What Christmas customs are there worldwide? >> HABA

Advent, St. Nicholas and the Christ Child: Christmas in Germany

Weihnachten mit Kindern weltweit | Großvater mit kleiner Enkelin zu Weihnachten im Haus, am Tisch sitzend mit Wunderkerzen

Germany is not only considered the birthplace of the Christmas tree, it also has a particularly large number of Christmas traditions. This is not surprising, since Germans savor the Christmas season to the fullest: with the first Advent the pre-Christmas period often begins as early as late November, and it officially lasts until Epiphany on January 6, when Christmas trees are traditionally taken down.

Typically German: Advent

Many German Christmas customs are therefore more like Advent customs - from the Advent wreath and the Advent calendar for children to the Christmas markets and the classic Christmas tale. The feast of St. Nicholas is also a typically German custom - as are stollen and cookies: few other countries have as many recipes for traditional Christmas baked goods.

Christmas customs and traditions around the world

Weihnachten weltweit | Bild | Kinder halten Kerze in der Hand

After Easter, Christmas is the most important festival of the Christian church. The fact that Christmas customs have developed so differently from country to country is also due to the mixing of pagan and Christian rituals in many countries. Evergreen trees and candlelight have long been regarded in many cultures as symbols of life and hope.

Yule festival with trolls: How Christmas is celebrated in Scandinavia

In Scandinavia people celebrate Christmas very cosily with the family – a lot of baking is done and everyone goes together to the sauna on Christmas Eve. Christmas is closely linked to the Yule festival, the day of the winter solstice on December 21. Other Christmas customs are also strongly influenced by pagan beliefs: for example, children in Denmark and Sweden put a bowl of porridge on the windowsill or in front of the door on Christmas Eve. It is a gift for the trolls so that they will protect the house and not annoy its inhabitants. In Iceland, by the way, there are 13 cheeky Santas who cause mischief for 13 days from December 12 before they bring the presents.

Gifts already on St. Nicholas Day: Christmas in the Netherlands and Belgium

In our country we get chocolate and maybe a little something in the boot for St. Nicholas – in the Netherlands December 6 is the most important day of the Christmas season. People place sacks in front of their doors on the night before St. Nicholas Day, which are filled with presents by Sinterklaas and his helper, Black Peter (Zwarte Piet).

Christmas stockings and mistletoe: Christmas in England, Ireland and Scotland

In Britain the gift-giving does not take place on Christmas Eve but on the morning of December 25. Santa Claus does not deliver the presents in person, as was originally customary in Germany: he comes unseen down the chimneys at night and fills the large Christmas stockings that children have hung on the fireplace. Instead of stollen, England and Ireland have the Christmas pudding, a dense fruit cake that is often baked and stored months in advance. A very well-known English Christmas custom is the mistletoe, which also has great power in pagan belief: it is hung in doorframes during the Christmas season, and if a man and a woman stand beneath it at the same time they must kiss.

A sea of lights and a red-nosed reindeer: Christmas in America

The Christmas customs of the USA are largely based on the British traditions brought to the country by immigrants. The start of the Christmas season is the Thanksgiving festival on November 25 – from then on at the latest every house is brightly and colorfully decorated. Santa Claus comes with his reindeer sleigh, which is, among others, pulled by the red-nosed reindeer Rudolph. In Mexico and South America, on the other hand, the Christmas celebration is clearly more Christian: elaborately designed nativity scenes dominate the streetscape and families meet to admire them.

Father Frost gives presents to children in Eastern Europe

In the Eastern European countries, the Catholic and Orthodox faiths predominate. Here people do not indulge during Advent but fast – only on Christmas Eve at nightfall does the fast end with the big Christmas meal. Santa Claus is called Father Frost in Russia, Poland and Romania. He brings the presents together with his daughter Snowflake. Russian children, however, have to wait a little longer for their presents: because the Russian holidays follow the Julian calendar, Christmas is not celebrated there until January 7.

Italy and Spain celebrate Christmas on Epiphany

In Spain the tradition of giving gifts follows the biblical Christmas story: on January 6, the day on which the Three Wise Men brought their gifts to Jesus in Bethlehem, Spanish children also receive their presents. On this day magnificent Three Kings' parades are held across the country. In Italy children also receive gifts on Epiphany, but not from the Three Wise Men, rather from the Christmas witch La Befana. Overall, Christmas in Italy is celebrated as long and intensively as in Germany – starting with San Nicola, St. Nicholas' Day, through the feast of Saint Lucia on December 13 and the birth of Jesus on December 25 up to Epiphany.