Christmas in Germany begins long before that very holiday. Waiting for Christmas is already a holiday and a special ritual.

A month before Christmas, children (and adults too) receive Advent calendars as a gift - calendars where the 24 remaining days before the holiday are small pockets in which various sweets and tiny gifts are hidden. Every day, kids open only one pocket (either a pouch or a box, depending on how the calendar is made). This is how children count the days until Christmas.: how many pockets are left, so many more days of waiting.

Along with the Advent calendar, an Advent wreath appears in German families - a wreath of fir branches in which 4 candles are inserted. Usually the wreath is placed in the most prominent and honorable place. For example, in the center of the dining table.

Four weeks before the holiday, the first candle is lit on the wreath. In a week, another one. And when, finally, all the candles on the wreath will be lit, it means that the holiday has arrived.

Advent calendar, Advent wreath - all these are interesting and beautiful ways to count the days until Christmas.…

Germans are practical people. They even get the full joy of Christmas. They stretch the holiday for the whole of December. Kids are especially lucky. Because they receive gifts not only for Christmas and New Year, but also on St. Nicholas Day – December 6th. On the eve of St. Nicholas Day, German boys and girls polish their shoes and put them (or just one shoe out of a pair) on the threshold of their room. Or on the porch of the house.

According to legend, St. Nicholas will leave a gift in his shoe. And if the child has behaved badly, then in the morning he will find only dry twigs in the shoe. Or, worse, a rod. By the way, when the shoes are on the porch, the neighbors often throw them in... no, they don't throw anything bad there, but they put sweets or small souvenirs.

Traditionally, Christmas markets are held in Germany on the eve of the holiday. And even foreigners are eager to get on them.

For example, the Christmas market in Nuremberg. It was known back in the Middle Ages. It is called the "Christkindlesmarkt" – the Christkind Market — the Christ Child Market.

The Christ child is a child with blond hair, wearing a white dress with gold sleeves that are so wide that they look like wings. And on the head of the Christ child is a golden crown.

Four weeks before Christmas, on a Friday, the Nuremberg Christmas market is full of people. Everyone gathers to see a miracle… At exactly 6 p.m., all the lights go out in the central market square. And there is silence. Christkind descends from heaven.

Coming down from the sky– that's what the kids think. But in fact, he just appears on the balcony of the church. The Christ child is all illuminated by light. He came to bless the market and all its visitors. As soon as Hristkind finishes speaking, the lights come on in the market square, sellers start selling, and buyers start buying.

Once upon a time, Hristkind was played by young actresses of the Nuremberg Theater. Now non-actresses can also apply for this role. The main thing is that the applicants should be between 16 and 19 years old. So that they have blonde hair, clear speech, and a loud voice. And yet Hristkind should not be afraid of heights.

But opening the market is not the only duty of the Christ child. After that, he visits kindergartens, nursing homes, and hospitals. On Wednesdays, Hristkind tells the children stories about Christmas, sitting in a small house at the Christmas market.

The Nuremberg market is very bright and original. Sellers are not in stalls, but in small wooden houses. There are at least 180 of them on the market. The houses are colored, decorated with fir branches, lanterns and toys.

About two million visitors come to the Nuremberg Market on Christmas Eve every year. But the city itself has only 500 thousand inhabitants.

This is because the Nuremberg Christmas market is considered the best in Germany. Despite the fact that about 2,600 holiday fairs are held in this country on the eve of the holiday. The Christmas market is a national tradition. And all cities, even the smallest ones, observe traditions.

At the Nuremberg fair, they sell special Christmas cookies, which contain a minimum of flour and a maximum of spices and dried fruits. And the market can not do without mulled wine, which is traditionally served in small boots.

Another attraction of the Nuremberg market is the Zwetschgermoh (plum peasant). As you may have guessed, it is made of plums. Dried, of course. As well as their other dried fruits and wires.

The plum man is a part of German history. In the old days, the poor could not buy decent toys for their children. Therefore, they were made from whatever they had to. Legend has it that the author of the plum men was an old man. He was very ill, but the songs brought him to his feet. Religious songs sung to him by small children. When he recovered, he made little plum men for his rescuers.

After watching the plum man, having eaten his fill of spicy biscuits and drunk on hot mulled wine, you can return home. And celebrate!

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