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Winter
Celebrating Christmas in Europe |
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| 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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