When did Christmas start in our house? I think when I saw the evening sky in its pink light and my mother told me "Look the "Christkind" is baking cookies" .
As a child I imaged the heavenly kitchen because we had a book where the Christkind and the little angels prepared cookies and other things for Christmas. I found the same book in English at "Miss Tiggy Winkles" in Riverside a few years ago and I bought it for my my daughter Andréa and her daughter Lorelei.
My mother I have to thank for making this my favorite time of the year and why I am in such a reminiscent mood and feel reflective and misty eyed!!! I am sort of translating these feelings of mine but the words do not look right!!
Since we were a big family, my mother started in November to bake and she had her own recipes probably from her owm mother:
Hazelnutmoons, Elisenlebkuchen (a kind of a gingerbread), Gulatschen (or Kulleraugen à la Dr.Oetker), Terrassen (my speciality), Buttercookies, etc. and of course also the Christmas Stollen. The house smelled so good and I remember that in the cold hallway stood the bowl with the cookie dough and I often sampled it.
Christmas really started when the First Advent arrived. We had an advents wreath with four red candles and the first candle was lit. We had cookies and my mother (a Kindergartenteacher) told us lots of Advent stories: like the story of the little boy that played on the pond:
Vom Büblein auf dem Eis.
Gefroren hat es heuer
noch gar kein festes Eis;
das Büblein steht am Weiher
und spricht so zu sich leis:
Ich will es einmal wagen,
das Eis, es muss doch tragen.-
Wer weiß?
Das Büblein stampft und hacket
mit seinem Stiefelein,
das Eis auf einmal knacket,
und Krach! Schon brichts hinein.
Das Büblein platscht und krabbelt
als wie ein Krebs und zappelt
mit Schreien.
O helft, ich muss versinken
in lauter Eis und Schnee!
O helft, ich muss ertrinken
im tiefen, tiefen See!
Wär nicht ein Mann gekommen,
der sich ein Herz genommen,
o weh!
Der packt es bei dem Schopfe
und zieht es dann heraus,
vom Fuß bis zu dem Kopfe
wie eine Wassermaus.
Das Büblein hat getropfet,
der Vater hats geklopfet
zu Haus.
Friedrich Güll (1812-1879)
And we had to stay out of mischief otherwise the "Christkind would not bring us anything. There existed a ventilation flap in the kitchen where the light came through and my mother told us that this is where the Christkind looks in and there also were signs all over the house because sometimes we found a star on the stairs or a piece of angel hair, etc
On Dec 5th the Nicolaus (St. Nick) came and one was always afraid because if you were naughty he brought a switch- and no presents for you! Something rammbled at the door- someone opened the door a little fearful and a bag was waiting for us
..from the holy man no trace. There was a Weckmann (a Santa Claus made of sweet yeast dough) - there were oranges in the bag,nuts and chocolate Santa Claus. It was quite simple compared what children get today. But it was wonderful to belief in these mysterious beliefs.
The adventswreath was made of fresh fir tree branches (Tannenbaumzweige) with four red candles, presenting the four Sundays before Christmas. We celebrated on Sunday Nights with conversation, cookies, songs and poems.
"Advent, Advent - das erste Lichtlein brennt
Erst eins, dann zwei, dann drei - dann vier-
dann steht das Christkind vor der Tuer."
Our house was very simple decorated with Fir Tree Branches every where, maybe in a vase -maybe decorated with a few straw stars
apple candles, a pyramid made out of sticks and apples and moss inbetween for "Baby Jesus" to lay on, we made Apple Santa Clauses, paper snow flakes, etc.
Weird things happend around Christmas time like my doll was always gone.
A few days before Christmas my grandmother, Barbara Gundel, arrived by train from an area in Germany, South of Nuremberg, named the Oberpfalz from a town named Sulzbach Rosenberg. She always arrived with lots of goodies: Oberpfaelzer Ham, her cookies: oatmeal cookie, anis cookies, dried apple rings, handknitted things like gloves and stockings (when I was younger).
Not too long before Christmas my father brought a Christmas Tree from the Westerwald Region. He was an architect and his job was also something like a building police and since they worked with the forestry he alwasy got one for free. On the 24th, he spend the whole day in the Weihnachtszimmer.
He decorated the tree with colored Christmas balls , lametta ((tinsels), all kinds of sweets like chocolates, and as I recall old paper Santas. Of course I did not know that my father was in there. Our Christmas room which was our living room and was locked all day but I knew something went on in there. We heard little bells and we tried to look through the key whole but that must have been covered!
Christmas Eve was when we celebrated Christmas and we had a simple meal: potatoe salad and Frankfurters and I think that was normal at that time in German households.
Then we heard a bell and my father's voice said: " Thank you, Christkind, for coming to us" and we heard the "Christkind" with its bells cross the cold hallway and the Magic of Christmas had arrived: the door opened, we heard Christmas Music and all one could see was the Christmas Tree with the candles lit and the sparklers sprayed their little stars. What a sight that was. Never can I tell you how great and how pretty that is or was!
We sang songs “O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum, wie grün sind deine Blätter ….” and “Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht …”. .and recited a few poems like "Denkt euch ich habe das Christkind gesehen" and then finally the "Bescherung", we could look at our presents - which we had already eyed from far away anyway.
As I remembered, the presents were not wrapped. Each of us had a little area where the presents laid.... and there was the dollhouse (Puppenhaus) and the store (Kaufladen) which we only had for Christmas each year .. and my doll "Baerbel" was back with a new outfit!
Presents existed of always a book, a special toy, maybe a game, maybe a new sled and always something to wear.
Each of us had a Christmas Plate (Bunte Teller) with cookies, candies, apples, nuts, etc.
The night was short because at 6 o'clock in the morning we left with my father to go to Church for the Christmas Mass and on our way to and from church we met all these friends from the village to wish us a Merry Christmas. This was special because that was the only time my father went to church. The church with its Golden Altar and the huge Christmas Tree was a stunning site and there was a wonderful manger and one of the figures was a little black boy nodding with his head when one put a coin it its box he held collecting money for the diaspora.
It was really Christmas when the people from the village sang: "Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht!" (Silent Night, Holy Night")!
At home my mother and grandmother waited for us with a big breakfast: ham, sausages, eggs and the the Christmas Stollen (christmas cake) was cut.
For our Christmas Lunch my mother cooked a Christmas Goose and we had potatoe dumblings (what work that was).
The afternoon was quite, we played with the toys or read a cook - play a game or two, etc.
The "Second Christmas" Day, another holiday in Germany, was a quiet day especially -a day my mother deserved.
