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Winter
Celebrating Christmas in Europe | |
|  | | Everyone celebrates Xmas in their own way |
| | Christmas is celebrated in many different ways throughout our continent. Many European countries have their own customs... we take a peek at just some of those. |
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| | Iceland, the land of ice and snow has thirteen Santa Clauses! Thirteen days before Christmas, the first Santa comes down from the mountains and goes round every single house to put little treats in children's shoes while they sleep. If they've been good they get goodies such as mandarins, scratch cards, sweets etc. - or a potato if they've been bad!
The next day the second one comes to town and so on. Then on the 25th the first one goes back, the next day the second one goes back. The 6th of January is called "the thirteenth" and is classed as the last day of Christmas because that day the last Santa goes back home.
In the days of the Soviet Union Russia, Christmas was not celebrated very much. New Year was the important time - when 'Father Frost' brought presents to children. With the fall of Communism, Christmas is now openly celebrated - either on December 25th; or more often on January 7th.
This unusual date is because the Russian Orthodox church uses the old 'Julian' calendar for religious celebration days. Special Christmas food includes cakes, pies and 'meat dumplings'.
In Sweden, the most important day is Christmas Eve. A special Christmas meal is eaten on Christmas Eve - ham (pork), herring fish, and brown beans - and this is the time when families give presents to each other. Many people attend a church meeting early on Christmas Day.
Christmas is called Jul and it actually follows their heathen midwinter celebration. There is no Jul without the Julklap (the Christmas knocking). People go around the house mysteriously knocking on the doors and presents are quickly shoved into the room. Then every member of the family has to find the right present.
In the Netherlands, St. Nicholas is known as Sinterklaas. Dutch children are told that he arrives from Spain on a steamer on his feast day, December 6. The night before, they fill their shoes with hay and sugar for his horse and, in the morning, awake to find them filled with gifts such as nuts and candy.
Sometimes Sinterklaas appears in person in the children's homes, along with his assistant, Black Pete and Sinterklaas questions the children about their behaviour during the past year!
In Switzerland, Samichlaus (Santa Claus) always had the hard task of bringing the Christmas tree into the living room (as it was written down in 1775).
If you were in sunny Spain for Christmas, you may actually think that the whole thing had been cancelled. However, Christmas is celebrated, but presents are given on the 6th of January, the Three Kings Day (Reyes Magos) instead.
The Spanish and the Portuguese introduced the Christmas tree to Latin America, but unfortunately there are no conifers and that's why the people in Latin America decorate cactuses, pines or quite kitschy plastic trees.
Italy is famous for its huge, naturalistic and magnificent mangers. During Christmas mangers become the visual centre and are the pride of every church. In Greece the celebration of the three kings (Epiphanias) on the 6th of January, is like in Spain, the day to celebrate Christmas.
It is celebrated with pontifical processions and water blessings where people get really wet. Presents are mainly given to godparents and godchildren.
In ancient times in France, Saint Nicolas brought his gifts on the 6th of December (this is still traditional in some northern parts of the country).
In most parts of France, Père Noel has now taken over from Saint Nicolas. Père Noel is the French version of Father Christmas and as in the UK he comes in the night of the 24th and puts the presents into shoes that have the function of the stockings here.
The culinary climax on Christmas day is the traditional "Bûche de Noel", a cake that is served in the form of a trunk.
In Germany Christmas Eve is the most important day and is celebrated with an outstanding dinner and traditionally with a visit to Church for midnight mass. Some families like to sing at Christmas but everything is very contemplative and reflective.
During the advent time Christmas markets are very famous in public squares. The most famous one is certainly the 'Christkindelmarkt' in Nurnberg. | | | |
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