Christmas in Germany

1
Christmas in Germany

• Christmas Preparations
• Advent Wreath
• Christmas Tree
• St. Claus Day
• Three Kings Day
• Nikolaus

2
Christmas Preparations

• The Christmas preparations begin
• on December 6th in Germany.
• Many evenings are spent baking
• cakes and cookies.
• Gingerbread houses are very
• popular in Germany.

3

• Many people make gifts,
• decoration and dolls
• made of fruit.
• Christbaumgeback, a white moldable dough, is
  used to make Christmas tree decorations, which
  can be baked.

4
Advent Wreath

• A wreath of holly and four red
• candles is used in Germany.
• Each Sunday for four week
• one of the candles is lit. The
• last candle is lit on Christmas
• Eve.

5
Christmas Tree

• In many homes in Germany, a
• room is locked around the
• Christmas holidays.
• Inside this room is the familys
• Christmas tree.

6

• The adults decorate the
• tree in secret and reveal
• it to the children on
• Christmas Eve at
• midnight.
• Many homes have
• several Christmas trees.

7

• The tradition of having a
• Christmas tree actually
• began in Germany.
• A man named Martin
• Luther was the first one to
• decorate a tree around the
• Christmas holidays.

8

• As Martin Luther was walking
• home one night, he enjoyed
• looking at the stars in the sky.
• He said they looked as if
• they were floating and
• resting on the branches of
• the evergreen trees.

9

• He cut one of the trees down
• and took it home.
• He decorated it with
• lit candles to
• symbolize the stars.
• The tradition of the Christmas
• tree began from this event.

10

• The tradition of using glass
• ornaments to decorate
• Christmas trees also began in
• Germany.
• In 1880, German glassmakers
• discovered how to make glass
• balls and bells. These became
• Christmas tree decorations all
• over the world.

11
St. Claus Day

• St. Claus Day is
• celebrated in Germany
• on December 6th.
• Boys and girls leave
• out shoes or boots to
• be filled with presents.

12
Three Kings Day

• Boys and girls in Germany dress up like Kings on
  Three Kings Day, which is January 6th.
• They sings carols and collect money for different
  projects.

13
Nikolaus

• Santa is called Nikolaus in
• Germany.
• He wears a red suit and has a
• long white beard.
• He brings gifts and leaves
• them in the childrens shoes
• on December 6th.

14
Other Christmas Figures

• Gifts under the
• Christmas tree are
• brought by Christkind.
• Weihnachtsmann, or
• Christmas Man, also
• brings gifts. He looks
• like Santa Claus.

15

• There is also a traditional
• figure called Christkindl.
• She is a beautiful girl with a
• shining crown of candles.
• She visits each house and
• brings baskets of presents.