Celebrate Christmas And Three Kings Day In Germany
Christmas preparations in Germany often begin on the eve of December 5th, the eve of St. Claus Day. People often set aside special evenings for baking spiced cakes and cookies, and making gifts and decorations. Little dolls of fruit are traditional Christmas toys.
Children leave letters on their windowsills for Christkind; a winged figure dressed in white robes and a golden crown and is the Christ Child’s messenger who delivers gifts. Sometimes the letters are decorated with glue and sprinkled with sugar to make them sparkle. There is also a Christmas Eve figure called Weihnachtsmann or Christmas Man, he looks like Santa Claus and also brings gifts.
Germans make beautiful gingerbread houses and cookies. The German Christmas tree pastry, Christbaumgeback, is white dough that can be molded into shapes and baked for tree decorations.
Christmas trees are very popular in Germany. Some homes in Germany have several Christmas trees, and in all towns across Germany, they can be seen glittering and glowing. Some homes also display advent wreaths, called Adventskranz. They are decorated with holly and have four candles in the center. Each Sunday a candle is lit and the last one is lit on Christmas Eve. Children count the days until Christmas using an Advent calendar where they open one window each day and find a Christmas picture inside.
Some families lock up one room of their home before Christmas. When the children are awoken by their parents at midnight, they find the room filled with gifts and a decorated Christmas tree.
On the eve of January 6, German households inscribe the initials of the Three Kings Casper, Melchior and Balthazar, and the current year over their doorways to protect their homes. Catholic boys and girls dress up as kings for Three Kings Day on January 6, and sing carols and collect money for donations to different projects and charities.
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