Four German Christmas facts explained

[@DerAggel]

Fun fact: The German name for the Christ child figure, "Christkind" or "Christkindle" (South German diminutive form) is the origin of Santa Claus' alternative name Kris Kringle

[@ArfurFaulkesHake]

Ich sehe die Heizölvorräte sind aufgefüllt. 4:36 Ich wünsche warme Weihnachten. Und frohe noch dazu.

[@rewboss]

Die vom Nachbarn. Zum Glück sind wir nicht auf solche Lieferungen angewiesen. :)

[@ulliulli]

@@rewboss Wozu auch, ihr habt ja den Nachbarn, wo man sich Dinge... leihen kann ;)

[@KaiHenningsen]

@@ulliulli Keine Ahnung, wi das bei WRewboss ist - wir brauchen keine wegen Fernwärme :-)

[@wookie2222]

Kudos dafür, dass du es geschafft hast, das Christkind zu erklären - so verwirrend, absurd, widersprüchlich und irgendwie dadurch auch typisch deutsch es auch ist.

[@wimpow]

Meine (8 Jährige) Tochter kam neulich zu mir, und meinte sie verwechselt immer Nikolaus und der Weihnachtsmann. Ich beruhigte sie, und erklärte ihr, es ist der Nikolaus recycled, ganz normal die zu verwechseln.

[@nicolorivoir4399]

When you mentioned german Christmas carols, Stille Nacht was the first that came to mind

[@Whiteknuckle157]

Well, but it is not German at all. It is from Gruber and Mohr of Austria as far as I know.

[@henningbartels6245]

@@Whiteknuckle157 actually, I was counting the minutes until the Austria comment would pop up. In fact, I'm still waiting that someone mentions schnitzel in this regards as well...

[@holger_p]

It's more or less an political follow-up of events, to not incorporate Austria into Germany. Bavaria was included, Austria wasn't - just because it was already huge.

[@henningbartels6245]

@@holger_p well, it's not about politics - it's about a Christmas carrol, about music and culture etc. It's the same cultural area and if people think of a German song, they think foremost of the language of the lyrics and not ift the stepmother of the composer was Swiss or the first stanza was written in East Belgium. Just silly.

[@holger_p]

@@henningbartels6245 Germany was founded 1871. It's pure politics, the area where the composer lived was accidently not part of germany. THere have been negotiations about it. The former construct was called "Deutscher Bund" (the German confederaton 1815-1871) but not all parts of it, made it into Germany. It's like you call east-german singers, like Nena, now German, just because a political border was removed afterwards. Same applies for Beethoven. Born in Kurköln, we call him German, cause his birthplace came to fall into 1871 Germany - and accidently became capital of Germany later in history.

[@PauxloE]

It might be worthwhile to also explain the "Weihnachtsmann", which is the reimport of Santa Claus. (Though he might be less popular in southern Germany - while here in the north-east, the Christkind is mostly unknown.)

[@malteplath]

From the family traditions I know of, the evening meal on Christmas Eve was always a modest one (a Friday meal if you want), with the truly festive meal reserved for Christmas Day. I am also aware that that is changing, at least in my own family, and dinner on Christmas Eve is becoming a more elaborate affair.

[@tuschman168]

True. The Christmas Eve meal at my parents is always bockwurst with potato salad and mustard BUT the potato salad is homemade with great care, which makes the meal kind of special despite its simplicity.

[@RagingGoblin]

Some families settle for easy-to-prepare foods on Christmas Eve, yes. Ostensibly because there's quite enough to organise anyway. But at least where I'm from, the *vast* majority of families prepare elaborate meals on at least two days, because you'll often end up visiting family on at least one other day. And my grandfather (born '18) told me that's the only way they had ever done it (and everyone he knew). So ... I'll remain highly sceptical of anyone proclaiming potato salad is a national tradition on Christmas Eve.

[@0xbenedikt]

It's exactly the opposite for us. We have a special meal and gifts on Christmas Eve

[@orcajorca7215]

The pickle tradition is such a strange idea that I know by now a few german families who adopted this search game - everyone after they heared it from americans.

[@itsmebatman]

The American pickle hiding is probably entirely American. But putting winter food in the tree as ornaments really used to be a thing. I talked to elder generations and many of them remember there being stuff like Lebkuchen and other typical winter food being hung in the tree. And pickles really are just cucumbers treated in a way so they stay edible throughout the winter.

[@jenniferniklas8526]

@@itsmebatman we still sometimes have cookies on the tree. A german, grown up in America, told me about it. It was a Frankfurter regional think, that got more spread as german Tradition in USA then in Germany, I guess. We got a Gurke on the Christmas Marktet in Frankfurt and hid it in their tree. But I didn't bought one for our tree. Funny, if you don't hide it yourself and are with more than 2 ppl, because it decides who is allowed to open the present first.

[@jenniferniklas8526]

@@itsmebatman Lebkuchen, Spritzgebäck, Zimtsterne, Salzgebäck (4everCookies), old Lebkuchen, and other, because it fits great with straw figures, old Kids art and Gold decoration, if you keep it with 2 colours.

[@WalterJoergLangbein]

I am almost 70 now and have never heard of this pickletradition. Walter, born and raised in Bavaria.

[@jenniferniklas8526]

@@WalterJoergLangbein I bought the pickles for the tree in Frankfurt on the Christmas Market. In Northrhine-Westphalia we nether grown up with this tradition.

[@klobiforpresident2254]

Regarding O Tannenbaum, I've always thought of it more as a winter song than specifically a Christmas song. It feels out of place in most seasons, yet it feels not connected to Christmas; seems only fair to connect it with the one season where its unique quality shined.

[@Beuerzeugsammler]

Tannenbaum = Christmas tree

[@535phobos]

@@Beuerzeugsammler Well, not quite. Tannenbaum is the fir tree. And while often times the christmas tree is a fir tree, all other kinds of needly trees are used as well, like pine trees. The song is a winter song, not a christmas song (just like Jingle Bells)

[@carla3562]

@@Beuerzeugsammler When the meaning of Tannenbaum is Weihnachtsbaum, Christmas tree is the correct translation. Still, it also refers to the actual tree called Tanne, which would be fir or fir tree then. The fir tree in "O Tannenbaum" is not related to Christmas. Translating it to Christmas tree would be wrong.

[@Beuerzeugsammler]

@@carla3562 Thats what google translate told me. But i see why especially non-germans wouldn't immediately connect fir trees to Christmas

[@Beuerzeugsammler]

@@535phobos Just reconsidered and i was completely wrong

[@Astrofrank]

Frohe Weihnachten auch Dir, Andrew!

[@diedunkelelbe2162]

The English Version of "Oh Tannenbaum" for me is "Jingle Bells". It is not a christmas song for me, just a winter song. But a really nice one, to be honest. =)

[@gerdforster883]

The thing that I find most strange about Oh Tannenbaum is the fact that the UK Labour Party uses it as their party anthem (with carefully adapted lyrics, of course).

[@ospero7681]

So did the US state of Maryland until this year. Even stranger is the fact that their song - Maryland, My Maryland - was a Confederate battle song during the American Civil War, even though Maryland wasn't part of the Confederacy (this happens to be the reason they decided to get rid of it this year).

[@danielcarroll3358]

@@ospero7681 As a Carroll I find this unfortunate. "Remember Carroll's sacred trust." :)

[@Schanickel]

Allen Frohe Weihnachten -Merry Christmas eweryone!

[@SiqueScarface]

Actually, it's "O Tannenbaum". Here we have an artifact of old German grammar, the German vocative. O is the (long gone) article to address a person, which has all but disappeared except in old songs. So it's "o Gott" or even "o Herre Gott" (note the -e ending for 'Herr', as this really was its own grammar case) and in the same fashion "o Tannenbaum". Let this be informative to you, o Gerden!

[@Hand-in-Shot_Productions]

I have heard of this remix! In case someone is wondering, it is called _The_ _Red_ _Flag._ I have also found that _it,_ in turn, has a lot of remixes in itself, from "The Orkney Flag" to "The People's Flag is Palest Pink" to the numerous sports versions! Why all of them use the _O_ _Tannenbaum_ rhythm, I don't know. For more information: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Red_Flag

[@ulfhettstedt5606]

Being from the north of germany, the christmas pickle is something seemingly very outlandish. Commenting for the holy algorithm, best of wishes from Golbisch.

[@TJayVariable]

The strangest thing is you can by them in some hardware stores today.

[@lhuras.]

Merry Christmas, Rewboss!

[@AchimEngels]

Frohes Julfest Euch allen.

[@andrethoma5635]

The love that ask no questions my lovely english cousin. Merry christmas from Lower Saxony and Bremen.

[@soundscape26]

A lorry casually trying to video-bomb Andrew's conclusion. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to Andrew and everyone here! 🎄 🎅

[@Danny30011980]

Never heard of the Christmas pickle tradition, certainly not in my family or friends' circles. Regarding 'Oh Tannenbaum' - this melody is also part of an anthem in Maryland in the US I saw in a docu recently.

[@Arsenic71]

Happy Boxing Day, Rewboss, hope you and yours have a wonderful time!

[@untruelie2640]

It's noteworthy that in some regions of Germany (particularly the North and East), the presents are actually not brought by the Christkind, but by a Santa Claus-like figure, the "Weihnachtsmann" (christmas man). I'm not sure how they are related.

[@ralfjansen9118]

As he said, gifts were given traditionally not at Christmas, but on St Nicolaus ("Santa Claus", in fact an ancient bishop in Myra, now Turkey) day. The protestants didn't accept the saints and used Christmas as giving day instead, and depending on the local "colour" of the lutheran protestantic / evangelic church, either the Christmas Man (a Santa - like figure, in golden or purple dress) or the Chist Child was bringing the gifts. In catholic areas or families, gifts became common for Christmas not much earlier than about 1900.

[@zwingerdrossel-musicreview40]

@@ralfjansen9118 We have absolutely no problem with receiving sweets on Nicolaus day as well as gifts at Christmas. ;-)

[@robertnett9793]

I might be wrong on this, but I believe the 'Weihnachtsmann' was invented as a secular counter-point to the religious Christkind sometime during the age of enlightenment.

[@Rusty3ghz]

As someone who grew up in east Germany - while being aware that the term "Christkind" exists, it never even crossed my mind that this could be something different than just another name for the Santa Clause-like figure that the "Weihnachtsmann" is. Turns out I am too atheistic to even have recognised the connection between "Christkind" and christianity, nor have I ever heard of a baby Jesus bringing gifts :D

[@untruelie2640]

@@Rusty3ghz I grew up in eastern Germany too (after reunification, anyway) and I'm very much in the same situation. It's a pity that most Germans from "the West" (regardless if they are from Schleswig-Holstein or Bavaria) assume that everyone is at least in some way religious and shares similar religious-cultural experiences (like attending church services). However in the East, that's not the "mainstream" perspective because in most areas about 70-80% of the population are non-religious. It's just a different cultural perspective that is almost never accounted for publicly.

[@maxtrix1]

Frohe Weihnachten Rewboss!!

[@arnomrnym6329]

Ich wünsche dir eine schöne Weihnachtszeit. 🎄

[@duncanmcghie1476]

Fröhe Weihnachten und frohes neu Jahr

[@TheParappa]

Very insightful! Thanks a lot and merry christmas!

[@epictrueness]

I just love the constantly dis- and then reappearing truck in the background ;)

[@nirfz]

Stille Nacht... Oh Du fröhliche... Ihr Kinderlein kommet... Leise rieselt der Schnee... Es wird scho glei dumpa... Es ist ein Ros entsprungen... Still, still, still, weils Kindlein schlafen will.... So 7are comming to my mind. (I think i have sheet music for all of them, that's why.) Merry christmas to you and your family to!

[@lindacowles756]

G'day, nirfz! Some of my favourites are: "Ich steh' an deiner Krippen hier" "O Jesulein zart" "Vom Himmel hoch" "Tochter Zion"

[@nirfz]

@@lindacowles756 Hi ! Cool thing! I have to say, the only one i knew of these is "Vom Himmel hoch", the rest i had to look up. So there's the main difference between catholic and protestant christians visibly brought to us: a few different songs 😁

[@MyOliver64]

By the way. Das Christkind ist doch - meiner Meinung nach - sehr regional (eher im südlichen Deutschland) vertreten. Ich kannte (als Kind des nordöstlichen Deutschlands) nur den Weihnachtsmann.

[@renerpho]

Zumindest in Nordhessen, das protestantisch geprägt ist, gibt es bis heute das Christkind. Auch hier wird es in den meisten Dörfern noch von der ältesten Konfirmantin "gespielt". Unterstützt von drei oder vier anderen Konfirmantinnen geht das Christkind nach dem Weihnachtsgottesdienst (normalerweise am späten Nachmittag) durchs Dorf. Früher kam es in jedes Haus, in dem es kleine Kinder gab; heute wird das vorher abgesprochen bzw. geschieht auf Anfrage.

[@MyOliver64]

@@renerphoDas Christkind soll sogar eine Erfindung Luthers gewesen sein, habe ich mal irgendwo gelesen/ gehört. Weiß aber nicht, ob ress stimmt.

[@undertakernumberone1]

@@MyOliver64 Luther hat's erfunden weil er die Heiligenverehrung (Sankt Nikolaus) nicht wirkllich mochte. Um Sankt Nikolaus als Geschenkbringer zu ersetzen hat er das Christkind erfunden, dass dann in den protestantischen Gebieten die Geschenke gebracht hat. Ca. im 19. Jahrhundert wurde das Christkind dann als Geschenkbringer zu Weihnachten auch in überwiegend Katholischen Gebieten (z. B. Bayern) übernommen. Als dann die säkularisiertere Version des Sankt Nikolaus, Santa Claus (vom Niederländischen "Sinter Claas") als Weihnachtsmann rübergeschwappt ist, wurde der von einigen, vor allem wieder in protestantischeren, Regionen übernommen und anderweitig wird das Christkind als "traditioneller Bringer" angeführt. Sankt Nikolaus selbst bringt am Nikolaustag kleinere Geschenke den Kinder.

[@bumpsy]

@@MyOliver64 Laut Wikipedia war das Christkind auch schon vor Luther für die Bescherung zuständig :) Er soll aber daran beteiligt gewesen sein, den 25. Dezember als Weihnachten festzulegen

[@MartinBrenner]

Frohe Weihnachten Andrew!

[@weinhainde2550]

Frohe Weihnacht, Andrew! Eine Frage noch: Gibt es im nicht-deutschsprachigen Raum so etwas wie "zwischen den Jahren"?

[@Goldfire-tt3dv]

Ja, nennt sich "boxing week".

[@weinhainde2550]

@@Goldfire-tt3dv na ja Zwischen den Jahren ist von Weihnachten bis 6. Januar (Drei Könige) als 2 Wochen zum auspacken ;-)

[@zwingerdrossel-musicreview40]

"Zwischen den Jahren" oder auch die Rauhnächte.

[@robertnett9793]

Es gibt die Zwölf Nächte 'Twelfth Night', die wohl eine Christliche entsprechung im englischsprachigen Raum sind. Und ich bin mir ziemlich sicher (finde aber grad keine gute Quelle), dass die 'Zeit zwischen den Zeiten' also die Nächte nach Mittwinter im Keltischen und Germanischen Brauchtum eine ziemliche Rolle gespielt haben...

[@Schanickel]

Allen Frohe Weihnachten - Merry Christmas everyone!

[@slartybartfarst55]

Thank you for all your Videos this year. A Very Merry Christmas to you & all your family

[@Speireata4]

Frohe Weihnachten Rewboss. Allen, die das lesen wünsche ich auch frohe Feiertage.

[@Hand-in-Shot_Productions]

Thanks for the information! Merry Christmas!

[@galdavonalgerri2101]

at 4:20 the lyrics of "o(h) Tannenbaum" is translated from "du grünst nicht nur zur Sommerzeit.." to "not just in winter are you green..." Is there a particular reason, why "Sommer" (summer) translates to 'winter'?

[@rewboss]

Ah. Yes, there is. I goofed, that's the reason.

[@galdavonalgerri2101]

@@rewboss never mind. Everyone understands that it's about the everlasting green coat in all seasons. Thank you for your quick response.

[@fraso7331]

Happy algorithm! And have a merry Christmas!

[@kevgoeswandering8488]

merry xmas Andrew

[@BlackAdder665]

Merry Christmas to you, Andrew, and whoever may read this comment!

[@turbobus4983]

I was raised catholic and was definitely told that the Christkind is baby Jesus, I grew up in Austria though.

[@alexanderkupke920]

Here I heard stories of all different kind. Ones that the Christkind should resemble baby Jesus, ones that depict it as one of the herald angels who anointed Jesus birth, others completely messed up where the Christkind alongside other cherub like angels is a helper of Santa Claus or Father Christmas (Weihnachtsmann in German)... Butone thing is for sure, almost no one these days actually remembers or knows where almost all of those traditions we celebrate every year come from (well apart from everyone knowing Christmas or in German Weihnacht is celebrating Jesus being born in Bethlehem). Some may remember having heard that Santa Clause is more like an English/American Version based on St. Nikolaus of Myra (who actually was a Bishop in what is Today Turkey in the lat 3rd, early 4th century) and that the read coat actually is supposed to come from a Coca Cola add (not entirely sure if that is true or a myth). Alongside that it seems St. Nikolaus seems to be seen as part of Christmas traditions as well, although it just happens to be in the time of Advent, which is the liturgical time starting the fourth Sunday before Christmas Eve (the liturgical week starts on Sunday, so Christmas Eve is in the fourth week.) And then while St Nikolaus brought gifts to the good children, Knecht Ruprecht was his assistant to take care of the naughty children in who knows him many ways, but it seems this figure comes more from a southern German, Austrian folklore and made it into Christmas and St Nikolaus only in the 16th century. And besides regionay different names are used, there seem to be other figures as well. In the Netherlands a similar figure is the "Started Pit" while in the Alps it seems to be more like the devil like Krampus, which likely was inspiration for the American Grinch.

[@12tanuha21]

@@alexanderkupke920 the color red because he was a bishop

[@downhilltwofour0082]

Merry Christmas ans a happy new year to you, your family, your pets and your friends!

[@andresjustus160]

Frohe Feiertage, Andrew !

[@HalfEye79]

In my childhood, we where every year at my grandparents house on the first christman day. They had an envelope with a money-present for their grandchildren in a small christmas tree. And we tried to find the correct one really fast.

[@DeannaAllison]

Well, I migrated to Austria and then they told me that Santa doesn't exist. Then I found out about Nikolo and Krampus. Kids, just be good. You really don't want to have to mess with Krampus ...

[@lunaarran6965]

Hello and good evening! Isn't Knecht Ruprecht a similar figure to Krampus? He has the rods to well... hit the kids who have not behaved. And St.Nikolaus is not really all nice either, but rather a strict uncle.

[@DeannaAllison]

@@lunaarran6965 I have not heard of Knecht Ruprecht, so maybe I need to find out more!

[@bumpsy]

@@DeannaAllison Knecht Ruprecht is the buddy of St. Nikolaus who beats the naughty children while Nikolaus gifts the nice ones. I believe Krampus is just a creature accompanying them

[@chrisrudolf9839]

@@DeannaAllison Knecht Ruprecht is actually a "nerfed" version of the more fearsome Krampus, they have the same origin. But while Krampus in the original folklore is a furry goat-headed demon who abducts or even devours the bad kids (unless Nikolaus saves them from him, which he will attempt to do), Knecht Ruprecht is just a wild brutish man in a dark coat (and sometimes with little devil horns) who accompanies Nikolaus as a companion and spanks bad kids who don't get presents for punishment (Which is bad enough and makes him increasingly unpopular in modern age, most of the time we don't have actors impersonating him anymore when we have St. Nikolaus make an appearance at a Christmas or advent festivity). Occasionally Knecht Ruprecht also acts as a servant of the Christkind and lugs around the heavy sack with the presents as well, as in the Christmas poem "Von draus vom Walde komm ich her".

[@Born.Toulouse]

Christmas ... pickle? Excuse me?

[@paulsj9245]

True! de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weihnachtsgurke

[@berulan8463]

I've always wondered why the Tannenbaums' leaves are called “treu“ (faithful) in that song, now I know. Thank you and merry Christmas.

[@holger_p]

But this is literature/poetry. Don't use it in daily life. The usual term today is immergrün/evergreen.

[@berulan8463]

@@holger_p Ich habe mich immer gefragt, warum hier das Wort "treu" benutzt wurde und vermutete, dass es für den Rhythmus des Satzes notwendig gewesen ist - welches andere einsilbige Adjektiv hätte denn hier sonst gepasst, aber im Zusammenhang mit dem ursprünglichen Text ergibt es jetzt einen "tieferen" Sinn.

[@nirfz]

@@berulan8463 Naja, die Nadeln verlassen den Baum nicht sondern bleiben auch über den Winter. Während bei Laubbäumen die Blätter nicht bleiben. Für mich hat das immer gereicht als Grund für das Wort treu. (ohne von der ursprünglichen Liedform überhaupt gehört zu haben) Das mit den Blättern hat allerdings bis zum 10. Lebensjahr gebraucht bis uns die Biologielehrerin erklärt hat dass das eigentlich "zusammengerollte Blätter" und keine Nadeln sind.

[@12tanuha21]

@@holger_p Immergrün passt nicht zur 2. Strophe über die Untreue einer Exfreundin

[@fulopronald2364]

In hungarian presents are brought by the engel

[@stefaniel.]

Frohe Weihnachten auch Dir :-)

[@larsriedel8718]

What If ind more funny about "Oh Tannenbaum" is that the same tune is the basis for a british socialist/labour hymn. I asked a friend of mine who was bartender in a left wing Kneipe to play it on Christmas next to the normal music they tend to play.

[@edenviews]

Your delivery of Diesel arrived in the St Nick of time.....😁

[@ronwheeler1956]

My grandmother (from Bayern) never referred to Santa Claus... she would always "correct" me that "It is Sankt Nikolaus!"

[@jenniferniklas8526]

St. Nikolaus is 6th of December, Christkind or Weihnachtsmann comes on 24th of December.

[@hurtigheinz3790]

I've never heard of anyone hiding pickles in christmas trees. Is it just an American thing supposed to have German tradition?

[@sciking8756]

Btw, the "Christ Child" brings (or used to, today a lot of people use Santa) gifts even in Western Lombardy, I think it has something to do with the Austrian government of the area. :)

[@eltfell]

In my family, we used eat pickles to get our stomaches back on track after all the sweets and the chistmas meal.

[@alexanderkupke920]

Ah yes, the "Fresskoma" making it's appearance every season despites every years promises to next year only prepare enough food for everyone around, and not enough for half of the street including a second helping...

[@SchwarbageTruck]

The Christmas Pickle thing is a fairly common thing in the Midwestern US. I sometimes joke that in theory yes it could have been a tradition brought from Germany "back in the day" but it could have been a specific family tradition (a la the "crazy uncle" who HAS to watch Die Hard christmas eve) that everyone in the neighborhood thought was fun, and assumed that because they were German, all Germans do that. We kinda casually forget that a lot of "german" things in the US are often 100-200+ years removed and often mutated on their own here... or are the product of American GIs remembering a few drunken nights while stationed in Bavaria. Also as a Midwestern American who's learned a lot about the German language, cultural traditions and idiosyncrasies: Midwestern German-Americans can be pretty on par with the New Jersey Italian-Americans at times. Don't even get me started on Wisconsin.

[@wolfgangkohlhof2180]

Ich wollte schon immer wissen, wieso ein abgesägter, vertrocknender Baum besungen wird als Zeichen für Hoffnung und Beständigkeit. Die Nadeln am Boden sagen was anderes. Jetzt weiß ich es. Werde das alte Lied mal ausgraben...thanks!

[@beetooex]

Red diesel delivery? Do you run tractors?

[@galdavonalgerri2101]

Need an explanation? Red color is used to identify fluid as heating oil, which could technically be used to run diesel engines, but is not allowed to be used on tractors or diesel cars due to low taxes. The German customs conduct checks on diesel cars and look for a possible red color in the tanks.

[@jkb2016]

Careful with the Christkind. How strong the image of the angellic girl differs from the primal depiction is itself different from area to area and from family to family.

[@Georgian2go]

absolutely loved it and learned something new (the bit about pickles...) Big xmassy thumbs up and happy holidays to you and your loved ones!

[@Dave_Sisson]

When I hear that music, I always think of the Marxist anthem, The Red Flag, even though I am not on the political left. But that song does have very evocative lyrics for people whose politics lean that way.

[@margahe9157]

Christkind = Christ Child doesn't distinct between Catholics and Protestants!is, it comes to all children in Germany, except those who do not celebrate Christmas! Of course, what is said about it depends on the religious background of the family. The best known Christmas songs are 'Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht', followed by 'O, du fröhliche' for Protestants. 'O Tannenbaum' got 1824 a new text and advanced to the most known secular Christmas song. It teaches about loyalty and hope.

[@KaiHenningsen]

Nonsense. Our family never talked about Christkind, only ever about Weihnachtsmann, and we were not alone in that.

[@paulsj9245]

I agree to Christkind. At home, in catholic Cologne, it would decorate the tree and bring the gifts, but it had no face and no shape. The most material part was it's bell. Christkind would ring it and disappear, but the bell stayed with us (when I was about six).

[@xaverlustig3581]

That's not really true. Christkind is more of a southern thing, in the north it's der Weihnachtsmann. As rewboss said, traditions may vary by family. We had both, which meant more gifts!

[@K--oc6es]

I was raised protestant (in East Germany) and it took me more than one and a half decade to ever hear of the Christ Child. To us, it was always the Weihnachtsmann and something like the Christ Child wasn't mentioned a single time.

[@paulsj9245]

@@K--oc6es Quite a different society... You knew the Jahresendflügelfigur, didn't you?

[@brigittemcdonough2385]

And' others on Christmas after!

[@gwaptiva]

Interestingly, the deeply Calvinist Netherlands never managed to get rid of St Nicholas, and I grew up with presents at St Nicholas' Eve, and Christmas being a day you went to church late at night, and then have a fancy dinner on Christmas Day.

[@l3p3]

The end: TRIGGERED

[@mendesjosr4438]

In Portugal the tradition although much overtaken in the cities by Pai Natal is that gifts are brought by baby Jesus

[@thaitom6410]

Instead of a "pickle" I traditionally hide a bottle of scotch in the Christmas tree branches, which - likewise a time-honored tradition - only I am permitted to "find". Needless to say that it never fails to quickly get me into the Christmas... uhm... spirit; usually several times a day.

[@titusmagnuseinuniversumaus6354]

Da kommt der Diesel pünktlich zum Fest.

[@wihatmi5510]

I'm German and I learned something now. I didn't know that the day once started in the evening.

[@jenniferniklas8526]

That why we don't say frohe Weihnachten (Merry Christmas) until the evening of 24th December. But a lot get that confused. It's tricky. Until dawn I use "frohe Festtage". But it might be a regional Thing. Depending on where I celebrate i might get served Potato Salat and Wiener Sausages or Pute/Steaks or "Braten", I just realized that we always add potatoes in all forms, but Fries.

[@wihatmi5510]

​@@jenniferniklas8526 I think we say "Frohe Feiertage" (Happy Holidays) because it's a holiday for everyone and includes people who don't celebrate christmas while we say "Frohe Weihnachten (Merry Christmas) more often while celebrating it to the people we celebrate with. I never felt it had anything to do with the time of the day.

[@jenniferniklas8526]

@@wihatmi5510 so pretty much the same. But Heiligabend is like Sylvester only half a holiday until 1 p.m.

[@stevelknievel4183]

So O Tannenbaum has about as much to do with Christmas as Jona Lewie's Stop the Cavalry then?

[@xaverlustig3581]

What a strange association :)

[@stevelknievel4183]

@@xaverlustig3581 Stop the Cavalry is seen as a Christmas song in the UK but like O Tannenbaum, only makes minimal reference to it. Specifically, the reference is that the singer wishes he could go home for Christmas.

[@chrisrudolf9839]

It depends. Tannenbaum in German just is a poetic version of Tanne (fir tree), so it's not specifically about a Christmas tree like in the American English adaptation of the song. The only direct reference to Christmas in the German lyrics is two lines in verse 2 "Wie oft hat mich zur Weihnachtszeit, ein Baum von dir so hoch erfreut" (= How often has at Christmas time, a tree of your kind brought me so much joy). It was intentionally adapted for Christmas though by removing the verse about the unfaithful girlfriend, so what remains is a praise of the fir tree and its evergreen leaves as a symbol of hope and persistance even in the face of dark and cold times, which is an idea that relates to Christmas well. At least more than e.g. Jingle Bells, which is literally just about a sleigh ride in the snow with no reference to Christmas at all. (No judgement, we have a children song with a kid talking to a personified snow flake that is commonly associated with Christmas, too, despite having nothing to do with Christmas.)

[@gustavgnoettgen]

Hiding special ornaments in the tree wich isn't supposed to be touched that much to avoid damage sounds impractical. Also I haven't heard about it yet. I guess it exists but very limited.

[@Urspo]

In German class in high school we sang "Oh du fruhliche" - is that still around/sang?

[@galdavonalgerri2101]

right. it is. It's spelled "oh du fröhliche" - where 'fröhlich' comes from 'froh' - not 'früh'. But, actually, I don't sing anymore at Christmas - nothing.

[@paulsj9245]

"Oh du fröhliche, oh du selige, gnadenbringende Weihnachtszeit!"

[@chrisrudolf9839]

After Stille Nacht, Oh du fröhliche is probably the most popular German christmas song that is in the hymn book (both Protestant and Catholic) and it is also one of the religious hymns that is also popular as a folk Christmas song among people who don't really go to church. In my region, it is usually the song that is picked to conclude the Holy Eve church service.

[@lindacowles756]

G'day, Urspo! I'm in California and last Christmas at church, we had a carol sing. One could request a carol for our pianist to play and I requested "Oh du fröhliche". She played it but I was the only one who seemed to know it.

[@j.lietka9406]

Danke And merry Christmas! Do you celebrate "Sylvester"? Not sure how it's spelled.

[@cH3rtzb3rg]

Merry Christmas-Eve-Eve! Also, don't call me Mary.

[@corpi8784]

I always thoughtthat traditionally Christmas ended with Epiphany on Jan 6th

[@connectingthedots100]

Weihnachtsmann was first (before American Santa Claus).

[@imrehundertwasser7094]

4:29 Time warp!

[@germanchris4440]

How carefully you constantly put your fingers and hands together. Why? Could it be that this is a form of worship of the wrong one, or what does it mean?

[@hanshartfiel6394]

The "Christ child" can not bring the presents as child labour is illegal in germany which is the reason why the presents are brought by either the Weihnachtsmann or Knecht Ruprecht.

[@adamarmfield1069]

show stolen by the lorry turning up at 4.45 or so ;)

[@witerabid]

But I don't wanna be Merry... Can I be Pippin instead?

[@popogast]

Tomorrow will be Lemmy Kilmister's birthday. Merry Christmas everybody!

[@longerleipi3469]

Das Neunerlei müsste mal erwähnt werden

[@MarcGrafZahl]

Nach Weihnachten ist vor Weihnachten.

[@nord4mucke337]

Who is this Marry Christmas and is she related to Lars Christmas - whoever that may be.

[@Simon-tc1mc]

Gotta love how German garbage trucks are Mercedes lol

[@xaverlustig3581]

There is also the English figure Father Christmas related to Santa Claus and the Weihnachtsmann. At least the German Weihnachtsmann is also related to St. Nicholas, and that is not an American influence.

[@mg7094]

There is also "Väterchen Frost" which I think is linked to the idea of father Christmas but I'm not sure. He might just be more of a fairy tale character.

[@PauxloE]

@@mg7094 As far as I understand, the "Weihnachtsmann" is just the reimport of Santa Claus, while Väterchen Frost is the Russian/Soviet atheist equivalent.

[@chrisrudolf9839]

@@mg7094 Väterchen Frost is usually not connected to Christmas in Germany, he's just a spirit of Winter here, but he is the Christmas gift bringer ind Russia (Ded Morosz).

[@chrisrudolf9839]

@@PauxloE No, the Weihnachtsmann has been used in Protestant regions of Germany pretty much since the shift of gifting from December 6th to December 24th and the term Weihnachtsmann already turns up in 18th and 19th century literature and songs (the most well know would be Hoffman von Fallerslebens "Morgen kommt der Weihnachtsmann). The only American influence is the red and white color scheme (which was cemented by the depictions in the early 20th century Coca Cola commercials), but the figure itself already existed prior to US independance. On the contrary, the lore of the U.S. Santa Claus developed as an amalgamation of the British father Christmas, the Scandinavian Sinter Klaas (from which he has the localisation on north pole and the reindeer sleigh) and the German Christmas man - and even a tiny bit of the Christkindl, which is the phonetic origin of his American alternative name Chris Kringle.

[@hoppes979]

What's so special about Christmas?

[@wernerruf7761]

Christmas/Christmas day is just a fake, this day belongs to good old "Sol Invictus" and nobody else. Special, not to those guys who stole it in the past.

[@paulsj9245]

Looks like Christmas, historically viewed, is (pardon!) a big mess. Today, I take away the influence of the Catholics with St. Nikolaus (AD 3xx) and others, Protestants like Luther (16th century) as the "culprit" of Christmas (Dec 24th) gift giving, Santa Clause in his tow (USA 1832) as well as Coke advertising (1931) to form plenty opportunities for festive behaviour, presents, reflection, and commerce. All of this after 60+ repetitions of these "holy times" in my life. Happy Holidays everyone!

[@corpi8784]

Wasn't it Luther himself who came up withthe idea if the christ childe bringing the gifts?

[@paulsj9245]

The protestants, for sure, as they diminuished the saints' roles.

[@Arcturus367]

Christmas Pickle Rick shall become a new tradition 😝

[@videomailYT]

Ihr Kinderlein kommet oder Oh du Fröhliche, oh du Selige wären zum Beispiel noch 2 weitere Weihnachtslieder

[@fariesz6786]

Merry Chirpmas ( ")

[@dave2.077]

the second verse of oh tannenbaum is about a girl changing her mind about her man when he loses his money and leaves him because of it. just a reminder that humans are all the same throughout the times and in all places and that nothing about human interaction ever changes

[@sizanogreen9900]

As a german my presents were always brought by the christmas man. (Weihnachtsmann)

[@benn87]

The Christmas pickle is about as German as spaghetti and meatballs are Italian....

[@paulsj9245]

See de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weihnachtsgurke, with reference to a German catalogue of 1909. And yes, they are sold on Nurembergs Christkindlmarkt, if only it's open! And yes, I may have heard of some Extrawurst given for it's finding.

[@varana]

That's what he was referring to in the video with there being all sorts of ornaments, pickle-shaped ones among them. The catalogue doesn't give any indication that a pickle was a general custom (the whole set - trumpet, butterfly, bottles and all - is presented as something of a recent hit seller), and certainly nothing about hiding it.

[@pocketdynamo5787]

Funny thing is: The (German) Wikipedia article describes placing that pickle in the christmas tree as an AMERICAN tradition. :D The portrayed catalogue is from Prenzlau, which is a small town not far from the Spreewald - which is, of course, famous for Spreewald Gürkchen. So it may just have been a local gag, such as the ice cream manufacturer in my hometown crafting an ice cream with the flavour of our local beer for the annual Schützenfest. That doesn't make beer ice cream a German tradition.^^

[@genoelch]

I'm a protestant from northern Germany and I cannot understand catholics..So much wrong to me.

[@DBZgucker]

🐰🐰

[@tonyburzio4107]

Christmas celebrations in the US changed much after the Second World War. When the men came home, they had seen things they couldn't deal with. So, first they took their families out into the suburbs, since they couldn't deal with humans any more, and tried to forget. Christmas went from a minor celebration into a manic celebration of good and family. It was essentially a way to deal with a national PTSD event.

[@hoppes979]

Was Jesus White or Black or Brown😢

[@l3p3]

Du bist schon so lange aktiv in dieser Rolle. Wie lange wirst du der in Deutschland lebende Brite bleiben? Wirst du irgendwann ein Deutscher mit Migrationshintergrund sein? Oder bist du das schon?

[@SaudiHaramco]

When i was a kid i never associated the "christ child" with Jesus because it was always played by a girl.. and also because what the hell does religion have to do with christmas lol

[@robertnett9793]

Well... it is after all one of the 4 most important days in celtic culture