Weinachten
German Christmas brought excitement to us children as smell of the fresh cut tree filled the house. We strung large colored lights around the branches, we joined in with the tunes of German "Stille Nacht" coming from the record player . Oma was baking a German treat, a Stolle, which was a bread like cake covered in white powdered sugar with bits of candied and dried fruit inside.
At one friend's house we marvelled at the real wax candles, lit each night. The family sat by the tree and spoke to each other, or sang songs, enjoyed the lights while they burned. It was magical to see them sparkle in the dark. We loved it.
My Mother said, "Unsinn! Much too dangerous! We did that in the old country. We are now in America, we use colored lights. They are much safer."
Our family friends made a paper town. The houses were flat sheets of paper, drawn with doors, windows, masonry and roofs. Then they folded and glued the houses. These houses were amazing. An entire 3-D town with people, animals, all the bridges, carts and wagons. I loved the paper town. You could color it to your imagination. A way to create your own world.
I also loved eating Lebkuchen at this time of year. One time my Onkle Gerhart sent an entire shipment of all sorts of gingerbread, in all shapes and sizes to us. It was the original Nurnberger Lebkuchen, and it was wonderful!
On Christmas we opened presents, just as today, but we did not have videos, DVD's, or CD's or computers. We listened to records of Christmas music, sometimes they skipped. We listened to the radio, and sometimes we watched the TV. But at Christmas, we sang with the records, we hummed along. No Karaoke at that time. Sometimes we just sat in bed to keep warm, or sat by the fireplace.
One Christmas I recall very clearly. Maybe I was 8 or younger, my brother might have been 10. My Mother was crying. We were in bed, shivering, it was very cold in our house that year. I was under her right arm, my brother was on her left side, and in German she was telling us, that Father wanted to be at Christmas with us. "He loved you very much. He would want to be here, in this free country with us. I want you to remember, it is not the presents, or what we get that makes this time of year special. We need to be grateful that we have each other. We thank the Good Lord for that." " Wie Danken Den Lieben Gott"...
I have a tiny 4 inch by 4 inch book that my Mother gave Jim and me right after we were married, "The Night Before Christmas" by Clement C. Moore. As our tradition we have all read a few lines from it on Christmas. One year we dressed up with towels on our heads, and wore robes, to be "shepards".
When I was very young, maybe 6, I went to St. Francis De Sales Church, and heard my brother sing the solo, "Ave Maria". It was amazing. My Mother recorded it, and I still have an old record of it somewhere. I think his singing career went downhill from there on. Notes for sure were never that high again.
But mostly I think of German Christmas music at this time of year. I put on those records, and enjoy the same calm music that I heard when I was little, and I decorate, hum and sing along.
That sure is better than going out into the crazy rush and turmoil of this shopping week!
At one friend's house we marvelled at the real wax candles, lit each night. The family sat by the tree and spoke to each other, or sang songs, enjoyed the lights while they burned. It was magical to see them sparkle in the dark. We loved it.
My Mother said, "Unsinn! Much too dangerous! We did that in the old country. We are now in America, we use colored lights. They are much safer."
Our family friends made a paper town. The houses were flat sheets of paper, drawn with doors, windows, masonry and roofs. Then they folded and glued the houses. These houses were amazing. An entire 3-D town with people, animals, all the bridges, carts and wagons. I loved the paper town. You could color it to your imagination. A way to create your own world.
I also loved eating Lebkuchen at this time of year. One time my Onkle Gerhart sent an entire shipment of all sorts of gingerbread, in all shapes and sizes to us. It was the original Nurnberger Lebkuchen, and it was wonderful!
On Christmas we opened presents, just as today, but we did not have videos, DVD's, or CD's or computers. We listened to records of Christmas music, sometimes they skipped. We listened to the radio, and sometimes we watched the TV. But at Christmas, we sang with the records, we hummed along. No Karaoke at that time. Sometimes we just sat in bed to keep warm, or sat by the fireplace.
One Christmas I recall very clearly. Maybe I was 8 or younger, my brother might have been 10. My Mother was crying. We were in bed, shivering, it was very cold in our house that year. I was under her right arm, my brother was on her left side, and in German she was telling us, that Father wanted to be at Christmas with us. "He loved you very much. He would want to be here, in this free country with us. I want you to remember, it is not the presents, or what we get that makes this time of year special. We need to be grateful that we have each other. We thank the Good Lord for that." " Wie Danken Den Lieben Gott"...
I have a tiny 4 inch by 4 inch book that my Mother gave Jim and me right after we were married, "The Night Before Christmas" by Clement C. Moore. As our tradition we have all read a few lines from it on Christmas. One year we dressed up with towels on our heads, and wore robes, to be "shepards".
When I was very young, maybe 6, I went to St. Francis De Sales Church, and heard my brother sing the solo, "Ave Maria". It was amazing. My Mother recorded it, and I still have an old record of it somewhere. I think his singing career went downhill from there on. Notes for sure were never that high again.
But mostly I think of German Christmas music at this time of year. I put on those records, and enjoy the same calm music that I heard when I was little, and I decorate, hum and sing along.
That sure is better than going out into the crazy rush and turmoil of this shopping week!
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