Advent wreaths, Nikolaus boots, glass baubles and wooden pyramids: a handmade alphabet of German Christmas traditions, and where crochet fits in.
Germany gave the world the Christmas tree, the Advent wreath and the glass bauble, so a December stroll there is full of surprises. Here is a small alphabet of German Christmas traditions, each one tied to something made by hand.
A is for Adventskranz
In 1839, Hamburg pastor Johann Hinrich Wichern wanted to help the children at his mission school count the days to Christmas. He took an old cartwheel and fixed 24 small red candles and four large white ones to it. The modern wreath of evergreen branches and four candles grew from that idea, and Hamburg’s main Christmas market still displays a giant version with the original 24 candles.
B is for Bescherung
Gift-giving happens on the evening of December 24. After a simple meal, often potato salad with sausages, a bell rings and the whole family gathers around the tree.
C is for Christkind
In many regions the presents come from the Christkind, an angel-like figure, rather than Santa. Children never see it. They only hear the bell.
E is for Erzgebirge
In the Ore Mountains, woodworkers shaped Christmas pyramids, nutcrackers, smoking men and candle arches from the 1700s onward. The candle arch, the Schwibbogen, is said to echo the lanterns miners hung around the mine entrance, and in many towns almost every window glows with one.
G is for Glass
In 1847, a glassmaker named Hans Greiner in Lauscha began blowing glass ornaments shaped like fruit and nuts into molds, then silvering them inside. By the 1870s the baubles were sailing to Britain, and soon after to America. Lauscha still holds a bauble market every November.
N is for Nikolaus
On the evening of December 5, children set a boot outside the door. By morning, St Nicholas has filled it with nuts, oranges and chocolate.
S is for Stollen
Dresden’s Striezelmarkt dates back to 1434, and the fruit-and-almond bread called Stollen, dusted with powdered sugar, is its edible mascot.
H is for Handmade
Look at that list again: wood, glass, wax, bread. Almost every German tradition has a craft behind it, which makes the country a natural place for something soft. That is the gap Crochet Cozy Moments fills. Its handmade crochet Christmas ornaments are worked from thread by hand, with the same unhurried attention a glassblower or woodcarver brings to a piece. Beside a shiny bauble, a lacy crochet snowflake or star adds warmth where light would otherwise bounce off a hard surface. These crochet Christmas ornaments hold the time of the person who made them, which is exactly what a German workshop would recognize.
Z is for Zusammen
It means together. Every tradition here is something people do side by side, and the best decorations are the ones that get shared.
