Please Note: These are observations and opinions based on our experiences. These are opinion based statements, not facts. It's very important in today's society that we remind ourselves of the differences. We didn't think it was necessary to put a disclaimer into every single one of our videos; however as some of our videos are reaching an audience who doesn't know us and/or have only seen a few videos, we feel this reminder is necessary. We want this to be a platform where we can share our opinions, observations and differences in a positive way. Differences are NOT a negative thing. It makes things interesting. We honestly feel that the world would be a very boring place if we were all the same. Thanks for watching!! Anyways, what is your favorite Christmas Tradition? OR What do you eat for Christmas???
Lobster. But we are aware that this is an unusual choice. We just happen to enjoy it because for one, nobody needs to spend hours in the kitchen and two, since the taking apart of the lobster takes some time, we spend a lot of time at the table without consuming too much calories. We do Raclette on the 25th for the same reason (well, minus the calories part).
We eat ham, Lamb chops (not every year, sometimes prime rib), stuffing, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, mashed potato, rolls, pie (pumpkin, pecan), cookies, and candies. I grew up opening most presents on Christmas eve, and my stocking was opened on Christmas day. Santa brought the stocking only. My mom's family has some English and German roots, so it all makes sense now. I live in NC but grew up in Ohio. My in-laws are Pennsylvania Dutch and Swedish. They follow some Swedish food traditions (Korv Sausage on Christmas Eve, ham on Christmas day), the make pepperkakar cookies too.
I grew up in Wisconsin here in the U.S. My family is German so we had Advent calendars and Advent wreaths (ours wreath had 5 candles - 4 candles for each of the Sundays in December and the 5th candle for Christmas Day), we celebrated St. Nikolaus on Dec. 6th, and we opened presents on Christmas Eve. Great video!
We began the Christmas holidays on Saint Nicholas Day (Mikuláš) which is December 6th. This is our Czech tradition. My family is English and Czech. This is the official day to begin baking.
Yes goose is the usual Chrismas dish. In France (I'm French but of German origin) it's turkey but much more often capon (Kapaun). The typical Christmas cake is "bûche de Noël", google it, it's easier to look at pictures than me explaining it here.
Maybe not as Truthahn but as Puter? That's another word for Truthahn. I know Puter as Christmas meal. We didn't do that, but my step aunt for example did it
I’m an American, and we had an advent calendar growing up! It was a giant felt rectangle that hung over a door with pockets for each day of the month of December until Christmas (the 1 through the 24th) that my mom and Appalachian grandma made themselves. My mom put little presents, like candy or jerky, in each pocket. We opened one each day as we counted down to Christmas (there were 5 of us, so the pockets had to be big)! At the top, there was a nativity scene. Every few days, we moved the shepherds and wisemen closer along a Velcro path to seeing Baby Jesus. My grandmother’s paternal side is at least partly German. I’m a millennial, so the tradition survived for quite a while!
I my family (germany) we had dinner and after dinner (maybe between the main meal and dessert) we could open presents. And then we have dessert and after that the kids play with the gifts and build lego or something like that. And then we sit around ply games and drink smth. And in the end we go to bed. On 25th and 26th we went to familymembers
My christmas tree doesn't come down till after jan. 06, the three kings day. In the mariana islands we have carolers and baby jesus going from house to house in each village and we do this on christmas day, three kings day and and one other day before three kings day. Alot of my family traditions are on catholic "t" traditions.
What you said is soo true! Been married to a German and we do all these things. Advent calendar is now a big thing in the states but 10 years ago, we were the only ones doing it. We celebrate advent with the advent wreath but this is mostly done in American Roman Catholic Churches. My daughter has been visited by St. Nicolas all her life on the 12/6 and the same is done in our Orthodox Church. No one else does that here. We celebrate Christmas Eve and have the Christkind come or El Niño Jesus (from my Mexican culture) with the gifts that same night. We unfortunately don’t have a 2nd day if Christmas, my husband has unfortunately not convinced anyone that it’s an actual thing. 😆 Enjoying your videos! Frohe Weihnachten!🎄
Saint Nicolaus obviously being the original character & christian patron saint that ultimately was made into that Santa Claus figure in US via the dutch Sinterklaas
In PL we have lots of the same traditions as in Germany like calendar , advent candles, 6th of December Saint Nicholas day, at 24th we have a big family dinner with giving a gifts , we also have 25th and 26th Christmas so second Christmas day ! :) And than we also visit our families :)
I'm from Québec, the French part of Canada. When I was a child the Christmas tree would be put up at the second week of December with a little nativity scene under it with all the characters except the baby Jesus because he wasn't born yet. On the 24th we would eat a big diner and have games and at midnight the youngest child in the family (me) would put the baby Jesus in the manger and then we would opened the presents.
In Sweden christmas eve the 24th is the big day. It is custom to start the day with a rice pooridge with milk, sugar and cinnamon. You also leave a bowl for Santa Claus. In the pooridge is usually a peace of almond and whoever gets the piece can make himself a wish. Something weird is that at 15:00 the swedish television is broadcasting Donald ducks christmas show and have been doing this since like the 60s or 70s. After the tv-show it is time for the holy grail of christmas: The swedish christmas table. It is like a smorgasboard of different dishes. Meatballs, small sausages, glazed ribs, different kinds of pickled herring, different prepared kinds of salmon, potato pies, potatos, different kinds of cole, "dopp i grytan" wich is like a soup/stock wich u dip your christmas bread in. After the christmas table it is time to open the presents. The presents are under the christmas tree but we usually dont put the presents there untill the day before christmas and we dont put up the christmas tree untill late, maybe mid december. As for Advent we also have advent candles (adventsljusstake) which counts down to christmas eve and chocolate calendars. Christmas day and the second day after christmas is mostly eating and resting. On christmas day many eat the leftovers from christmas and the second day of christmas many eat different things. Turkey have been the meal of choice in our family. The christmas tree is being carried out on "trettondagen" which translates to "the 13th day after christmas" and is celebrated to remember when the 3 wise men visited baby jesus. Now its just another holiday but many carry out the christmas tree then. As for why northern Europe celebrate christmas eve the 24th is because before the mechanical clock was invented, a new day started when the sun went down and darkness came. And according to the bible jesus was born on christmas eve the 25th so northern Europe started early. In Stockholm the sun goes down at like 14:00 so it is not that weird that during the medieval ages and before, people thought that it was christmas eve already.
We began/begin the Christmas holidays on Saint Nicholas Day (Mikuláš) which is December 6th. This is our Czech tradition. My family is English and Czech. This is the official day to begin baking. Our holidays are much like Deana described. Dessert after Christmas dinner was later the way Phil described and we also have advent calendars too. We would also have snacks and especially baked goods laid out all day to munch on.
Hi Deana and PhiI,I will close my company on December 24th. 2 p.m., all employees are free until January 2nd, then we start working again. Gather time for family and strength. Of course paid vacation. My employees are still the first team since the company was founded in 1998. Happy employees are so important.
Die Dekoration für Weihnachten, also auch der Baum und andere Lichtinstallationen dürfen erst nach Totensonntag (der letzte Sonntag vor dem Advent) angebracht werden... So habe ich es zumindest gelernt. All decorations forchristmas, including lights and the tree may not be put up before the 5th sunday befor Christmas eve. We call that Totensonntag (Sunday to mourn the dead) and its the last sunday before the advent starts (the time right before christmas eve with the candle every sunday as phil explained)
@@Curaca0Blue Das wäre dann der 2. Februar :o Das würde bei uns kein Baum überleben :D Ich kenne es, dass Hl. drei Könige (6. Januar) alles abgeschmückt wird.
Lasse Rinstrøm ja heilige drei Könige ist mit auch so bekannt das dort abgeschmückt wird. Eine Woche später rennen die ganzen Dorfvereine umher und sammeln die Bäume im Rahmen einer „Tannenbaumaktion“ ein. Noch nie mitbekommen das irgend jemand bis Anfang Februar seine Weihnachtsdekoration stehen lässt. 😁
We are from the southern United States. Growing up our church always had an Advent Candle Wreath. We also know all about the advent calendars! Even though our Oma is no longer alive I still a buy all the children advent calendars. We are a retired Army family and every commissary on Post has the advent calendars we look forward to them every year.❤️
German tradition is to put it up ON Christmas eve (though we put it up a little bit earlier, too, because it is less stressful) but we keep it longer. So three days before Christmas is actually on the early side for a German family.
In Puerto Rico and a lot of Latin American countries, we celebrate the Three Wise Men on 01/06. Kids leave a box of grass under their beds for the camels to eat, and the 3 Wise Men bring a gift to the children. As far as food, roasted pork, arroz con gandules (rice with green pigeon peas), lots of adult drinks, like coquito and pasteles (similar to tamales, but made with plantains and wrapped in a plantain leaf).
The tree is a Germanic tradition from all Germanic countries. It's an ancient heathen/ pagan tradition. I'm shifting our celebrations to Yule. We eat ham, mashed taters, cream corn, green beans, stuffing and other yummies on Christmas and Christmas eve. We also do Turkey.
There are certainly pagan and medieval precedents of decorated branches and trees. But in its modern form it was popularized and spread by German Protestants. It didn't really become a mass phenomenon until the 18th/19th centuries
We always do Raclette and Feuerzangenbowle on the 25th. Coffee and Cake on the 26th. The two days are practical because it allows you to basically split your time between different parts of the family...
Our turkey always has a stuffing. I think that's more personal preference. There are other traditional Christmas feast foods though. Goose or duck are pretty common. The proper traditional Christmas bird is really the goose. They have more fat than a turkey, which can make the meat less dry. Carp or some other fish also isn't unusual in some regions.
Yes totally, we do this with my family in Canada and also the Candle Advent Centerpiece. My mom is from Düsseldorf so she had instilled this tradition with us and so very happy that she did this.☺❤
First generation American-German, we didn't have advent calendar, but we did open all our gifts on Christmas Eve. We were sent to walk to our aunt's house because she always "forgot " to bring her gifts for us. Santa always came while we were gone and before every other family around us 😉. Christmas day we were recovering from Christmas Eve. We had goose for Christmas Day dinner. There was no second Christmas in our family. I miss our German traditions, they kind of went by when my parents passed away.
From Washington state, USA. Advent calendar is common. There is many of these German traditions are celebrated in this state. A very large German community here. I have German heritage myself, my dad was born in Schleswig. So, this is not uncommon. I am thoroughly enjoying these videos. Thank you for sharing so much.
Here in the Netherlands 5 december (Sinterklaas) is bigger than christmas, gettings gifs for christmas is only getting more popular the last few years.
We have advent calendars in the US. I had one that was filled with liquors! Also, I grew up as a Lutheran. We also have advent candles that you light each night. We also have the advent wreath (purple and pink). We also celebrate saint nicks day on Dec 6th by giving a small gift. Putting the tree up and putting gifts under early varies by family. We put our gifts under the tree Christmas Eve. We do a large Christmas gathering Christmas Eve with extended family and open gifts. Gifts for immediate family are opened on December 25th. We also do candlelight services at midnight. We have a big dinner at 2pm with ham or prime rib. No turkey, as thanksgiving is the turkey holiday. Also ham is more traditional. We also finish off dessert after a short break too. No 2nd Christmas, but that sounds fantastic. The reality is each region is different. My family comes from an area that was heavily settled by German immigrants. I grew up Lutheran and had to take German as a second language in high school(not speaking it has led my memory to decline). We have stollen and Christmas pyramids. We hide the pickle in the Christmas tree. We always have sauerkraut on Christmas.
Yuo, we have a lot of them here in the Netherlands as well. We put shoes in front of the heater from the day he arrives half November and on the 5th of December we have Present-evening. Sinterklaas gives us presents. It's a HUGE thing for mostly the kids. Does Germany also have kids singing Christmas songs at January 6th? We do, it's called Three Kings Day, kids go around the houses dressed as the Three Wise Kings of the Christmas story, and sing Christmas songs and get candy for it. It was VERY popular when I was a kid. It was officially the last day of Christmas.
I grew up in Germany as a German and our Christmas tree was not put up and decorated until December 24 in the afternoon in the living room. Then we went to a church service and then we had potato salad and hot Wienerwuerstchen or a hot Fleischwurst with a Broetchen. Then after the kitchen was cleaned, everybody went to the living room, prayed, sang Christmas songs and then we were allowed to open our Christmas presents. On December 25 we had a nice dinner (around noon) with the immediate family and on December 26, we had a nice dinner (around noon) with extended family. We had to go to Mass on Christmas Eve, and both Christmas holidays (December 25 and 26).
We in the Netherlands celebrate Sinterklaas (Sint-Nicolas) and Kerstmis (Christmas) in December. We love it!!!!!! And we get lots of presents on both days. And on Sinterklaas we get the presents just like the Christmas child. And on Christmas we just get them from beneath the tree with our families.
When I was a little child the gifts brought the Santa Claus (Weihnachtsmann), when I was older the gifts brought the Christmas child. I don't know who was under the costume, but possibly it was one of my uncles. And you get these gifts for a little poem.
When I (german) was a child, we put up the christmas tree some days before christmas eve to let the branches "set themselves" for a more natural look of the tree (Die Zweige können so aushängen, damit der Baum natürlicher aussieht und nicht mehr so gepresst wie im Netz, in dem er transportiert wurde). It was decorated at christmas eve's noon. We had lunch at 2 p.m. for some "hours" to keep us busy. When it got dark we kids had to go back to our rooms for the Christkind to come. When the bell rang, we could come back to the living room with the candles be lit on the tree and the presents separated for each kid. After giving and unwrapping and playing with the new toys we usually played all together or watch some TV. When we were older we had a drink or two together. 1st and 2nd day of Christmas was family and friends visiting time. Phil, you could have told the story of St. Nikolaus and Knecht Ruprecht. It's quite interesting.
I grew up in a German Reformed church in N.C. we've always done the Advent calendar and Advent candles except ours has 5 candles. One candle for the 4 Sunday's leading up to Christmas then a 5th candle is lit on Christmas Eve. There's 12 days of Christmas (I don't know anyone who celebrates all 12). It leads up to 3 Kings Day (this year I believe it's on January 6th). 3 Kings Day is in memory of the 3 Wise Men. Merry Christmas 🎄!!
Carol Graham , It's always on the sixth. The twelve days goes from December 25 to January 5, then christmas is over and the decorations are taken down on the 6th.
4 года назад+7
I always take a vacation day on the 26th because it’s depressing to go back to work right after Christmas. As a Catholic, the Christmas season lasts through Epiphany. I dislike how Christmas season seems to end on the day after in the US. We need to extend it!
Catholic Church says Advent is a season then on Christmas Eve the Christmas season starts and goes thru January 6 traditional thou sometime the Sunday closest to January 6.
Yet another fun video, even though it's now April. California Christmases my whole life. 1 present on Christmas Eve, and they were PJs! We were allowed to open our stockings QUIETLY starting at 6 am, then all the rest after the parental units got up. Christmas day dinner was about 2 pm. Turkey, stuffing, gravy, maybe mashed potatoes, squash (my mom is from Maine), cheese pearl onions, (the bomb diggity!), another veggie or two..... then an hour or so later, homemade pumpkin and/or apple pie, (my mom even made the crusts! Still does!!!) And, we typically had this same menu at Thanksgiving. Thanks again! It was fun hearing about your Christmases, and remembering mine, especially during covid19 lockdown. Stay safe, stay healthy!!
Christkind - I would have translated it to "child of Christ" 🤷♀️ At home (in Germany) the tree always got into the house on 23rd or 24th December. My grandmother told me, they left it there until the end of christmas time: Lichtmess on 2nd February. The Adventszeit was originally a kind of Fastenzeit - that got lost completely. And btw: Claus is a short form of Nicolaus 😉 strange, that he is celebrated on Christmas in the US 🤔
Wir haben an christmas eve Pute mit Klößen und Rotkohl gegessen und jede Menge Wein getrunken:) Am 1. Weihnachtstag waren wir mit der Familie im Restaurant und Morgen wird hart gechillt, können uns kaum rühren vom ganzen Essen. Unser Weihnachtsbaum wird eine Woche vorm Fest aufgestellt und geschmückt und bleibt bis zum 6. Januar stehen, Wenn's nach mir ginge würde ich es wie in Amerika machen, also 1 Monat den prächtigen Baum genießen. Wünsche euch eine wunderschöne Zeit und tolle Eindrücke.
There are definitely more and more Advent calendars seen in the US since there's so many product to market. We used to purchase some for our kids when they were little, either chocolate and there was one where they were Lego pieces and each day provided another piece so by Christmas day they can create a scene. But keeping all of those little pieces not lost were a pain. Being in the USA, we traveled to family for Christmas and then the day after (I guess that's Christmas Day 2) we would be driving up to see the other set of family. But most people in the US were heading back to the shops/malls to either exchange sizes, get batteries or buy more stuff that are now on sale. We always missed those because of traveling. But Christmas Day would be eat until you were uncomfortable, and eat some more, but I wasn't sure if that was from my side of the family (maybe I'm German - haha). How cool to hear about different traditions. For us, it wasn't about the gifts, it was about spending time with the family and having that time off and saving our vacation days so that we could do a longer one for the travel time and such. Merry Christmas!! It's great that you will create your own tradition!
In my family we use self made advent calendars. Sinterklaas (Saint Nikolaus) is BIG in the Netherlands. They have parades and a whole spiel how he arrives per boat each year in Rotterdam. In the UK 2nd Christmas Day is known as Boxing Day with it's own traditions. One of the oldest is that servants and their masters switch places. In the village I grew up it is known as Stefanussteinigen which is done with ludicrous amounts of alcohol. You can guess it's mostly a tradition for young adults.
I live in TN now after living in England for 8 yrs and from my experience the Aldi I worked at during Christmas once had a line out the door for all of the advent calendar sales and the ideas behind them - whether it be beer, wine, candy, chocolate and all sorts of other calendars in there!!!! It was crazy busy!!! I also think it is just as popular in the UK and everyone seems to to go to aldi, Lydl and Boots for these things! Really interesting 😁💖 love your Christmas vids and Markets vlogs! I really hope they open up this year with the vaccine in place!
American here. We had advent calendars. And I put out my shoes for St Nick! But I think my mom was consciously trying to revive some German traditions she heard about or experienced from her dad who was 1/2 German.
I am German and the "ChristKind" was a girl who had "Christlike" qualities who delivered our gifts on Christmas Eve. Much like the one who is dressed in a gown with gold and long blond hair you see at Christmas markets throughout Germany. The true "Christ Kind" is the one and only Baby Jesus. I miss celebrating the German Traditions in the US. It is just not the same. Although we do the Nikolaus Tag u. Advents Kalender. When we visit my parents we have a traditional Gans mit Knoedel u. alles drum u. dran. On Christmas Eve we had Bratwurst, sauerkraut u. mashed potatoes.
I remember Advent calendars when I was growing up, but then again I had an aunt over here from Germany. I went online to Amazon to see if they were a "thing" here and I found a ton of them. So yeah, we do Advent calendars in the USA. Merry Christmas, guys. Have a great holiday. 🎄⛄️❄️
First of all to the Dutch because on December 6th they got some presents because Sinter Klaas arrived in Spain by boat in November. A huge spectacle for the children in the Netherlands that even the Dutch television broadcasts it live for the children when Sinter Klaas arrives with the piets. My one himself likes the German way of celebrating Christmas. Is probably because I'm German. Wanted to add that most of the traditions for Christmas of the Americans came from the Germans, for example: the fir tree, gingerbread and nuts and apples in the tree, what to drink and eat for Santa Claus, which we do on December 5th to 6th because we provide it with the boots in front of the door.
I lived in Cincinnati for a while and the German Catholic families put out shoes for St Nicholas Day on Dec 6. That is the first time I learned of that tradition.
I'm swedish and we too have the advent calendar in many many different forms, we even have it on TV! Every year there is a new advent calendar on tv, it's like a series often christmas themed (duh) and it's a new episode every year starting december 1st and ends on december 24th. Every episode is about 15min long. we come together every sunday in advent and drink glögg (mulled wine), julmust and eat gingerbread cookies and lussekatter (saffronbread?). On December 13th we celebrate Lucia with a Luciatåg in every school, kindergarten, some workplaces and hotels. It's a procession with a girl in white with a crown with candles followed by other girls in white and boys with stars. We put up lots and lots of fairy lights and a christmas tree with only lights outside and have advent stars or adventlights (electrical) in every window starting on 1st of advent or december 1st depending on which comes first. The christmas tree inside is usually put up on december 23rd, but depending on family traditions this can occur earlier. Most presents is placed under the tree either when it's decorated if you do this on the 23rd, or when they are bought and wrapped. (some are saved somewhere else for santa to give). Everyone eats traditional christmas tables (julbord) which includes christmas ham, meatballs, cured salmon, sausages of different kinds, ribs, boiled potatoes and tons of other stuff in resturants or hotels at least once in December, traditionally at least once with friends and once with collegues. Then on December 24th we Celebrate Christmas. Families gather together we eat christmas table foods at lunch and at 3pm the whole country gathers in front of the TV to see Donald Duck in a special christmas episode. Then we eat some more and then SANTA ARRIVES! Swedish children actually get to meet santa and get some presents from him before he leaves and all other presents are opened. at this point most adults relaxe in some way while the children are playing with their presents. After this we usually eats rice porridge with cinnamon and milk. 1 almond is placed in the porriged and the one who gets is is supposed to be married the next year. On December 25th the mellandagsrea begins (annual big sale between december 25th and 31st, think black friday for a whole week) and people shop like crazy. Usually you spend time with family and friends in the evenings and eat food and wait for New Years.
Hey guys I just game across your channel 2 days ago. I’m a German married to a German Puerto Rican, which grew up in Florida. However her having a German mom , she had some understanding of our German traditions. I didn’t even finish the video but I have so much to say. Like it was weird to me that saint Nikolaus brings the gifts on the 25th rather than on the 6th. It’s the Christkind who brings our presents , which makes more sense since it’s Jesus birthday. Basically him sharing his presents with the world. And also Germans planed it out better since it’s 2.5 holidays were we can visit my spouse family one day and my family the next. But anyway you guys rock
From Australia. Many churches light the advent wreath candles. The 4 candles stand for peace, joy, love and faith. We have advent calendars too. We put our tree on Ad ent Sunday which is about 3 weeks before Christmas but some people put them up earlier. We give presents on Christmas day. However because we have German ancestry we sometimes give a gift on the eve. We eat either roast Turkey and vegetables etc or salads with cold Turkey and ham. Some people have barbecue. Because it's Summer here we tend to lay about trying to keep cool. We enjoy some great cakes too
Traditionell ist es die Weihnachtsgans. Inzwischen wird es mehr Truthahn. Aber ich kenne noch das traditionelle Weihnachtsabendmenü: Wiener und Kartoffelsalat. Zum Glück hasst meine Familie genau das. 😁😁😁😁😁. Ich kann mich zu Weihnachten in der Küche auszutoben.
So funny! My German boyfriend is here now and we celebrated our first Christmas together in the USA yesterday. A lot of what Phil is saying and his confusion to some US traditions were so representative of my S/O 😂 love it! Frohe Weihnachten Deana und Phil 🎅🏼🎁🎄
We don’t have too many Christmas traditions. But My sisters Birthday is on Christmas Eve so it’s always a lil different. Every year we make Rinderroladen & Kartoffeln Cause that’s her favorite food😁
My personal experience with german Christmas tradition differs a little from Phils'. Our Christmas tree was setup on Christmas eve which was changed later to the 23rd for not having to rush too many things on the same day and was taken down on January 6th. Luckily we didn't have such a common/simple meal as potato salad, we used to have real big and special meals throughout the 3 christmas days. This changed later to take some stress off my mom, so we went out for dinner the first too days and only had a special meal at home on the third day. Above all my presents were brought by the "Weihnachtsmann" (Christmasman/Santa Claus) and he visited me a little earlier on his route than Phil (approximately between 4-5pm).
@@margritpiepes8242 Oh ja das ist wahr 😊 ich glaube ich könnte mich nie daran gewöhnen in den Vereinigten Staaten die Weinachts Traditionen zu übernehmen 🤪
Here with my family in Brazil, it's summer... so we got a barbecue, a lot of beer and stuff! usually we would wait to have the "Christmas Dinner" after 00:00 of "24" I don't remember about traditions on gifts giving... but i was so excited about giving then away that I started it on 24, before the meal... waking on 25 after the hangover, there's the meal for the lunch (mostly also a bbq and left overs from yesterday), and since it's waaay hot, we go to a swimming pool to have some fun and since 26 is not a holiday, I came back home to work on the next day!
Really enjoy your videos. Here in Wisconsin which was a area that had a huge German immigration. We do celebrate st. Nick on the 6th of Dec. Advent is very popular in the churches and we do give advent calendars to our kids to use. this year i received a German beer advent calendar from my kids. Great gift. I'm sure it's the same in the other areas of the US that had large pockets of German immigrants, like Penn., Ohio and Texas. Keep up the great work.
Same here. And we have had and advent wreath at our church every year. There is a huge one in outside that has 4-5 foot candles(electric lights) that are lit up each week.
So i wondered about the Christmas child thing. In the south and west part of Germany, apparently it'a the Christmas child, that will bring the presents. For me that was new, because in the northern, eastern and middle part of Germany, we have the Santa Claus (Weihnachtsmann) tradition. Most families, especially those with kids even hire a costumed Santa, that comes at Christmas eve and bring the nice kids presents.
@@luckyqualmi Yes, you are right. But lets cut Phil some slack as he is translating word for word. At least he is trying and speaks very good English as a second language. How many Americans can say they speak two languages or more? :) (I am not American).
btw.. did you know Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve is a German thing? As our priest explained: Throughout Europe most people live some distance from the village center where the restaurants, inns, businesses, churches, etc. are. So people would travel in to the center on Christmas Eve to be festive - usually eat and drink too much - and not want to travel all the way back home and then come back to the center the next day for Christmas mass. So the people started sleeping around the centers wherever they could find room so they'd already be there for church the next morning as at the time the only masses were on Christmas Day. As German weather in late December is usually cold and wintry, the people would look for a warm, dry place to sleep for the night and, since the churches weren't locked, people started sleeping in them. The clergy didn't care for this and came up with the idea of having masses late that night after all the bars closed so they could be done with the drunkards and send them on their ways.
For my family (German) it's like this: 3 days or even on 24th we get and decorate the Christmas tree (there are no gifts under the tree) 24th December: we go to service, then our grandparents (dad's part of the family) come over and we eat (mostly wieners and potato salad). Then my parents disappear to "get something for the table" and close the kitchen door. After a few minutes a bell rings and we can come in the living room and there are a lot of presents under the tree. Before opening we have to sing a few songs. 25th December: we go to dad's part of the family at lunch, get some more gifts and eat deer with Knödel or Spätzle, salads, Kraut, Rotkohl and more. But there is no Kaffee und Kuchen. Only some singing and Cookies with Alkohol. Which writing now sounds like a weird mix to me. 26th December: We drive an hour to my mothers side of the family. We eat at a restaurant and then drive to my grandparents place where we get to open more gifts and eat Cookies with hot drinks (Coffee, Hot chocolate, Tea) That's what my family does for Christmas
I'm from the Philippines and I laughed when Phil was shocked that Americans were setting up their Christmas trees after Thanksgiving. In our country, ber months are the Christmas months! 🤣 as early as September, you will see a lot of family stores on the highway selling Christmas decorations with a lot of Christmas lights! And you will even hear Christmas carols in malls like Christmas in our Hearts by Jose Mari Chan and All I Want for Christmas by Mariah Carey 🤣
I love all the German traditions! For me growing up in the Midwest US, I don't remember the gifts going under the tree weeks in advance... I think it's more common that the parents put the gifts under the tree the night before Christmas after the children have gone to bed, since that is when Santa is supposed to deliver them. In my family we were allowed to open one gift on Christmas Eve, and the rest Christmas morning. My husband's family celebrates on Christmas Eve, and the kids get to open stocking gifts Christmas morning. I know what Advent calendars are, but I've never had one. I've seen them in some stores I think, but they are not common. In my family we didn't have a specific go-to meal for Christmas, we'd usually have a nice breakfast together before opening gifts (but we aren't typical in that regard). My husband's family, also Midsesterners, eat a big roast (some cut of beef), mashed potatoes, gravy, and sides... Then the dessert is TONS of Christmas cookies of all kinds that the family bakes starting weeks before Christmas and freezing them. And yes, I can totally relate to the coffee and dessert coming out before you are ready but eating it anyway -- how you describe it sounds exactly like Thanksgiving here! Anyway, loved the video, happy holidays to you both, and great transition at the end of the video Phil! 😊
Another thing you didn't mention: the Christmas tree will be in the home until the 2nd of February, Mariä Lichtmess (Candlemas), exactly 40 days after Christmas. Also here in Austria it's usually decorated on the 23rd (or even 24th, so that the parents are decorating it while the Christkind comes with the presents until the bell is rung for the kids to be allowed to enter the room). The 24th is also commonly called "Weihnachten" (Christmas) while the 25th is "Christtag". Growing up it was just the day after Christmas for me; until I knew more about the world the 25th and 26th ("Stefanitag") were just two holidays after Christmas where you visit other parts of the family and feast or just stay at home and enjoy the quietness.
Nightey , February 2? I never heard of that, except for maybe the Eastern Orthodox Christmas, which starts in January. Isn't the tree a fire hazard after 40 days?
Germany and Scotland share some traditions. We have advent calanders. When I was a child there was no chocolate just Christmas pictures with the big window being a stable picture. We do the advent wreath too the candles symbolise love peace joy and faith on Christmas day we light a fifth candle. We also do the boxing day visits to other family members. In our family we got one gift to open after we came back from kirk it was always a book. The presents went under the tree once we were in bed on Christmas eve for the big opening on Christmas day and the tree went up around the 22nd.
I was raised in a lutheran church, by german parents and the calendars were as natural to us as a christmas tree. Wonderful which i kept up with my kids.
Most important feature to know about the German Christkind: It is never ever to be seen! Especially not by any child. The German adults might sometimes tell their children on Christmas Eve that "they think they just caught a glimpse of its right wing" (or some similar story), but it's supposed to stay a hidden character to bring the gifts. Nobody has ever seen the Christkind in real!
Thats not right. I am from the north of Hessia and we have a poem written here, called „Denkt euch ich habe das Christkind gesehen“ ( imagine, I saw the christ child).
@@stanislawstaszic6941 Das bestätigt noch, was ich gesagt hatte. Die Tatsache, dass jemand das Christkind tatsächlich und leibhaftig gesehen haben könnte, ist nahezu unerhört und fast ja gar nicht zu glauben. "Denkt euch ..." (altertümlich für) "Stellt euch bloß mal vor ...". Aber natürlich gilt das nur, wenn kleine Kinder im Spiel sind, die noch daran glauben. Das Gedicht, das du zitiert hast, richtet sich vor allem ja auch an kleinere Kinder. So eine Art Märchenstunde. Breaking News für die Kids, wenn man so will 😁
He's one of the important Saints of the roman catholic church. The Bishop Nicholas of Myra (* between 270 and 286 in Patara; † 6. Dezember 326) was one of the first Saints. This Shoes outside thing is because of the myth that he heard that a poor man has not enough money to provide a marriage portion for his three daughters. At this time the only options where more or less to get them married or sell them to a brothel. He (Saint Nicolas) then sneaked at three nights to the house of the poor man and put gold at the front of the windows of the first, second and 3th daughter, so they could be married and don't need to live as prostitutes. It is also known that he was not a "politcal correct" bishop. Often fighting with the officals etc.
I started the tradition with my kids 45 years ago, and I always had an advent calendar as a child, We put shoes out and we got nuts, fruit, chocolate, and small toys we had Dutch shoes. my mon's side is Irish, English, and Scandinavian, My dad's side, is Irish, Scandinavian, Dutch, and German. We open gifts Christmas Eve after church we have at like 1 a.m. with glogg, or cider. It is from my mom's English heritage.
In Chicago my German American family celebrate St Nick’s by putting shoes outside the night before the 6th. We also love our Advent calendars. Catholics all have Advent Wreaths in Church. In school you’d put a paper flame on the wreath on Monday. We also open our gifts on Christmas Eve.
We’re in the Midwest in Ohio …I’m sure different regions , states, cities throughout the US do some of these, some may do entirely different. I’m sure that Religion, ethnicity, Family...factor into everyone’s Christmas traditions. Catholic’s celebrate St. Nicholas day… at Catholic school the kids here still put their shoes outside their classrooms for a treat. We also always got advent calendars for our kids.. I recently saw wine advent calendar’s at Aldis grocery with tiny bottles if wine instead of candy… the perfect adult treat. It’s also a tradition to keep your tree and decorations up until the day after the epiphany…which is January 7th. Which is the 12th day of Christmas. My favorite tradition is the pickle ornaments … we’ve done it for over 30 years. It’s hidden well on the tree and the first child who finds it receives an extra small prize gift .
I'm third generation German (both sides of family are traceable to immigration in 1850-60) and so many of the traditions you shared are what we did, like opening Christmas Eve, Advent Wreaths, etc.
The Christkindel (christchild) is a tradition of Austria, south and parts of west Germany. In rest of Germany we get visit from Weinachtsmann ( word by word translation: christmas man = Santa Claus)
From Illinois. We had an advent calendar when I was a kid (along time ago). No candle lighting tradition. 🕯No December 6th St. Niklaus. Of course we had a Christmas tree!🎄We always opened our presents on Christmas Day, other people on Christmas Eve, different family traditions. 🎁 Lots of food. No 2nd day of Christmas. Back to work.
I'm a Cajun Creole Catholic from southern Louisiana with the exception of the Christmas Child I grew up with all these traditions. Christmas Eve was a snack @10pm and Midnight mass. Christmas day getting our presents form Pere Noel in the mourning and family gifts in the afternoon following Christmas Dinner.
We have a small cabinet with 25 drawers to place xandt or small toys in to be opened to countdown for Christmas. When you open each drawer it plays a different Christmas song. We purchased it Hallmark.
In Canada my family didn’t have advent calendars but other people I knew did, but I don’t think they were as big of thing as they are now. Also, no Boxing Day in the US? I had no idea. For us it was another Christmas Day with family and more food, relaxing and playing with our new stuff. I can’t imagine not having that day as well as Christmas. We opened presents Christmas morning but my husband, whose parents were from Germany opened them Christmas Eve. We also had advent wreaths with 3 pink and one purple candle to count down to Christmas, it’s a religious thing. I really enjoy your videos. Thank you.
Our German/American familiy tends to all the traditions: dinner with the family on the 24th, but not goose, but turkey with stuffing, cranberry sauce, etc. Half the presents on the evening of the 24th and half on the morning of 25th. Christmas tree up early, but presents under it not before the 24th. Advent calendars and advent wreath. Gluehwein and Eggnog.
Christmas Eve we and another family with whom we are close friends meet at our house after we go to our respective churches and eat dinner together. I prepare the meal, which includes one of two things that we only eat on this day. I either serve roast duck with knedliky and red cabbage from Czech tradition or prime rib with asparagus, French style cream potatoes, and Yorkshire pudding. We bake cookies and make lots of candies for the Advent/Christmas seasons that are placed on a tray, but also serve pies that are from my Southern US tradition. We eat dessert while watching a movie together, then exchange gifts between our families. We end the evening with singing of Christmas carols and songs around the piano together. On Christmas Day, our family eat a nice breakfast, usually including pancakes that my wife makes, then we open our gifts. We watch some Christmas programs together usually and call our families who all live away from us. In the late afternoon we eat gumbo that I make each year and more dessert for those who want. From there the food is just left out to be eaten freely.
My father used to send me an advent calendar from Switzerland, as it's also popular there. I love these and they really do add the extra excitement of the holidays! Love your videos, guys, and please go to Switzerland and do some videos!!!
In my family in Germany it's a little different from the timing. At around 7-8 pm we have dinner and afterwards we go to church at 10pm so really late. And finally after church we sit together in the living room and unpack the presents on at a time so when I open a present everyone is watching and after I finish I choose the next package thats going to be opened for another family member. Because of this we often sit there until 3 am . But I really like it that way so you have a lot of quality time with your family:)
We have them in Denmark too, two of the calendars sold are related to the annual tv-xmas calendar shows shown on DR and TV2, and each support charities, DRs support kids in developing countries (different specific project each year), TV2s supports a childrens cause within Denmark, they don't contain goodies though, but something that relates to the show, plus you of course get to help kids in need.
The order of things on christmas eve he referred to is not a German tradition. In at least a bit religious families there is no unwrapping of presents before attending christmas service. In this case people usually attend the early service (late afternoon/ early evening and presents and food come after that...).
In my family we usually open a gift on Christmas Eve, and it’s always pajamas. Then instead of having a big meal we just basically snack on cheeses and breads and dips and baked goods. Christmas Day is when we do the presents and the big dinner. I would loooooove to have a second day of Christmas instead of having to work on Boxing Day though, that is literally the dream. Even though we have adopted Black Friday in Canada for the most part it’s not very big and I’d say Boxing Day is a lot closer to the insanity of American Black Friday haha
We had a German tradition and ate Pickled herring on New Year's Day for good luck. We also celebrated St. Nicholas day. But, those traditions are slowly being forgotten.
December 5th is also a big one for Bavarian Germans. The night before Saint Nikolaus day is Krampus night (Krampusnacht) . It is a super weird and scary way to scare German children and make sure they are well behaved.
Please Note: These are observations and opinions based on our experiences. These are opinion based statements, not facts. It's very important in today's society that we remind ourselves of the differences. We didn't think it was necessary to put a disclaimer into every single one of our videos; however as some of our videos are reaching an audience who doesn't know us and/or have only seen a few videos, we feel this reminder is necessary. We want this to be a platform where we can share our opinions, observations and differences in a positive way. Differences are NOT a negative thing. It makes things interesting. We honestly feel that the world would be a very boring place if we were all the same. Thanks for watching!!
Anyways, what is your favorite Christmas Tradition? OR What do you eat for Christmas???
I moved to Austria and I have to tell you i from the us,but my girlfriend is fromy germany so yea its really weird for Christmas
white sausages, pretzel with butter and ‘bacon-salad’😂
Lobster. But we are aware that this is an unusual choice. We just happen to enjoy it because for one, nobody needs to spend hours in the kitchen and two, since the taking apart of the lobster takes some time, we spend a lot of time at the table without consuming too much calories. We do Raclette on the 25th for the same reason (well, minus the calories part).
We eat ham, Lamb chops (not every year, sometimes prime rib), stuffing, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, mashed potato, rolls, pie (pumpkin, pecan), cookies, and candies. I grew up opening most presents on Christmas eve, and my stocking was opened on Christmas day. Santa brought the stocking only. My mom's family has some English and German roots, so it all makes sense now. I live in NC but grew up in Ohio. My in-laws are Pennsylvania Dutch and Swedish. They follow some Swedish food traditions (Korv Sausage on Christmas Eve, ham on Christmas day), the make pepperkakar cookies too.
Im from England’s and I don’t do the shoe thing on the 6th but I thought at nickolas was santa
Ich persönlich finde es viel schöner,die Geschenke abends zu öffnen. Es ist einfach diese Atmosphäre. Find's einfach mega schön
Isso
kuschlig
I grew up in Wisconsin here in the U.S. My family is German so we had Advent calendars and Advent wreaths (ours wreath had 5 candles - 4 candles for each of the Sundays in December and the 5th candle for Christmas Day), we celebrated St. Nikolaus on Dec. 6th, and we opened presents on Christmas Eve. Great video!
Proper German family
Same here in Minnesota
We began the Christmas holidays on Saint Nicholas Day (Mikuláš) which is December 6th. This is our Czech tradition. My family is English and Czech. This is the official day to begin baking.
Goose is more popular than turkey in Germany. At least I never heard someones cooking turkey for Christmas.
Same here. Never even heard of eating turkey for Christmas. It's either goose or, more traditional, carp. Turkey isn't a thing in Germany at all.
Yes goose is the usual Chrismas dish. In France (I'm French but of German origin) it's turkey but much more often capon (Kapaun). The typical Christmas cake is "bûche de Noël", google it, it's easier to look at pictures than me explaining it here.
Maybe not as Truthahn but as Puter? That's another word for Truthahn. I know Puter as Christmas meal. We didn't do that, but my step aunt for example did it
I’m an American, and we had an advent calendar growing up! It was a giant felt rectangle that hung over a door with pockets for each day of the month of December until Christmas (the 1 through the 24th) that my mom and Appalachian grandma made themselves. My mom put little presents, like candy or jerky, in each pocket. We opened one each day as we counted down to Christmas (there were 5 of us, so the pockets had to be big)! At the top, there was a nativity scene. Every few days, we moved the shepherds and wisemen closer along a Velcro path to seeing Baby Jesus. My grandmother’s paternal side is at least partly German. I’m a millennial, so the tradition survived for quite a while!
Continue the tradition! Things like this are precious and help make up the Christmas Spirit!
I’m late to the party but I was an 80’s kid and we had advent calendars also. Usually a small toy or treat for each day.
I my family (germany) we had dinner and after dinner (maybe between the main meal and dessert) we could open presents. And then we have dessert and after that the kids play with the gifts and build lego or something like that.
And then we sit around ply games and drink smth. And in the end we go to bed. On 25th and 26th we went to familymembers
Omg reminnds me of my Home for christmas in the 70😄
My christmas tree doesn't come down till after jan. 06, the three kings day.
In the mariana islands we have carolers and baby jesus going from house to house in each village and we do this on christmas day, three kings day and and one other day before three kings day. Alot of my family traditions are on catholic "t" traditions.
Stewart Tele -Dec.26 to Jan. 6. Is the 12 days of Christmas. Some families take down the Christmas tree and Decorations on Jan 6!
What is the story about this Krampus fellow?
What you said is soo true! Been married to a German and we do all these things. Advent calendar is now a big thing in the states but 10 years ago, we were the only ones doing it. We celebrate advent with the advent wreath but this is mostly done in American Roman Catholic Churches. My daughter has been visited by St. Nicolas all her life on the 12/6 and the same is done in our Orthodox Church. No one else does that here. We celebrate Christmas Eve and have the Christkind come or El Niño Jesus (from my Mexican culture) with the gifts that same night. We unfortunately don’t have a 2nd day if Christmas, my husband has unfortunately not convinced anyone that it’s an actual thing. 😆 Enjoying your videos! Frohe Weihnachten!🎄
Saint Nicolaus obviously being the original character & christian patron saint that ultimately was made into that Santa Claus figure in US via the dutch Sinterklaas
and also Santa Claus was made popular by The Coca-Cola Company in America and Germany after World War II.
And the "Kristkindl" is just jesus
But the very original "santa" is actually Odin!!!
Advent calendars are a thing in the US too.
Yes anywhere in the world now. But it Christmas advent originated in Germany.
When I was a kid we had advent calendars, also I note I lived in a part of Pa where there were a lot of people that were German Americans
In PL we have lots of the same traditions as in Germany like calendar , advent candles, 6th of December Saint Nicholas day, at 24th we have a big family dinner with giving a gifts , we also have 25th and 26th Christmas so second Christmas day ! :) And than we also visit our families :)
I'm from Québec, the French part of Canada. When I was a child the Christmas tree would be put up at the second week of December with a little nativity scene under it with all the characters except the baby Jesus because he wasn't born yet. On the 24th we would eat a big diner and have games and at midnight the youngest child in the family (me) would put the baby Jesus in the manger and then we would opened the presents.
Bonjour, Hi..😄
Ich bin auch aus Deutschland, und zu uns kommt immer der Weihnachtsmann
Kommt drauf an wo du wohnst. In Bayern kommt eher das Christkind. Bin aus Hessen. Zu uns kam auch immer der Weihnachtsmann
I'm from Greece and for us gifts are given on New Year's Eve so the new year will come bringing gifts and joy to everyone.
In Sweden christmas eve the 24th is the big day. It is custom to start the day with a rice pooridge with milk, sugar and cinnamon. You also leave a bowl for Santa Claus. In the pooridge is usually a peace of almond and whoever gets the piece can make himself a wish. Something weird is that at 15:00 the swedish television is broadcasting Donald ducks christmas show and have been doing this since like the 60s or 70s. After the tv-show it is time for the holy grail of christmas: The swedish christmas table. It is like a smorgasboard of different dishes. Meatballs, small sausages, glazed ribs, different kinds of pickled herring, different prepared kinds of salmon, potato pies, potatos, different kinds of cole, "dopp i grytan" wich is like a soup/stock wich u dip your christmas bread in.
After the christmas table it is time to open the presents. The presents are under the christmas tree but we usually dont put the presents there untill the day before christmas and we dont put up the christmas tree untill late, maybe mid december. As for Advent we also have advent candles (adventsljusstake) which counts down to christmas eve and chocolate calendars. Christmas day and the second day after christmas is mostly eating and resting. On christmas day many eat the leftovers from christmas and the second day of christmas many eat different things. Turkey have been the meal of choice in our family. The christmas tree is being carried out on "trettondagen" which translates to "the 13th day after christmas" and is celebrated to remember when the 3 wise men visited baby jesus. Now its just another holiday but many carry out the christmas tree then.
As for why northern Europe celebrate christmas eve the 24th is because before the mechanical clock was invented, a new day started when the sun went down and darkness came. And according to the bible jesus was born on christmas eve the 25th so northern Europe started early. In Stockholm the sun goes down at like 14:00 so it is not that weird that during the medieval ages and before, people thought that it was christmas eve already.
In our family, the Christmas tree was always put up and decorated together on the morning of 24 December.
als ich ein Kind war, war es bei uns auch so.
Every country has its own Christmas Traditions, and it's really cool to know how people celebrate this holidays ❤️
We began/begin the Christmas holidays on Saint Nicholas Day (Mikuláš) which is December 6th. This is our Czech tradition. My family is English and Czech. This is the official day to begin baking.
Our holidays are much like Deana described. Dessert after Christmas dinner was later the way Phil described and we also have advent calendars too. We would also have snacks and especially baked goods laid out all day to munch on.
Hi Deana and PhiI,I will close my company on December 24th. 2 p.m., all employees are free until January 2nd, then we start working again. Gather time for family and strength. Of course paid vacation. My employees are still the first team since the company was founded in 1998. Happy employees are so important.
In Switzerland January 2nd is considered a holiday.
Die Dekoration für Weihnachten, also auch der Baum und andere Lichtinstallationen dürfen erst nach Totensonntag (der letzte Sonntag vor dem Advent) angebracht werden... So habe ich es zumindest gelernt.
All decorations forchristmas, including lights and the tree may not be put up before the 5th sunday befor Christmas eve. We call that Totensonntag (Sunday to mourn the dead) and its the last sunday before the advent starts (the time right before christmas eve with the candle every sunday as phil explained)
Genau, und abgeräumt wird erst zu Mariä Lichtmess.
@@Curaca0Blue Das wäre dann der 2. Februar :o
Das würde bei uns kein Baum überleben :D
Ich kenne es, dass Hl. drei Könige (6. Januar) alles abgeschmückt wird.
Lasse Rinstrøm ja heilige drei Könige ist mit auch so bekannt das dort abgeschmückt wird. Eine Woche später rennen die ganzen Dorfvereine umher und sammeln die Bäume im Rahmen einer „Tannenbaumaktion“ ein. Noch nie mitbekommen das irgend jemand bis Anfang Februar seine Weihnachtsdekoration stehen lässt. 😁
@@doc5622 Die Tradition mit Heilige Drei Könige ist evangelisch, für Maria Lichtmess katholisch. Kommt also darauf an.
We are from the southern United States. Growing up our church always had an Advent Candle Wreath. We also know all about the advent calendars! Even though our Oma is no longer alive I still a buy all the children advent calendars. We are a retired Army family and every commissary on Post has the advent calendars we look forward to them every year.❤️
German tradition is to put it up ON Christmas eve (though we put it up a little bit earlier, too, because it is less stressful) but we keep it longer. So three days before Christmas is actually on the early side for a German family.
In Puerto Rico and a lot of Latin American countries, we celebrate the Three Wise Men on 01/06. Kids leave a box of grass under their beds for the camels to eat, and the 3 Wise Men bring a gift to the children.
As far as food, roasted pork, arroz con gandules (rice with green pigeon peas), lots of adult drinks, like coquito and pasteles (similar to tamales, but made with plantains and wrapped in a plantain leaf).
The tree is a Germanic tradition from all Germanic countries. It's an ancient heathen/ pagan tradition. I'm shifting our celebrations to Yule. We eat ham, mashed taters, cream corn, green beans, stuffing and other yummies on Christmas and Christmas eve. We also do Turkey.
There are certainly pagan and medieval precedents of decorated branches and trees. But in its modern form it was popularized and spread by German Protestants. It didn't really become a mass phenomenon until the 18th/19th centuries
So brave and trendy!
More than anything, I think the evergreen branches, etc., were used to freshen the air in, I'm sure, those stinky, stinky, houses/barns.
We always do Raclette and Feuerzangenbowle on the 25th. Coffee and Cake on the 26th. The two days are practical because it allows you to basically split your time between different parts of the family...
Our turkey always has a stuffing. I think that's more personal preference.
There are other traditional Christmas feast foods though. Goose or duck are pretty common. The proper traditional Christmas bird is really the goose. They have more fat than a turkey, which can make the meat less dry. Carp or some other fish also isn't unusual in some regions.
We did advent calanders when I was a kid. Especially common if you're Catholic or Angican. We do Advent candles at our church too.
Yes totally, we do this with my family in Canada and also the Candle Advent Centerpiece. My mom is from Düsseldorf so she had instilled this tradition with us and so very happy that she did this.☺❤
First generation American-German, we didn't have advent calendar, but we did open all our gifts on Christmas Eve. We were sent to walk to our aunt's house because she always "forgot " to bring her gifts for us. Santa always came while we were gone and before every other family around us 😉. Christmas day we were recovering from Christmas Eve. We had goose for Christmas Day dinner. There was no second Christmas in our family. I miss our German traditions, they kind of went by when my parents passed away.
From Washington state, USA. Advent calendar is common. There is many of these German traditions are celebrated in this state. A very large German community here. I have German heritage myself, my dad was born in Schleswig. So, this is not uncommon.
I am thoroughly enjoying these videos. Thank you for sharing so much.
Here in the Netherlands 5 december (Sinterklaas) is bigger than christmas, gettings gifs for christmas is only getting more popular the last few years.
We have advent calendars in the US. I had one that was filled with liquors! Also, I grew up as a Lutheran. We also have advent candles that you light each night. We also have the advent wreath (purple and pink). We also celebrate saint nicks day on Dec 6th by giving a small gift.
Putting the tree up and putting gifts under early varies by family. We put our gifts under the tree Christmas Eve. We do a large Christmas gathering Christmas Eve with extended family and open gifts. Gifts for immediate family are opened on December 25th.
We also do candlelight services at midnight.
We have a big dinner at 2pm with ham or prime rib. No turkey, as thanksgiving is the turkey holiday. Also ham is more traditional. We also finish off dessert after a short break too.
No 2nd Christmas, but that sounds fantastic.
The reality is each region is different. My family comes from an area that was heavily settled by German immigrants. I grew up Lutheran and had to take German as a second language in high school(not speaking it has led my memory to decline). We have stollen and Christmas pyramids. We hide the pickle in the Christmas tree. We always have sauerkraut on Christmas.
Yuo, we have a lot of them here in the Netherlands as well.
We put shoes in front of the heater from the day he arrives half November and on the 5th of December we have Present-evening. Sinterklaas gives us presents. It's a HUGE thing for mostly the kids.
Does Germany also have kids singing Christmas songs at January 6th? We do, it's called Three Kings Day, kids go around the houses dressed as the Three Wise Kings of the Christmas story, and sing Christmas songs and get candy for it. It was VERY popular when I was a kid. It was officially the last day of Christmas.
I grew up in Germany as a German and our Christmas tree was not put up and decorated until December 24 in the afternoon in the living room. Then we went to a church service and then we had potato salad and hot Wienerwuerstchen or a hot Fleischwurst with a Broetchen. Then after the kitchen was cleaned, everybody went to the living room, prayed, sang Christmas songs and then we were allowed to open our Christmas presents. On December 25 we had a nice dinner (around noon) with the immediate family and on December 26, we had a nice dinner (around noon) with extended family. We had to go to Mass on Christmas Eve, and both Christmas holidays (December 25 and 26).
We in the Netherlands celebrate Sinterklaas (Sint-Nicolas) and Kerstmis (Christmas) in December. We love it!!!!!! And we get lots of presents on both days. And on Sinterklaas we get the presents just like the Christmas child. And on Christmas we just get them from beneath the tree with our families.
When I was a little child the gifts brought the Santa Claus (Weihnachtsmann), when I was older the gifts brought the Christmas child.
I don't know who was under the costume, but possibly it was one of my uncles.
And you get these gifts for a little poem.
When I (german) was a child, we put up the christmas tree some days before christmas eve to let the branches "set themselves" for a more natural look of the tree (Die Zweige können so aushängen, damit der Baum natürlicher aussieht und nicht mehr so gepresst wie im Netz, in dem er transportiert wurde). It was decorated at christmas eve's noon. We had lunch at 2 p.m. for some "hours" to keep us busy. When it got dark we kids had to go back to our rooms for the Christkind to come. When the bell rang, we could come back to the living room with the candles be lit on the tree and the presents separated for each kid. After giving and unwrapping and playing with the new toys we usually played all together or watch some TV. When we were older we had a drink or two together. 1st and 2nd day of Christmas was family and friends visiting time.
Phil, you could have told the story of St. Nikolaus and Knecht Ruprecht. It's quite interesting.
I grew up in a German Reformed church in N.C. we've always done the Advent calendar and Advent candles except ours has 5 candles. One candle for the 4 Sunday's leading up to Christmas then a 5th candle is lit on Christmas Eve. There's 12 days of Christmas (I don't know anyone who celebrates all 12). It leads up to 3 Kings Day (this year I believe it's on January 6th). 3 Kings Day is in memory of the 3 Wise Men.
Merry Christmas 🎄!!
Carol Graham ,
It's always on the sixth. The twelve days goes from December 25 to January 5, then christmas is over and the decorations are taken down on the 6th.
I always take a vacation day on the 26th because it’s depressing to go back to work right after Christmas. As a Catholic, the Christmas season lasts through Epiphany. I dislike how Christmas season seems to end on the day after in the US. We need to extend it!
Catholic Church says Advent is a season then on Christmas Eve the Christmas season starts and goes thru January 6 traditional thou sometime the Sunday closest to January 6.
But only since a reform. It used to last until "Presentation of Jesus at the Temple"(dt. Maria Lichtmess) 40 days after christmas day.
The best thing about being half German half British is having both Christmas traditions 😄
You forgot the biggest christmas tradition!!!
Watching "Drei Haselnüsse für Aschenbrödel".
I hated that movie since the First Time i watched it xD
Erinner mich nicht daran 🤣
Is that the same as three nuts for Cinderella I guess in English? I live in Norway and that is always something I watch
@@malenejohannesen2575 it's an east European movie which is very traditional. Not the Disney version
@@Civilfighter yeah the Czeck version
Yet another fun video, even though it's now April. California Christmases my whole life. 1 present on Christmas Eve, and they were PJs! We were allowed to open our stockings QUIETLY starting at 6 am, then all the rest after the parental units got up. Christmas day dinner was about 2 pm. Turkey, stuffing, gravy, maybe mashed potatoes, squash (my mom is from Maine), cheese pearl onions, (the bomb diggity!), another veggie or two..... then an hour or so later, homemade pumpkin and/or apple pie, (my mom even made the crusts! Still does!!!) And, we typically had this same menu at Thanksgiving. Thanks again! It was fun hearing about your Christmases, and remembering mine, especially during covid19 lockdown. Stay safe, stay healthy!!
Christkind - I would have translated it to "child of Christ" 🤷♀️
At home (in Germany) the tree always got into the house on 23rd or 24th December. My grandmother told me, they left it there until the end of christmas time: Lichtmess on 2nd February.
The Adventszeit was originally a kind of Fastenzeit - that got lost completely.
And btw: Claus is a short form of Nicolaus 😉 strange, that he is celebrated on Christmas in the US 🤔
Wir haben an christmas eve Pute mit Klößen und Rotkohl gegessen und jede Menge Wein getrunken:)
Am 1. Weihnachtstag waren wir mit der Familie im Restaurant und Morgen wird hart gechillt, können uns kaum rühren vom ganzen Essen. Unser Weihnachtsbaum wird eine Woche vorm Fest aufgestellt und geschmückt und bleibt bis zum 6. Januar stehen, Wenn's nach mir ginge würde ich es wie in Amerika machen, also 1 Monat den prächtigen Baum genießen. Wünsche euch eine wunderschöne Zeit und tolle Eindrücke.
There are definitely more and more Advent calendars seen in the US since there's so many product to market. We used to purchase some for our kids when they were little, either chocolate and there was one where they were Lego pieces and each day provided another piece so by Christmas day they can create a scene. But keeping all of those little pieces not lost were a pain. Being in the USA, we traveled to family for Christmas and then the day after (I guess that's Christmas Day 2) we would be driving up to see the other set of family. But most people in the US were heading back to the shops/malls to either exchange sizes, get batteries or buy more stuff that are now on sale. We always missed those because of traveling. But Christmas Day would be eat until you were uncomfortable, and eat some more, but I wasn't sure if that was from my side of the family (maybe I'm German - haha). How cool to hear about different traditions. For us, it wasn't about the gifts, it was about spending time with the family and having that time off and saving our vacation days so that we could do a longer one for the travel time and such. Merry Christmas!! It's great that you will create your own tradition!
I have to say, in New York, advent calendars only started to become really popular in the 1980s, when victoriana was back in style.
I'm from Ireland and my mam is German and in ireland we always have a advent calendar. In lidl and Aldi. It's the best👍👍🇮🇪
Advent calendars becoming more and more popular in the U.S. We purchased our Haribo advent calendar in München and brought it home!
In my family we use self made advent calendars.
Sinterklaas (Saint Nikolaus) is BIG in the Netherlands. They have parades and a whole spiel how he arrives per boat each year in Rotterdam.
In the UK 2nd Christmas Day is known as Boxing Day with it's own traditions. One of the oldest is that servants and their masters switch places.
In the village I grew up it is known as Stefanussteinigen which is done with ludicrous amounts of alcohol. You can guess it's mostly a tradition for young adults.
I'm from Canada but have a German mother so this advent calendar is very normal to me! Mine has chocolates btw.
I live in TN now after living in England for 8 yrs and from my experience the Aldi I worked at during Christmas once had a line out the door for all of the advent calendar sales and the ideas behind them - whether it be beer, wine, candy, chocolate and all sorts of other calendars in there!!!! It was crazy busy!!!
I also think it is just as popular in the UK and everyone seems to to go to aldi, Lydl and Boots for these things! Really interesting 😁💖 love your Christmas vids and Markets vlogs! I really hope they open up this year with the vaccine in place!
American here. We had advent calendars. And I put out my shoes for St Nick! But I think my mom was consciously trying to revive some German traditions she heard about or experienced from her dad who was 1/2 German.
I am German and the "ChristKind" was a girl who had "Christlike" qualities who delivered our gifts on Christmas Eve. Much like the one who is dressed in a gown with gold and long blond hair you see at Christmas markets throughout Germany. The true "Christ Kind" is the one and only Baby Jesus. I miss celebrating the German Traditions in the US. It is just not the same. Although we do the Nikolaus Tag u. Advents Kalender. When we visit my parents we have a traditional Gans mit Knoedel u. alles drum u. dran. On Christmas Eve we had Bratwurst, sauerkraut u. mashed potatoes.
I remember Advent calendars when I was growing up, but then again I had an aunt over here from Germany. I went online to Amazon to see if they were a "thing" here and I found a ton of them. So yeah, we do Advent calendars in the USA. Merry Christmas, guys. Have a great holiday. 🎄⛄️❄️
freedom dove ,
Sure, haven't you ever seen "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" ? That little Victorian house is an Advent calendar.
First of all to the Dutch because on December 6th they got some presents because Sinter Klaas arrived in Spain by boat in November. A huge spectacle for the children in the Netherlands that even the Dutch television broadcasts it live for the children when Sinter Klaas arrives with the piets.
My one himself likes the German way of celebrating Christmas. Is probably because I'm German. Wanted to add that most of the traditions for Christmas of the Americans came from the Germans, for example: the fir tree, gingerbread and nuts and apples in the tree, what to drink and eat for Santa Claus, which we do on December 5th to 6th because we provide it with the boots in front of the door.
I lived in Cincinnati for a while and the German Catholic families put out shoes for St Nicholas Day on Dec 6. That is the first time I learned of that tradition.
I'm swedish and we too have the advent calendar in many many different forms, we even have it on TV! Every year there is a new advent calendar on tv, it's like a series often christmas themed (duh) and it's a new episode every year starting december 1st and ends on december 24th. Every episode is about 15min long. we come together every sunday in advent and drink glögg (mulled wine), julmust and eat gingerbread cookies and lussekatter (saffronbread?). On December 13th we celebrate Lucia with a Luciatåg in every school, kindergarten, some workplaces and hotels. It's a procession with a girl in white with a crown with candles followed by other girls in white and boys with stars.
We put up lots and lots of fairy lights and a christmas tree with only lights outside and have advent stars or adventlights (electrical) in every window starting on 1st of advent or december 1st depending on which comes first. The christmas tree inside is usually put up on december 23rd, but depending on family traditions this can occur earlier. Most presents is placed under the tree either when it's decorated if you do this on the 23rd, or when they are bought and wrapped. (some are saved somewhere else for santa to give).
Everyone eats traditional christmas tables (julbord) which includes christmas ham, meatballs, cured salmon, sausages of different kinds, ribs, boiled potatoes and tons of other stuff in resturants or hotels at least once in December, traditionally at least once with friends and once with collegues.
Then on December 24th we Celebrate Christmas. Families gather together we eat christmas table foods at lunch and at 3pm the whole country gathers in front of the TV to see Donald Duck in a special christmas episode. Then we eat some more and then SANTA ARRIVES! Swedish children actually get to meet santa and get some presents from him before he leaves and all other presents are opened. at this point most adults relaxe in some way while the children are playing with their presents. After this we usually eats rice porridge with cinnamon and milk. 1 almond is placed in the porriged and the one who gets is is supposed to be married the next year.
On December 25th the mellandagsrea begins (annual big sale between december 25th and 31st, think black friday for a whole week) and people shop like crazy. Usually you spend time with family and friends in the evenings and eat food and wait for New Years.
Hey guys
I just game across your channel 2 days ago. I’m a German married to a German Puerto Rican, which grew up in Florida. However her having a German mom , she had some understanding of our German traditions. I didn’t even finish the video but I have so much to say. Like it was weird to me that saint Nikolaus brings the gifts on the 25th rather than on the 6th. It’s the Christkind who brings our presents , which makes more sense since it’s Jesus birthday. Basically him sharing his presents with the world. And also Germans planed it out better since it’s 2.5 holidays were we can visit my spouse family one day and my family the next. But anyway you guys rock
Yes, I was raised Lutheran in a German/American family and we always had an advent calandar and advent wreath on our kitchen table.
From Australia. Many churches light the advent wreath candles. The 4 candles stand for peace, joy, love and faith. We have advent calendars too. We put our tree on Ad ent Sunday which is about 3 weeks before Christmas but some people put them up earlier. We give presents on Christmas day. However because we have German ancestry we sometimes give a gift on the eve.
We eat either roast Turkey and vegetables etc or salads with cold Turkey and ham. Some people have barbecue. Because it's Summer here we tend to lay about trying to keep cool. We enjoy some great cakes too
Traditionell ist es die Weihnachtsgans. Inzwischen wird es mehr Truthahn. Aber ich kenne noch das traditionelle Weihnachtsabendmenü: Wiener und Kartoffelsalat. Zum Glück hasst meine Familie genau das. 😁😁😁😁😁. Ich kann mich zu Weihnachten in der Küche auszutoben.
Genau an Heiligabend Würstchen Kartoffelsalat und am 1. Weihnachtstag die gute Gans 😊
Bei uns gibt's an Heiligabend Toast mit Räucherachs und am 1. Weihnachtstag Ente, Knödel und Rotkohl 😅
So funny! My German boyfriend is here now and we celebrated our first Christmas together in the USA yesterday. A lot of what Phil is saying and his confusion to some US traditions were so representative of my S/O 😂 love it! Frohe Weihnachten Deana und Phil 🎅🏼🎁🎄
We don’t have too many Christmas traditions. But My sisters Birthday is on Christmas Eve so it’s always a lil different.
Every year we make Rinderroladen & Kartoffeln
Cause that’s her favorite food😁
My personal experience with german Christmas tradition differs a little from Phils'. Our Christmas tree was setup on Christmas eve which was changed later to the 23rd for not having to rush too many things on the same day and was taken down on January 6th. Luckily we didn't have such a common/simple meal as potato salad, we used to have real big and special meals throughout the 3 christmas days. This changed later to take some stress off my mom, so we went out for dinner the first too days and only had a special meal at home on the third day. Above all my presents were brought by the "Weihnachtsmann" (Christmasman/Santa Claus) and he visited me a little earlier on his route than Phil (approximately between 4-5pm).
Nobody does Christmas like the German’s!❤️
work hard, party hard XD
Ye
Das stimmt genau Weihnachten in Deutschland oder Europa ist soo anders als in den US .
@@margritpiepes8242 Oh ja das ist wahr 😊 ich glaube ich könnte mich nie daran gewöhnen in den Vereinigten Staaten die Weinachts Traditionen zu übernehmen 🤪
Glühwein 😍
Here with my family in Brazil, it's summer...
so we got a barbecue, a lot of beer and stuff!
usually we would wait to have the "Christmas Dinner" after 00:00 of "24"
I don't remember about traditions on gifts giving... but i was so excited about giving then away that I started it on 24, before the meal...
waking on 25 after the hangover, there's the meal for the lunch (mostly also a bbq and left overs from yesterday), and since it's waaay hot, we go to a swimming pool to have some fun and since 26 is not a holiday, I came back home to work on the next day!
Really enjoy your videos. Here in Wisconsin which was a area that had a huge German immigration. We do celebrate st. Nick on the 6th of Dec. Advent is very popular in the churches and we do give advent calendars to our kids to use. this year i received a German beer advent calendar from my kids. Great gift. I'm sure it's the same in the other areas of the US that had large pockets of German immigrants, like Penn., Ohio and Texas. Keep up the great work.
In the USA here, I always had an advent calendar as a child, Deana I think you were deprived!
Same here. And we have had and advent wreath at our church every year. There is a huge one in outside that has 4-5 foot candles(electric lights) that are lit up each week.
Poor deana. It depends on the community in your area of the states. I also believe that the German tradition will be different from area to area.
So i wondered about the Christmas child thing. In the south and west part of Germany, apparently it'a the Christmas child, that will bring the presents.
For me that was new, because in the northern, eastern and middle part of Germany, we have the Santa Claus (Weihnachtsmann) tradition. Most families, especially those with kids even hire a costumed Santa, that comes at Christmas eve and bring the nice kids presents.
Some forgotten detail: No hiring in the south as "Christkind" brings the presents stealthily and is not ever seen.
It's the christ child (Jesus), not a christmas child (Weihnachtskind). ;)
@@luckyqualmi Yes, you are right. But lets cut Phil some slack as he is translating word for word. At least he is trying and speaks very good English as a second language. How many Americans can say they speak two languages or more? :)
(I am not American).
btw.. did you know Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve is a German thing? As our priest explained: Throughout Europe most people live some distance from the village center where the restaurants, inns, businesses, churches, etc. are. So people would travel in to the center on Christmas Eve to be festive - usually eat and drink too much - and not want to travel all the way back home and then come back to the center the next day for Christmas mass. So the people started sleeping around the centers wherever they could find room so they'd already be there for church the next morning as at the time the only masses were on Christmas Day. As German weather in late December is usually cold and wintry, the people would look for a warm, dry place to sleep for the night and, since the churches weren't locked, people started sleeping in them. The clergy didn't care for this and came up with the idea of having masses late that night after all the bars closed so they could be done with the drunkards and send them on their ways.
For my family (German) it's like this:
3 days or even on 24th we get and decorate the Christmas tree (there are no gifts under the tree)
24th December: we go to service, then our grandparents (dad's part of the family) come over and we eat (mostly wieners and potato salad). Then my parents disappear to "get something for the table" and close the kitchen door. After a few minutes a bell rings and we can come in the living room and there are a lot of presents under the tree. Before opening we have to sing a few songs.
25th December: we go to dad's part of the family at lunch, get some more gifts and eat deer with Knödel or Spätzle, salads, Kraut, Rotkohl and more. But there is no Kaffee und Kuchen. Only some singing and Cookies with Alkohol. Which writing now sounds like a weird mix to me.
26th December: We drive an hour to my mothers side of the family. We eat at a restaurant and then drive to my grandparents place where we get to open more gifts and eat Cookies with hot drinks (Coffee, Hot chocolate, Tea)
That's what my family does for Christmas
I'm from the Philippines and I laughed when Phil was shocked that Americans were setting up their Christmas trees after Thanksgiving. In our country, ber months are the Christmas months! 🤣 as early as September, you will see a lot of family stores on the highway selling Christmas decorations with a lot of Christmas lights! And you will even hear Christmas carols in malls like Christmas in our Hearts by Jose Mari Chan and All I Want for Christmas by Mariah Carey 🤣
I love all the German traditions! For me growing up in the Midwest US, I don't remember the gifts going under the tree weeks in advance... I think it's more common that the parents put the gifts under the tree the night before Christmas after the children have gone to bed, since that is when Santa is supposed to deliver them. In my family we were allowed to open one gift on Christmas Eve, and the rest Christmas morning. My husband's family celebrates on Christmas Eve, and the kids get to open stocking gifts Christmas morning. I know what Advent calendars are, but I've never had one. I've seen them in some stores I think, but they are not common. In my family we didn't have a specific go-to meal for Christmas, we'd usually have a nice breakfast together before opening gifts (but we aren't typical in that regard). My husband's family, also Midsesterners, eat a big roast (some cut of beef), mashed potatoes, gravy, and sides... Then the dessert is TONS of Christmas cookies of all kinds that the family bakes starting weeks before Christmas and freezing them. And yes, I can totally relate to the coffee and dessert coming out before you are ready but eating it anyway -- how you describe it sounds exactly like Thanksgiving here! Anyway, loved the video, happy holidays to you both, and great transition at the end of the video Phil! 😊
Another thing you didn't mention: the Christmas tree will be in the home until the 2nd of February, Mariä Lichtmess (Candlemas), exactly 40 days after Christmas. Also here in Austria it's usually decorated on the 23rd (or even 24th, so that the parents are decorating it while the Christkind comes with the presents until the bell is rung for the kids to be allowed to enter the room).
The 24th is also commonly called "Weihnachten" (Christmas) while the 25th is "Christtag". Growing up it was just the day after Christmas for me; until I knew more about the world the 25th and 26th ("Stefanitag") were just two holidays after Christmas where you visit other parts of the family and feast or just stay at home and enjoy the quietness.
Nightey ,
February 2? I never heard of that, except for maybe the Eastern Orthodox Christmas, which starts in January. Isn't the tree a fire hazard after 40 days?
Germany and Scotland share some traditions. We have advent calanders. When I was a child there was no chocolate just Christmas pictures with the big window being a stable picture. We do the advent wreath too the candles symbolise love peace joy and faith on Christmas day we light a fifth candle. We also do the boxing day visits to other family members. In our family we got one gift to open after we came back from kirk it was always a book. The presents went under the tree once we were in bed on Christmas eve for the big opening on Christmas day and the tree went up around the 22nd.
I was raised in a lutheran church, by german parents and the calendars were as natural to us as a christmas tree. Wonderful which i kept up with my kids.
Most important feature to know about the German Christkind: It is never ever to be seen! Especially not by any child. The German adults might sometimes tell their children on Christmas Eve that "they think they just caught a glimpse of its right wing" (or some similar story), but it's supposed to stay a hidden character to bring the gifts. Nobody has ever seen the Christkind in real!
It depends on where you live, here in the north we have santa
Thats not right. I am from the north of Hessia and we have a poem written here, called „Denkt euch ich habe das Christkind gesehen“ ( imagine, I saw the christ child).
@@stanislawstaszic6941 Das bestätigt noch, was ich gesagt hatte. Die Tatsache, dass jemand das Christkind tatsächlich und leibhaftig gesehen haben könnte, ist nahezu unerhört und fast ja gar nicht zu glauben. "Denkt euch ..." (altertümlich für) "Stellt euch bloß mal vor ...". Aber natürlich gilt das nur, wenn kleine Kinder im Spiel sind, die noch daran glauben. Das Gedicht, das du zitiert hast, richtet sich vor allem ja auch an kleinere Kinder. So eine Art Märchenstunde. Breaking News für die Kids, wenn man so will 😁
I was under the impression that for Boxing Day, you would pack up things you no longer used or wanted and gave to charity.
Saint Nicolas is an important saint & festive day for catholic church & eastern orthodox churches
He's one of the important Saints of the roman catholic church. The Bishop Nicholas of Myra (* between 270 and 286 in Patara; † 6. Dezember 326) was one of the first Saints.
This Shoes outside thing is because of the myth that he heard that a poor man has not enough money to provide a marriage portion for his three daughters. At this time the only options where more or less to get them married or sell them to a brothel.
He (Saint Nicolas) then sneaked at three nights to the house of the poor man and put gold at the front of the windows of the first, second and 3th daughter, so they could be married and don't need to live as prostitutes.
It is also known that he was not a "politcal correct" bishop. Often fighting with the officals etc.
I started the tradition with my kids 45 years ago, and I always had an advent calendar as a child, We put shoes out and we got nuts, fruit, chocolate, and small toys we had Dutch shoes. my mon's side is Irish, English, and Scandinavian, My dad's side, is Irish, Scandinavian, Dutch, and German. We open gifts Christmas Eve after church we have at like 1 a.m. with glogg, or cider. It is from my mom's English heritage.
Live in Georgia, USA. We've done advent calendars for years.
I've lived in Georgia all my life. I had never heard of Advent calenders until I heard someone from the UK talking about them on RUclips.
In Chicago my German American family celebrate St Nick’s by putting shoes outside the night before the 6th. We also love our Advent calendars. Catholics all have Advent Wreaths in Church. In school you’d put a paper flame on the wreath on Monday. We also open our gifts on Christmas Eve.
We’re in the Midwest in Ohio …I’m sure different regions , states, cities throughout the US do some of these, some may do entirely different. I’m sure that Religion, ethnicity, Family...factor into everyone’s Christmas traditions.
Catholic’s celebrate St. Nicholas day… at Catholic school the kids here still put their shoes outside their classrooms for a treat. We also always got advent calendars for our kids.. I recently saw wine advent calendar’s at Aldis grocery with tiny bottles if wine instead of candy… the perfect adult treat.
It’s also a tradition to keep your tree and decorations up until the day after the epiphany…which is January 7th. Which is the 12th day of Christmas.
My favorite tradition is the pickle ornaments … we’ve done it for over 30 years. It’s hidden well on the tree and the first child who finds it receives an extra small prize gift .
I miss my Grandma’s poppyseed Kuchen ❤️
Well advent calendar is a thing here too in Denmark. Many of our Christmas traditions originates from Germany.
I'm third generation German (both sides of family are traceable to immigration in 1850-60) and so many of the traditions you shared are what we did, like opening Christmas Eve, Advent Wreaths, etc.
The Christkindel (christchild) is a tradition of Austria, south and parts of west Germany. In rest of Germany we get visit from Weinachtsmann ( word by word translation: christmas man = Santa Claus)
From Illinois. We had an advent calendar when I was a kid (along time ago). No candle lighting tradition. 🕯No December 6th St. Niklaus. Of course we had a Christmas tree!🎄We always opened our presents on Christmas Day, other people on Christmas Eve, different family traditions. 🎁 Lots of food. No 2nd day of Christmas. Back to work.
I'm a Cajun Creole Catholic from southern Louisiana with the exception of the Christmas Child I grew up with all these traditions. Christmas Eve was a snack @10pm and Midnight mass. Christmas day getting our presents form Pere Noel in the mourning and family gifts in the afternoon following Christmas Dinner.
We have a small cabinet with 25 drawers to place xandt or small toys in to be opened to countdown for Christmas. When you open each drawer it plays a different Christmas song. We purchased it Hallmark.
In Canada my family didn’t have advent calendars but other people I knew did, but I don’t think they were as big of thing as they are now. Also, no Boxing Day in the US? I had no idea. For us it was another Christmas Day with family and more food, relaxing and playing with our new stuff. I can’t imagine not having that day as well as Christmas. We opened presents Christmas morning but my husband, whose parents were from Germany opened them Christmas Eve. We also had advent wreaths with 3 pink and one purple candle to count down to Christmas, it’s a religious thing. I really enjoy your videos. Thank you.
Our German/American familiy tends to all the traditions: dinner with the family on the 24th, but not goose, but turkey with stuffing, cranberry sauce, etc. Half the presents on the evening of the 24th and half on the morning of 25th. Christmas tree up early, but presents under it not before the 24th. Advent calendars and advent wreath. Gluehwein and Eggnog.
Christmas Eve we and another family with whom we are close friends meet at our house after we go to our respective churches and eat dinner together. I prepare the meal, which includes one of two things that we only eat on this day. I either serve roast duck with knedliky and red cabbage from Czech tradition or prime rib with asparagus, French style cream potatoes, and Yorkshire pudding. We bake cookies and make lots of candies for the Advent/Christmas seasons that are placed on a tray, but also serve pies that are from my Southern US tradition. We eat dessert while watching a movie together, then exchange gifts between our families. We end the evening with singing of Christmas carols and songs around the piano together. On Christmas Day, our family eat a nice breakfast, usually including pancakes that my wife makes, then we open our gifts. We watch some Christmas programs together usually and call our families who all live away from us. In the late afternoon we eat gumbo that I make each year and more dessert for those who want. From there the food is just left out to be eaten freely.
We always open our gifts Christmas eve, unlike most Americans, but that was because my parents wanted to sleep in.
My father used to send me an advent calendar from Switzerland, as it's also popular there. I love these and they really do add the extra excitement of the holidays! Love your videos, guys, and please go to Switzerland and do some videos!!!
In my family in Germany it's a little different from the timing.
At around 7-8 pm we have dinner and afterwards we go to church at 10pm so really late.
And finally after church we sit together in the living room and unpack the presents on at a time so when I open a present everyone is watching and after I finish I choose the next package thats going to be opened for another family member.
Because of this we often sit there until 3 am .
But I really like it that way so you have a lot of quality time with your family:)
We have them in Denmark too, two of the calendars sold are related to the annual tv-xmas calendar shows shown on DR and TV2, and each support charities, DRs support kids in developing countries (different specific project each year), TV2s supports a childrens cause within Denmark, they don't contain goodies though, but something that relates to the show, plus you of course get to help kids in need.
The order of things on christmas eve he referred to is not a German tradition. In at least a bit religious families there is no unwrapping of presents before attending christmas service. In this case people usually attend the early service (late afternoon/ early evening and presents and food come after that...).
I’m from Washington state and we always have advent calendars. They’re fun!
Same
In my family we usually open a gift on Christmas Eve, and it’s always pajamas. Then instead of having a big meal we just basically snack on cheeses and breads and dips and baked goods. Christmas Day is when we do the presents and the big dinner. I would loooooove to have a second day of Christmas instead of having to work on Boxing Day though, that is literally the dream. Even though we have adopted Black Friday in Canada for the most part it’s not very big and I’d say Boxing Day is a lot closer to the insanity of American Black Friday haha
We had a German tradition and ate Pickled herring on New Year's Day for good luck. We also celebrated St. Nicholas day. But, those traditions are slowly being forgotten.
December 5th is also a big one for Bavarian Germans. The night before Saint Nikolaus day is Krampus night (Krampusnacht) . It is a super weird and scary way to scare German children and make sure they are well behaved.