German Christmas Tradition - Der Adventskranz
German Christmas culture
Sundays in December are “Adventssonntage”. (1., 2., 3. oder 4. Advent)
Do you know what this means and where the tradition of the Advent wreath comes from?
The first “Adventskranz” was placed in an orphanage in Hamburg about two hundred years ago. There were 24 candles on a wooden wreath. Every day, another “Kerze” was “angezündet” until Christmas. Four of them were thicker and were for the Sundays of Advent.
Today it has become a fir wreath with four candles. With the first candle begins the Advent season. Every Sunday until Christmas another candle is lit until all four candles give a cozy “Licht”. The Advent wreath is meant to shorten the time until Christmas and to bring light into the dark season. The increase of light symbolizes the joyful expectation of the arrival of Jesus Christ.
People either make it on their own or buy it.
We often read Christmas stories and sing “Lieder” with children sitting around the Advent wreath, eating “Plätzchen”, “Lebkuchen” and “Mandarinen”.
Also, in the German Bundestag and in most city halls it an “Adventskranz”.
With a diameter of eight meters, the “Adventskranz” in Kaufbeuren, a small city in Allgäu, is advertised as the "largest real Advent wreath in the world". It consists of real fir branches and is equipped with almost 2 meters high candles. It stands at the city's Neptune Fountain from Advent Day to “Dreikönigstag”.
Do you have an “Adventskranz” at home? Selfmade or did you buy it? Let us know in the comments!
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Vocabulary:
der Adventskranz (Pl. die Adventskränze) – the Advent wreath
anzünden – to light
die Kerze (Pl. die Kerzen) – the candle
das Licht (Pl. die Lichter) – the light
das Lied (Pl. die Lieder) – the song
das Plätzchen (Pl. -) – special German Christmas cookies –> have a look on the previous blog post
der Lebkuchen (Pl. - ) – the gingerbread
die Madarine (Pl. -n) – the tendrine
der Dreikönigstag; auch: Heilig Drei König – Epiphany