Wow, things definitely have changed in Christmas traditions from the 1940s until now, but I think the

change also has to do with the fact that my information is based off celebrating Christmas in a different country. I spoke to my grandma who lived in Germany as a child and she gave me a sufficient amount of information based off of her memories. I definitely learned a lot and I wish that I was able to experience the traditions that she used to celebrate in Germany. The typical German celebration of Christmas, wasnt really on Christmas day, but the days leading up to Christmas. My grandma cant recall the exact date, but she said that she thinks the start of the celebration was around the 6th of December, which also happens to be present-day St. Nicholas Day. Even though St. Nicholas Day wasnt celebrated by her town in Germany in the 1940s/50s, it might have been celebrated by other towns and countries at the time. Instead of St. Nicholas Day, they had a tradition where the whole town would meet in the center, the plaza, where a giant Christmas tree was, sort of like the tree in NYC in Rockefeller Center. But anyways, at the bottom of the gargantuan tree was a little manger (a manger is a crib from back then) and everyday, each child in the town would put a piece of straw in the the manger. The town would gather in the plaza everyday until Christmas Eve. On Christmas Eve, the Christmas Child, Jesus Christ, was carried in by The Angel who placed him in his manger, by then, full of straw. The towns people would around the Christmas tree in a circle and sing Christmas carols. Soon after the angel placed little Jesus in his crib, out came The Three Moors who were also called, The Three Wise Men, who are now known as, The Three Kings. The Three Moors followed the angel baring gifts for Jesus. One gift was gold, symbolizing kingship on Earth. Another gift was myrrh which was an anointing oil representing an untimely and sufferable death. The third gift was frankincense which was an incense signifying prayer or priest ship. This was a huge tradi-

tion in Germany and was followed for many years but its not known if the tradition is still followed. There are other traditions such as the terror figure of St. Nicholass companion. There are many names for the scary companion of St. Nick such as Krampus, Belsnickel, Black Peter, and many others. In Germany, it was Belsnickel. Belsnickel is a man that wears fur that covers his entire body and also wears a mask with a long tongue. Belsnickel would wander the towns of Germany and rattle his chains and stomp his feet. He would make the children hide and cower in fear. Rather than being the Santa Claus figure, he was rather a terrifying figure. Belsnickel carried around a broom and whether or not you were good, you would get a hit on your bottom with the broom. Some time around the 23rd of December, Belsnickel visited the homes of good and bad children. If you were good, you would get a stocking full of goods. But if you were bad, you would get a sack of coal. One other tradition they followed is on Christmas Eve, everyone would go to church around midday and stay until long after dinner. On Christmas Eve, all the children stayed up past their bedtimes until midnight and at midnight the children would receive hot chocolate and cookies and each child would get one present. The families would eat cooked rabbit and boiled potatoes and sometimes a vegetable if there was. The traditions were celebrated in the late 1940s which was right after the war so food was scarce. The family would share a Christmas cake and cookies for dessert. My grandma said, Christmas Day itself wasnt really a big deal. Most of the time we would spend Christmas with out friends and go sledding. It was more of the celebration before Christmas that was important to the families.

Ive noticed that Christmas used to be a lot more personal and more of family time. In present-day, my family doesnt carry out many traditions except for always decorating our Christmas tree and decorating our house festively with Christmas lights and such. Christmas Day isnt much of a huge deal either except for getting up early, around 7 a.m. and opening presents from Santa Claus. For the rest of the day, my brother and I are pretty much off on our own, occupying ourselves with our new things we received that morning. Christmas traditions have changed a lot in 70 years.