Froehliche Weihnacten

1
Froehliche Weihnacten!

• Merry Christmas from Germany!
• Appropriate for 3rd or 4th Grade

2
Gutentag!

• Hello! My name is Gretel and today I am going to
  share my favorite time of the year with you.
• In Germany, we celebrate some of the same
  holidays that you celebrate in the United States.
  My favorite is Christmas.
• We celebrate Christmas a little differently,
  though Lets explore the Christmas traditions in
  Germany!

3

• Weihnacten is the German word for Christmas.
• Saint Nickolaus, or as you know him, Santa Claus,
  came from Germany originally.
• The Christmas tree also came from Germany.
• Just like you, we buy or make Christmas presents
  for each other.

4

• In Germany, Christmas starts on the Day of
  Advent, which is the Sunday after November 26,
  and lasts until Three Kings Day on January 6.
• St. Nikolaus comes to visit us on December 6.
• We give gifts on December 24 (Christmas Eve), so
  on Christmas Day, we can spend the day with our
  family celebrating.

5
Mmm Delicious Goodies!

• During Christmas, my mutter makes lots of
  delicious goodies. Sometimes I get to help.
• My favorite cookies are the Zimtsterne, or
  Cinnamon Stars. Yummy! I think they taste
  heavenly.
• Mutter also makes Pfeffernuesse, or Pepper Nuts.
  Thats my brother Friedrichs favorite.

6
O Tannenbaum

• The tradition of decorating the Christmas tree is
  said to have begun with Martin Luther.
• The first Christmas Tree was decorated only with
  Candles.
• The candles were the inspiration for the
  twinkling lights you put on your Christmas trees.
• In Germany, we still use electric candles, and
  some people still use real candles to decorate
  their trees.
• The song, O Christmas Tree, was written in
  Germany about our Christmas trees.
• The German words for Christmas Tree are Der
  Weinachtsbaum or Christbaum.
• Tannenbaum means fir tree, which was the first
  Christmas tree.

• O Tannenbaum,
• o Tannenbaum,wie treu sind deine Blätter!Du
  grünst nicht nur zur Sommerzeit,nein auch im
  Winter, wenn es schneit.

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The Advent Wreath

• Advent starts the Sunday immediately after
  November 26.
• The Advent Wreath is made of fir with four
  candles one for each Sunday.
• Similar to what the Jewish traditions do with
  their Menorah during Hanukkah, we light one
  candle for each Sunday.
• On the Sunday before Christmas, the last candle
  is lit.

8
Stille Nacht

• One of the best known Christmas Carols came from
  Austria, which is near Germany.
• We call it Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht! but you
  may know it better as Silent Night.
• Stille Nacht was written in 1818 by Franz
  Gruber and Joseph Mohr for the choir at Franz
  Grubers church to sing.
• The organ was broken at the church, so Franz
  wrote a simple poem and asked Joseph to help him
  write music for it.
• Stille Nacht was originally performed in German
  with only a guitar and is now one of the most
  well-known Christmas songs in the world.

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Stille Nacht vs. Silent Night

• Original German
• Stille nacht, heilige nacht!
• Alles schläft, einsam wacht
• Nur das traute heilige Paar
• Holder Knab im   lockigten Haar,
• Schlafe in himmlischer Ruh!
• Schlafe in himmlischer Ruh!

• Literal English Translation
• Silent night, holy night
• Everyone sleeps alone watches
• Only the beloved holy couple
• Blessed boy in curly hair,
• Sleep in heavenly peace,
• Sleep in heavenly peace.

10
24 Days of Christmas

• Beginning December 1st, we get to open a new door
  every night.
• Behind the doors we open, we may find a new toy
  or chocolate.
• The 24 days before Christmas are the Days of
  Advent.
• Advent Sunday is four Sundays before Christmas.

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Lebkuchenhaus

• Sometime during the Advent, I help my mutter
  (mother) create a Lebkuchenhaus for Christmas.
• Can you guess what a Lebkuchenhaus is? Ill give
  you a hint haus in German means house in
  English.
• Thats right! Its a Gingerbread House! Have you
  ever made one? Im sending you a copy of the
  recipe so you and your mutter can try to make one
  this year.
• Sometimes the Lebkuchenhaus wont stay together,
  so we get to eat the candies and gingerbread that
  fall off. Yum, yum!
• Mutter says Lebkuchenhaus is hard to make, so she
  wont let us help put it together, but sometimes
  we get to help put the candies on.

12
Kris Kringle

• Kris Kringle is another term some people in your
  country use for Santa Claus.
• The name Kris Kringle came from a German name
  Christkindl.
• Christkindl is the German term for Christ-Child.
• In our country, Christkindl brings gifts on
  Christmas Eve and Saint Nicholas comes on
  December 6, which is Nickolaustag.

13
Saint Nikolaus

• Saint Nikolaus looks similar to Father Christmas
  or Santa Claus he wears a red robe, carries a
  sack, and has a long white beard.
• Saint Nikolaus visits us on December 6 and fills
  our shoes with goodies when we leave them on the
  fireplace.
• We leave hay or carrots outside for his horse.
• Saint Nikolaus is also called Sinterklass which
  is where your name for Santa Claus came from.
• Saint Nikolaus was a real person that lived in
  Turkey a long, long time ago and was known to
  have helped the poor. I have a list of websites
  you can look at if you want to learn more about
  my St. Nick and some of my other traditions.

14
Three Kings Day

• The Day of Epiphany, or Three Kings Day is the
  end of our Christmas celebrations.
• It is called the Heilige Drei Könige in German.
  
• Heilige Drei Könige celebrates the arrival of the
  Three Magi to Bethlehem when they visited the
  Christ child (Christkindl).
• On this day, we are visited by the three Magi,
  Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar On the eve of
  Three Kings Day (December 5), we inscribe the
  initials of the three Magi (CMB) plus the year
  on the top of our doors with chalk. This is
  supposed to protect our house.
• We may also leave hay and oats outside for the
  camels and horses of the Three Kings.

15
Germany vs. United States Christmas

• In Germany, Christmas starts with the first day
  of Advent on December 1.
• We have Saint Nikolaus to bring us gifts on
  December 6.
• Christmas goes until Three Kings Day on January 6
• Many Christmas traditions have their roots in
  Germany
• Christmas is a time of celebration!

• In the United States, Christmas is only 2 days
  December 24 and 25
• Santa Claus brings gifts on Christmas Eve
• Christmas is over after Christmas Day.
• The United States has adopted many Germany
  traditions and songs (like the Christmas Tree and
  Silent Night)
• Christmas is a time of celebration!

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To learn more about my Christmas

• Check out these websites
• http//www.cs.umb.edu/alilley/xmas.html. On this
  website you will be able to hear some of our
  traditional Christmas songs (you may recognize
  the tunes!) and also read more about our
  traditions and holidays).
• http//www.kidsdomain.com/holiday/xmas/around/germ
  any.html. This website also has lots of neat
  things about Christmas in Germany and you can
  learn where a lot of your traditions came from.
• http//www.german-way.com/christmas.html. This
  website tells you a little bit about the history
  of our traditions and tells you how and why we
  celebrate the way we do. It also tells you when
  the 12 days of Christmas really are but you
  have to look it up to find out. I wont tell!
• http//home.cvc.org/qball/germany.htm. This
  website tells you a little bit more about the way
  the Christmas tree started as well as some of the
  other Christmas traditions, like St. Nikolaus,
  the Christmas Market, and other things we enjoy
  at Christmastime.
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Nicholas.
  This website is all about Saint Nikolaus (or
  Nicholas). It tells about the real person, as
  well as the traditions we have now for St. Nick.

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I hope you have enjoyed learning about my
Christmas! Im looking forward to hearing more
about your holidays!
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Questions

• What other Christmas traditions does your family
  have?
• How is Saint Nikolaus similar to Santa Claus? How
  are they different?
• What is your favorite thing about Christmas?
• Why do you think Christmas in the United States
  is only Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, when
  countries like Germany celebrate Christmas for
  several weeks?
• What other holidays are celebrated during
  December?
• Additional reading and questions can be found at
  http//www.serve.com/shea/germusa/nikolaus.htm.
• Hope you enjoy my country celebration of
  Christmas!
• Gretel