15 Christmas Traditions Only Germans Will Understand

Red Gold · Dec 20, 2022

15 Christmas Traditions Only Germans Will Understand

Here I found this list.

The 11 Most Quintessentially German Christmas Traditions

Discover the special ways in which Germans traditionally celebrate the magical festival of Christmas.

theculturetrip.com

Now I wonder which of these you know.

Red Gold · Dec 20, 2022

As I am German, I could click for all the options.
Now I would be interested to see which of these you know.

Red Gold · Dec 20, 2022

The article speaks of 15 traditions - but I only saw 11

Friedrich Rubinstein · Dec 20, 2022

Red Gold said:
I only saw 11

Hmm, I can only see 10 options in the poll.

I have heard of Krampus Night, but didn't select it because I don't really know anything about it (except that he's the bad guy iirc). We don't have it in this part of the country

Red Gold · Dec 20, 2022

Friedrich Rubinstein said:
Hmm, I can only see 10 options in the poll.

In any poll you can only post 10 options - so I left one out of the 11.
But where are the 15 in the article, as promised?

Red Gold · Dec 20, 2022

Friedrich Rubinstein said:
I have heard of Krampus Night, but didn't select it because I don't really know anything about it (except that he's the bad guy iirc). We don't have it in this part of the country

There is no Krampus where I live either. - It is a Bavarian and Austrian thing.
But as the tradition is well known, I clicked for it.

Friedrich Rubinstein · Dec 20, 2022

Red Gold said:
In any poll you can only post 10 options - so I left one out of the 11.
But where are the 15 in the article, as promised?

Ohh, I see.

Well, there are definitely only 11 in the article. Perhaps the author knows more about culture than about math...

Red Gold · Dec 20, 2022

Friedrich Rubinstein said:
Well, there are definitely only 11 in the article. Perhaps the author knows more about culture than about math...

Good comment!

Yes, here is the link again:

The 11 Most Quintessentially German Christmas Traditions

Discover the special ways in which Germans traditionally celebrate the magical festival of Christmas.

theculturetrip.com

And I still see only 11 traditions - and not 15.

WarriorAngel · Dec 20, 2022

Red Gold said:
15 Christmas Traditions Only Germans Will Understand

Here I found this list.

The 11 Most Quintessentially German Christmas Traditions

Discover the special ways in which Germans traditionally celebrate the magical festival of Christmas.

theculturetrip.com

Now I wonder which of these you know.

I am familiar with all of them....except the drinks [because my grandparents didn't drink ever]
And Lebkuchen I also never heard of. Anise cookies... yes. My gram loved baking them. Took me lots of practice to finally find it ok enough to eat, however. [See trash bin]

I am grateful my grandparents, as awful as my gram's German stories were, [I call them German because they were awful by nature for children] I am ever so grateful Krampus was never celebrated.

WarriorAngel · Dec 20, 2022

Also, I couldn't fix my votes. Apparently my pc unvotes.

Red Gold · Dec 20, 2022

WarriorAngel said:
Anise cookies... yes. My gram loved baking them. Took me lots of practice to finally find it ok enough to eat, however. [See trash bin]

Anise cookies = Springerle.
They taste most lovely!
But if you do not know how to store them, they may get stone hard soon.

Red Gold · Dec 20, 2022

Now 4 out of 4 have voted for these:

Advent calendar (Adventskalendar)
Advent wreath (Adventskranz)

Red Gold · Dec 20, 2022

And:
Do not confuse Saint Nikolaus with Santa Claus - they are related, but different.

WarriorAngel · Dec 20, 2022

Red Gold said:
Anise cookies = Springerle.
They taste most lovely!
But if you do not know how to store them, they may get stone hard soon.

I had a LOT of issues with German foods.
Vinegar and myself well, we don't get along so much. I understand in the North it was necessary, but darn, yuck.
ANISE?
It took me til I was around my early 20's to finally choke one down and not toss it away and then keep eating them til I liked them.
Do I like them? No
But I can comfortably get them down to my stomach.

My son and I seek out German restaurants. Northern German foods still kinda gross but I learn to tolerate the pungent flavors.
Southern food... yummier.

WarriorAngel · Dec 20, 2022

Red Gold said:
Anise cookies = Springerle.
They taste most lovely!
But if you do not know how to store them, they may get stone hard soon.

Also my gram stored them in tins with baking papers. They were good for a week.

WarriorAngel · Dec 20, 2022

Friedrich Rubinstein said:
Ohh, I see.

Well, there are definitely only 11 in the article. Perhaps the author knows more about culture than about math...

The other tradition is skipping 4.

WarriorAngel · Dec 20, 2022

Honestly I think Stollen is the cousin of fruitcake.
I have one, had one in my freezer I finally decided to freeze that sat around for months without any problems.

I do believe I finally ate it or tossed it. It's good stuff. Unfortunately my kids won't eat it.

Red Gold · Dec 20, 2022

WarriorAngel said:
Northern German foods still kinda gross but I learn to tolerate the pungent flavors.
Southern food... yummier.

I am from the Southwest.

From the Grand-Duchy of Baden.

WarriorAngel · Dec 20, 2022

Red Gold said:
I am from the Southwest.
From the Grand-Duchy of Baden.

I am mainly clueless where my roots are.
My brother is doing the Ancestry thing.

I imagine, because vinegar was in almost everything she cooked, that probably Northern for us.
Unless she had a dead to taste tongue and just couldn't taste how awful that stuff really is.

I'm also Irish, and that food was boring.

Red Gold · Dec 20, 2022

WarriorAngel said:
I imagine, because vinegar was in almost everything she cooked

Does not sound nice!

15 Christmas Traditions Only Germans Will Understand

I know of these traditions ....

St Nicholas Day (Sankt Nikolaus Tag)

Krampus Night (Krampus Nacht)

Advent calendar (Adventskalendar)

Advent wreath (Adventskranz)

Epiphany and the Sternsinger

Mulled wine (Glühwein)

Feuerzangenbowle

Christmas angels (Weihnachtsengel)

Christmas stollen

Lebkuchen

Well-Known Member