{"id":3050,"date":"2011-12-04T13:00:34","date_gmt":"2011-12-04T13:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/?p=3050"},"modified":"2017-11-14T14:37:01","modified_gmt":"2017-11-14T14:37:01","slug":"german-christmas-markets-and-advent-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/german-christmas-markets-and-advent-season\/","title":{"rendered":"German Christmas markets and Advent season"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today is the zweite Advent<\/em><\/strong> (second Sunday in Advent) and there are about only three weeks left to Christmas. So, it is h\u00f6chste Zeit<\/em><\/strong> (hight time) to tell you how Germans spend the Vorweihnachtszeit<\/em><\/strong> (pre-Christmas season).<\/p>\n

In Germany, the official pre-Christmas season starts on the ersten Advent<\/em><\/strong> (first Sunday in Advent). Germans render homage to these four Sundays before Christmas very much. Germans usually decorate the Couchtisch<\/em><\/strong> (coffee table) in the living room with an Adventskranz<\/em><\/strong> (Advent wreath), which has four candles. These four candles are successively lit from the first Sunday in Advent until the fourth. The wreath symbolizes the approach of Christmas.<\/p>\n

The Advent wreath was invented by the Evangelical-Lutheran theologian and care worker Johann Hinrich Wichern, in 1839. It is told that Wichern administered to the needs of children die in tiefster Armut lebten<\/em><\/strong> (who lived in abject poverty). He moved with the children into an old farmhouse, called Rauhe Haus, and took care of them. During the Advent season, the children often asked when it would be finally Christmas. Consequently, he took an old cartwheel and put up a wreath. Unlike today\u2019s Advent wreaths, that one consisted of several small red candles and four big white ones. The white candles symbolized the Advent Sundays and the red one symbolized the days in between.<\/p>\n

Nowadays, Wichern is also the name of several social institutions, based on Johann Hinrich Wichern\u2019s concept of educating. Wichern institutions take care of children, old people, disabled people, and all those who are in need. The Wichern institution in my town organized a Christmas market last week, which I visited.<\/p>\n

This Christmas market was slightly different from other traditional German Christmas markets. Like on traditional Christmas markets, there were many Essst\u00e4nde<\/em><\/strong> (food stands), which sold, for example, Bratw\u00fcrste<\/em><\/strong> (bratwursts), Gr\u00fcnkohl<\/em><\/strong> (kale), and Gl\u00fchwein<\/em><\/strong> (hot wine punch). But unlike traditional Christmas markets, they did not sell typical Christmas decoration but hand-made ceramics, which where fabricated by people who are in care of Wichern, most notable disabled people.<\/p>\n

I really loved this Christmas market because it took place outside at the Wichern institution. All the stalls were set up between the buildings, which again, where decorated with fairy lights. This created a very familiar atmosphere. Below you can watch some photos, which I took and I hope you can imagine how beautiful this evening was for me.<\/p>\n

Vocabulary:<\/em><\/p>\n

der zweite Advent \u2013 second Sunday in Advent<\/em><\/p>\n

h\u00f6chste Zeit \u2013 high time<\/em><\/p>\n

die Vorweihnachtszeit \u2013 pre-Chrismas season<\/em><\/p>\n

der erste Advent \u2013 first Sunday in Advent<\/em><\/p>\n

der Couchtisch \u2013 coffee table<\/em><\/p>\n

der Adventskranz \u2013 Advent wreath<\/em><\/p>\n

in tiefster Armut leben \u2013 to live in abject poverty<\/em><\/p>\n

der Essstand \u2013 food stand<\/em><\/p>\n

die Bratwurst \u2013 bratwurst (fried sausage)<\/em><\/p>\n

der Gr\u00fcnkohl \u2013 kale<\/em><\/p>\n

der Gl\u00fchwein \u2013 hot wine punch<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Today is the zweite Advent (second Sunday in Advent) and there are about only three weeks left to Christmas. So, it is h\u00f6chste Zeit (hight time) to tell you how Germans spend the Vorweihnachtszeit (pre-Christmas season). In Germany, the official pre-Christmas season starts on the ersten Advent (first Sunday in Advent). Germans render homage to…<\/p>\n

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