No one does Christmas like the Germans, so it’s no great shock that many Christmas Traditions from Germany found their way to America. You can imagine it, can’t you? Prized ornaments wrapped in paper and safely tucked into suitcases next to handwritten recipes for Stollen and Lebkuchen. Memories of celebrating German Weihnachten connecting them to home. It’s interesting to see…
Category: Celebrating a German Christmas In America
Celebrating a German Christmas In California- Childhood Memories
I grew up in a suburb east of Los Angeles where my dad owned Nursery. Eighty-degree sunshine and palm trees are vastly different from Germany in December. Sure, the weather was great for plants, but I know my parents were homesick for snow and family. In the 1970s, travel was expensive, German Products exotic, and International phone calls were a…
Combining German & American Christmas Traditions
I wanted to share with you all a message that I got from Patricia about combining German and American Christmas Traditions. She’s in a spot that I KNOW is familiar to many of you. She Writes- “I am in a real predicament with Christmas. My twins are now three and understand Christmas. Both German and because of cartoons American. We…
German Christmas Traditions- Celebrate a German Christmas Anywhere
German Christmas customs, traditions, and practices can be celebrated here in America. There really is something special about this time of year that makes me look back to my childhood: Weihnachtsstimmung—the candlelight, the smell of chocolate and cookies, the wonder of the Christmas Tree. In my memory, a German Christmas is more of stillness and enjoyment. There is less of…
Christmas 1970 – Remembering a German Christmas in America
On Christmas 1970 I was only 3 years old… just old enough to get really excited about Weihnachten. The lights, the tinsel, and wonder of wonders… the presents! You can see me on Mama’s lap… somewhat wide eyed (hard to see behind those glasses…. those days finding stylish eyeglasses for children was a difficult thing). Opa was visiting, as he…
German Christmas Services – Gottesdienst in America
Christmas is a time when we search for home and tradition. For many of us, this means a church service in a familiar German language. The words and songs of our childhood. With the help of my readers, I’ve put together a list of German Christmas Services in the United States and Canada. Some are entirely in German, others are…
German Christmas Music – CDs, Videos, and Lyrics to sing along
While I was growing up, our home was always filled with music: classical, folk, Schlager, opera, and instrumental, my mother singing along as she worked. There was always music. And during the Holidays, it was German Christmas Music. Germans love music… and they LOVE to sing. We spent 30 minutes of every 3 hour German School class SINGING together! And…
German Christmas Markets USA & Canada- Enjoy the Holiday Magic!
-Can’t make it to Germany this year? It turns out there are a few Christkindlmarkts or German Christmas Markets in America and Canada. These markets are a wonderful way to get into the Christmas spirit without the cost of plane fare, you just need a car, or heck, with the money you save, you can take a Limo! Find those…