When fa-la-la’s and ho-ho-ho’s hit the air, it’s almost impossible not to think at least a little bit about Germany. Whether you know it or not, most of your Christmas traditions actually came from them.
Ever decorated a Christmas tree? Yeah, of course you have. Germany invented that. Eaten chocolate from an advent calendar? Thank Germany. Put a nutcracker out on the table with your other Christmas adornments? It’s actually a Nussknacker, and yeah, once again, Germany. And of course “O Tannenbaum,” which is just straight-up German for a Christmas tree.
But there are some things that Germany still does better when celebrating Christmas than the good ol’ U S of A, and we should really get on board with that. Like…
Sankt Nikolaus (or Saint Nick’s)
Now I realize that this advice is coming to you a little late, because Saint Nick’s is technically on December 6th (with the 5th being Saint Nick’s Eve, if you feel like calling it such) but if you want to do it late that’s cool, nobody’s watching and I promise I won’t tell Germany you’re cheating.
I grew up always doing this with, as my mom comes from a German family and it’s one of the few traditions that carried on, but many Americans don’t celebrate Saint Nick’s, and that’s just sad. Why, you ask?
Well, Sankt Nikolaus consists of children (or adults, or whoever in the world feels like it) putting their shoes by the front door before they go to sleep at night, and when they awake in the morning finding them filled with candy and little toys from “Saint Nick”.
A pre-Christmas holiday almost entirely dedicated to chocolate? I’m convinced. You should be too, America. It’s delicious and festive. Not to mention a great way to kick off the Christmas season.
Weihnachtsmärkte (or Christmas Markets)
These are one of the cutest and most festive holiday traditions in Germany that get everybody in the holiday spirit as soon as November ends and double as a fun way to get creative and unique Christmas gifts for all of your friends and family.
Some American cities already have made their own Christmas markets a thing (shout out to you on this one, Denver – the Christkindlmarkt downtown is pretty sweet) but most only have lame department stores to do your shopping in. Where’s the fun in that?
At Christmas markets in Germany you can shop from small booths filled with handmade gifts such as candles, sweets, scarves, carved wooden ornaments, and tons of other unique and cute things. And to take a break from shopping, depending on which Christmas market you go to, there will be either live music or a little show or ballet for entertainment.
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| Such as this fun little choir performing in Charlottenburg. |
And that’s not even mentioning the food… Christmas market food is all of the warm, festive comfort food that you love, freshly made and served to you as the perfect combatant for the December cold. I mean, German food is basically all comfort food, right? Yeah it is.
Plus German hot chocolate is basically the best thing ever, because they like to make it by just taking hot milk and actually melting a big ol’ piece of chocolate into it. None of that cocoa powder nonsense over here in these Christmas markets, no sir.
Although I can’t really say with a clear conscience that hot chocolate is the best drink ever, because…
Glühwein
That’s it. That’s my whole argument. Because: Glühwein.
You may not have heard the name before, or even tried the drink, but I’m sure that everyone has heard of the Christmas anomaly that is hot wine spiced with clove, nutmeg, cinnamon, and other delicious Christmas flavors and topped off with a tang of orange.
Aka, happiness for wine-lovers in a nice warm cup.
And since you can make it with literally any wine you want, white, red, or rose, you can bet your fur-lined Santa Claus boots that I’ll be bringing a recipe back to share with my family (and the rest of America; no one deserves to miss out on this joy).
Sugar cookies (made with cinnamon)
This last one is simple, which makes it even more upsetting that I had to wait 20 years until I came to Germany to experience this deliciousness.
In German they’re called Spekulos, which has no real translation but basically just means the traditional Christmas sugar cinnamon cookies.
I know that in America people like to make Snickerdoodles (and I am indeed one of those people, I just made myself a batch) but don’t try and compare Snickerdoodles to Spekulos. They’re totally different things.
Spekulos are thin and stamped to look like cottages or little elves or things like that, and they’re actually baked with cinnamon in the dough instead of just rolled in cinnamon-sugar after the fact.
They’re perfect for dipping in milk, because the thin cookie absorbs it and becomes soft quickly, and they’re nice and easy to hold on to – because nothing is worse than accidentally dropping your cookie into a full glass of milk and having to drink the dregs when you finally get to the bottom.
The best part? You can get them baked fresh at a local bakery, usually for under two euros.
So add some cinnamon to your sugar cookie dough next time. It’s positively scrumptious, I promise. Drink some Glühwein while you’re baking them, too, and you’ll basically be German already.
