happens kind of in the late afternoon, early evening, you sit around the tree. And so it's not that the gifts are already under the tree for like days in advance and you see them, it's more like as a child you have to leave the room ... like you have to get out of the living room at some point in the afternoon on Christmas Eve, and then a bell rings and you get to come back, and then all the Christmas presents are there, because the Christkind was there, or whatever. So that's a little different. And then everybody sits around the tree, or the living room, and you unwrap all the gifts. We always had ... I mean, my family was always ... like we spent Christmas Eve with just a few people, my grandparents, when they were still around my mom.

[10:20] But I think a nice tradition that we did, and that many families do, is that you kind of go around, and everybody gets to unwrap one gift at a time and everybody else has to watch, so that not everybody's unwrapping at the same time. And it kind of draws out that process and makes it fun for everybody because you get to kind of watch, what is it going to be? And everybody takes a look. And especially in my family, we're very chill on gifts, we don't give a lot of gifts, really. And we try to keep it kind of not as materialistic and just keep it low key. And so if there's not that many gifts to give, then drawing that process out a little bit and making everybody unwrap one at a time makes it so that it's not over in five minutes, basically. So that's a nice tradition, I think.

[11:12] And then once everybody has their gifts and has read their cards, then it's usually time for dinner. I know that some families do dinner first and then they do the gift giving. But in my family, we do the dinner after the gift giving. And dinner is also different from family to family. I've heard that in many German families, the traditional Christmas food is actually potato salad with sausage, which seems strange to me, but apparently is a German tradition. In my family we often do Raclette, which is popular on Christmas but also on New Year's Eve. And that's basically it. And then you stay up, spend time together, play games. Some families watch TV. There's special programs on TV, usually.

Days of Christmas

[12:07] And then the days of Christmas are the 25th and the 26th, which are the actual days of Christmas. So Christmas Eve on the 24th, stores are still open usually, at least for the first half of the day. So you can still go to the supermarket on the 24th, kind of in the morning, and even, I don't know, go to a mall. But then the 25th and the 26th are holidays. So everything's closed and that's usually when you kind of visit whatever the other side of the family or the the larger family comes together for a day or for dinner. So everybody's a bit different. Also, if you go to a different part of Germany, like I went to where I grew up, you try to go to see your friends from when you grew up there. Those are usually, kind of, those two days of Christmas.

[13:09] And then the time between Christmas and New Year's is a time that we have a special phrase for, or term for, zwischen den Jahren. So, "between the years." And it's a time that most people, or many people, get to take off. At least, if you're in some kind of office job or a white collar job, you get to take that time off. Obviously, retail people don't get to take that time off. It is the busiest time for retail of the year, which has always seemed so strange to me, like why would you rush to the malls and rush to the stores during that time that is really chill and relaxed and like ... why would you? It doesn't make any sense to me. I guess the reason is that people get money as gifts or gift cards and then they want to spend it. And also some people get gifts that they then want to return. I've been told that those are some of the reasons. But I would stay clear of any shopping during those days, because it's just too much.

[14:20] So that is a little bit about how people in Germany spend Christmas. It's a lovely time for many people. I know that for many people it's also a really stressful time, actually. It's a time where people who don't have a family, who don't have a home, who don't have much money, actually really suffer. There's also a lot of fights and breakups every year around this time. So I realize it's not easy for everybody. I'm in the lucky and fortunate position that for me it's always a really nice time where I get to relax a little bit and spend time with my family.

[15:03] Next week I'll be back with Jae and we'll talk about New Year's in Berlin, which is a little bit crazy. But until then have a lovely time whatever you're celebrating and wherever you are, and talk to you soon.