What are some German traditions?

Answer 1

All doors in a hallway are kept shut. This came from the old days when shutting the doors helped keep the heat inside the rooms.

Decorating a Christmas tree, baking gingerbread, and hiding Easter Eggs are all German traditions too. (Although real Germans decorate their trees with candles.)

Wearing house shoes inside and outside shoes when you leave the house.

Being on time.

Hiding a pickle in the Christmas tree. Whoever finds the pickle gets to open the first gift.

New Year's Day: Many people send New Year's Day cards rather than Christmas cards. If you go to a candy store or bakery, you will see hundreds of little pigs made out of sweet almond paste. Sometimes the pig has a penny in his mouth. This is to bring you lots of wealth in the coming year. You will also see pictures of chimney sweeps with their long-handled brooms and a four-leafed clover. This means that the dirt of the old year is swept away and the new year will be all good luck.

Martin's Day is November 11, and marks the beginning of the Christmas season. In Germany, Christmas is celebrated very well! Martin's Day is to remember St. Martin who lived in the 300's. When he was a soldier, he saw a poor man freezing, so he ripped his clock in half and gave half to him. Today, St. Martin's Day is a little like our Halloween and Thanksgiving together - children carry bright lanterns and parade through the streets singing. You can go out and give them candy. At home, there is a goose dinner.

St. Nicholas Day and Christmas: This day is really the beginning of Christmas! If you leave your shoes outside your door at night on December 6, you will find a present from St. Nicholas in them when you get up. All sorts of special cakes and cookies are made. You may have an Advent Calendar, with a little door to open every day until Christmas, until you see a completely new picture underneath the top one. Your town might have a Christkindlmarkt (Christ -Child Market), which is an outdoor nighttime fun fair, with booths selling things, games, rides, food, and hot drinks. By the way, if you have heard Santa Claus called Kris Kringle, that is the way people heard Germans say "Christkindl". People love singing carols. The Christmas tree started in Germany, and in many homes today, they still light real candles on the tree. Of course, a group of people light all the candles quickly, the lights are turned out, everyone says "Ooh!" and "Ahh!", and then they are blown out before the tree catches on fire! On Christmas morning, you will find presents from der Weihnachtsmann (The Christmas Man or Santa Claus). Children sing a song to the same tune as "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" that says "Morgen kommt der Weihnachtsmann, kommt mit seinen Gaben", or "Tomorrow Santa Claus will come, come to give us presents".

First Day of School: On your very first day of school, you will get a big cardboard cone full of candy and school supplies. Many little children have a photograph taken of them holding cones almost as big as they are! Your parents may walk you to school that day to meet all the other cone-carrying kindergartners.

Answer 2

All doors in a hallway are kept shut. This came from the old days when shutting the doors helped keep the heat inside the rooms.

Decorating a Christmas tree, baking gingerbread, and hiding Easter Eggs are all German traditions too. (Although real Germans decorate their trees with candles.)

Wearing house shoes inside and outside shoes when you leave the house.

Being on time.

Hiding a pickle in the Christmas tree. Whoever finds the pickle gets to open the first gift.

New Year's Day: Many people send New Year's Day cards rather than Christmas cards. If you go to a candy store or bakery, you will see hundreds of little pigs made out of sweet almond paste. Sometimes the pig has a penny in his mouth. This is to bring you lots of wealth in the coming year. You will also see pictures of chimney sweeps with their long-handled brooms and a four-leafed clover. This means that the dirt of the old year is swept away and the new year will be all good luck.

Martin's Day is November 11, and marks the beginning of the Christmas season. In Germany, Christmas is celebrated very well! Martin's Day is to remember St. Martin who lived in the 300's. When he was a soldier, he saw a poor man freezing, so he ripped his clock in half and gave half to him. Today, St. Martin's Day is a little like our Halloween and Thanksgiving together - children carry bright lanterns and parade through the streets singing. You can go out and give them candy. At home, there is a goose dinner.

St. Nicholas Day and Christmas: This day is really the beginning of Christmas! If you leave your shoes outside your door at night on December 6, you will find a present from St. Nicholas in them when you get up. All sorts of special cakes and cookies are made. You may have an Advent Calendar, with a little door to open every day until Christmas, until you see a completely new picture underneath the top one. Your town might have a Christkindlmarkt (Christ -Child Market), which is an outdoor nighttime fun fair, with booths selling things, games, rides, food, and hot drinks. By the way, if you have heard Santa Claus called Kris Kringle, that is the way people heard Germans say "Christkindl". People love singing carols. The Christmas tree started in Germany, and in many homes today, they still light real candles on the tree. Of course, a group of people light all the candles quickly, the lights are turned out, everyone says "Ooh!" and "Ahh!", and then they are blown out before the tree catches on fire! On Christmas morning, you will find presents from der Weihnachtsmann (The Christmas Man or Santa Claus). Children sing a song to the same tune as "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" that says "Morgen kommt der Weihnachtsmann, kommt mit seinen Gaben", or "Tomorrow Santa Claus will come, come to give us presents".

First Day of School: On your very first day of school, you will get a big cardboard cone full of candy and school supplies. Many little children have a photograph taken of them holding cones almost as big as they are! Your parents may walk you to school that day to meet all the other cone-carrying kindergartners.