Weihnachten…

After weeks of decorating, baking, shopping, and Christmas music, I was fully in the Christmas spirit by Heiligenabend, or Christmas Eve. In Germany, the official celebration is on the evening of the 24^th. While traditions vary from family to family, most Germans attend church, gather as a family for a shared afternoon cake or light dinner, and then opened gifts. For adults, the day is enjoyable and relaxing, for children it is agonizing. As a child, if I thought that it was painful to go to bed before opening my presents the next morning, I can only imagine what German children go through waiting though a church service, family meals, and boring adult conversations to see what Santa brought them for Christmas. They must be excruciatingly nervous, yet unbelievably excited. Nelly and Malika (my seven and three year old host cousins) proved this to be accurate.

When we met up with Jens (my host uncle) and family for cake after church, my two host cousins were uncontainable. As the adults slowly enjoyed the chocolate and mandarin orange cheesecake that I had baked the day before, the children ran about the room, uncontrollably. While cake time is usually a time of relaxation and conversation, the one on Heiligenabend was definitely an exception. The room was painfully loud, due to the screeching and overly excited children.

The family in Oma and Opa's living room.
(From left to right: Nelly, Toby, Jens, Opa, Oma, and Mirrea)

After finishing our cake in Antje’s living room, we made our way downstairs to Oma and Opa’s living room, for the unveiling of the “Weihnachtsbaum,” or Christmas tree. Opening the hallway door was like lifting the top of the first Christmas gift. Decorated with a stunning collection of gold and red ornaments and covered with fairy lights and real, burning candles, the tree was breath-takingly beautiful. Gathered around the couches, we were admiring the stunning tree when suddenly there was a knock on the door. It was the Weihnachtsmann.

Oma and Opa's Christmas tree

Most German families with young children have the tradition of hiring a Weihnachtsmann, or Santa Claus, to distribute the presents. These men are usually young men who are college students, looking for a little extra cash, or single friends just wanting to help out. Our Weihnachtsmann was a long and lean, yet definitely jolly mid-twenty year-old named Rüdiger. Decked-out in a red and white Santa costume, a long, white beard, and carrying several bursting sacks, Rüdiger greeted us with a sturdy laugh and then settled down in a chair by the tree. Nelly ran up to him, having recognized the Weihnachtsmann from last year. Malika, however, was more suspicious of the strange, oddly dressed man, and opted to remain seated on her mother’s lap.

Nelly and Malika with the Weihnachtsmann

“I have traveled through snow and stormy weather to arrive here today, my children.” Declared the Weihnachtsmann, pausing slightly to straighten his beard. “I have watched you all very closely this year, and I have been very pleased with what I have seen.” He then went on to report what each child had done well that year, or had learned, and something that they needed to work on. After he had finished, each one of us, in return, recited a poem or played a song for the Weihnachtsmann. I recited “Knecht Rubrich,” by Theador Storm, as it is one of the most popular Christmas poems in Germany. The poem describes a scene in which the Christ Child speaks to Knecht Rubrich, the man who punishes the bad children. As the story goes, the Christ Child sends Knecht Rubrich every year to reward the good children with apples, nuts, and sweets, and to whip the bad children with his cane. It ends with the lines: “Nun spreche, wie ich's hier innen find! Sind's gute Kind, sind's böse Kind?”(Tell me whom I will find inside this house: naughty or nice children?)

Reciting my "Knecht Rubrich"

Well we were about to find out. With a smile, the Weihnachtsmann lead us through the first verse of Stille Nacht (Silent Night,) and then reached for his sack. Carefully, he lifted the first present, beautiful decorated with colorful paper and artfully secured with a ribbon, and gracefully handed it to its owner. Then the fest began. Wrapping paper flew in the air, as gifts were ripped open faster than the Weihnachtsmann could hand them out. Once intricate art works, the present wrappings were now shredded throughout the room.

I did not take part in the ripping bash, but instead slowly opened each gift, savoring every moment of awe and suspension. There were many touching moments. For Christmas, I received everything needed to recreate my own German holiday season next year in the States: an advent wreath, a star window light, a cook book of German cookie recipes, a German measuring beaker, cookie cutters for a Christmas tree advent calendar like Opa’s, a book of German Christmas stories, a wooded Erzgebirge candle holder, and angel and Strohstern ornaments, handmade by Oma. Each present was breathtakingly beautifully decorated and a heartfelt gift.

My gifts

The following two days of Christmas were just as wonderful. They were mostly days full of relaxation: reading, playing games, enjoying the presents received, and eating. We had feasts on both of these Feiertagen: venison goulash on the first day, with the whole family joined us for the typical Christmas goose with sauerkraut, brussell sprouts, and potatoes on the second. Everything was delicious! Even the many cookies began to slowly disappear. When school started on Monday, there were only a few cookies left. It was as it they, like me, were not quite ready for the magical German Christmas holiday season to end.

Mina (15 year old host sister,) Toby (13 year old host cousin,) Nelly (7 year old host cousin,) Malika (3 year old host cousin,) and me with the Weihnachtsmann