Living around the world for our jobs, my family and I have had both traditional and… let’s call them quirky Christmas celebrations. The most iconic Dec. 25 has to be those that Germany does. There is nothing more reminiscent of how holiday greeting cards depict holiday perfection than experiencing Christmas there. It’s the best reflection I can think of for our idea of an old-fashioned Christmas like grandma used to put together.
Buying a hand-carved ornament from the local snow-dusted Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas market) fortified with spicy gluhwein and the sounds of a small brass ensemble oompahing “Stille Nacht” (Silent Night), then finding a fresh-cut tree to display that wooden angel engages all the senses.
Later in the evening, listening to Christmas carols sung in German as many of them originally were written, played on an organ from the 17th century in a candlelit church is unforgettable.
On the other hand, Germans for the most part are especially low-key and even unsentimental about Christmas. They will bring out a favorite table covering, light a candle for atmosphere and enjoy a home-baked cookie or two, exchanging maybe a gift among family on Christmas Eve.
Contrast this with the Christmas we once spent in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Now there they did things with lots of sparkle, glitter and tinsel. Frantic shopping was a given; manic holiday party-hopping, ditto, and frequently pool-side. That far south of the equator you might need air-conditioning on high in December to get through a groaning dining table holding a Christmas feast of Argentine beef, red wine, and empanadas of all kinds.
Our Christmas tree that year was the top of a palm tree pruned in a park near our house that we discovered as discarded. Imported Christmas trees were well over $500, so we were very happy with our good fortune. Those spiky branches decorated with a cardboard star covered in aluminum foil and chains made from glossy magazine pages, it was every bit as evocative of a “real” Christmas as anything we could have ordered from a Norman Rockwell catalogue.
(Sailer writes from Seaville.)
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