German Christmas Gifts
and German Christmas Tradition
If you want to present someone with German christmas gifts, you first need to understand a little about the German society and their gift giving culture. Once you have this knowledge you can feel confident that the German gift you give will be appropriate and appreciated by the recipient. But before we start explaining just take a look at the most popular german gifts for Christmas:
Our gift ranking lists will show you "what women or men really want for Christmas in Germany" and what they usually get but first of all there are a few other aspects of German gift giving that we need to take a look at.
Where Are You Going to Find the
Perfect German Christmas Gift?
At the moment the popularity of places to buy options are more or less shared by online stores and those in the High Street. However, it's predicted that it won't be long before more and more people are using the World Wide Web to do their shopping for gifts to give at Christmastime. What's the Average Amount of Money
a German Spends on a Christmas Gift?
Although approximately 33% of German people will spend anywhere between 100 and 200 Euros on a Christmas gift for someone, only 20% will go as high as paying out 300 Euros or more. Those within the 36 to 55 years age bracket, however, more often than not tend to present their nearest a dearest with generous "gift investments" to the value of around 250 Euros.There appears to be little difference in expenditure when buying for males or females but, of course, the amount spent is usually relevant to the household income. This means that as a rule the higher the income the more money will be spent at this gift giving time.
Here is a list of 2009's the top twelve German Christmas gift categories in order of popularity.
Top 12 german Christmas gift categories
1. Books (57%)2. Gift Vouchers and cash (56%)
3. Clothes (49%)
4. DVD's and CD's (45%)
5. Foodstuffs and sweets (44%)
6. Toys (40%)
7. Cosmetics (37%)
8. Entertainment electronics (28%)
9. Concert and event tickets (27%)
10. Jewelry (26 %)
11. Computer hardware and software (18 %)
12. Health related products (17 %)
Practical and functional gifts prevail
You may well have noticed that the above list contains items which are both practical and functional. These kinds of gifts became more popular recently due to the economic crisis during 2008 when people were concerned about keeping their jobs and giving luxurious gifts at Christmastime had to take a back seat. The trend of vouchers or cash giving is likely to remain the most popular gift for some time to come.The Top 5 Women's German Christmas Wish List Gifts
1. Perfumes (27.5%)2. Gift vouchers (27.5%)
3. Jewelry and watches (26.2%)
4. Books (24.8%)
5. CD's or DVD's (15.7%)
As you can see it's a close call. In fact, it's fair to say there are no clear preferences about Christmas gifts as far as women are concerned. However, even though around 34% of German men will give perfume at this time of year, it may be sometimes better to present the lady with gift vouchers, say for example, for Douglas where she can use the voucher to buy whatever she likes.
The Top 5 Men's German Christmas Wish List Gifts
1. Gadgets and electronic items (34.5%)2. CD's and DVD's (25%)
3. Books (24.8%)
4. Gift vouchers (20%)
5. Perfume (18%)
There's no doubt about it - boys and their toys are the most favored men's gifts so, ladies, this should be borne in mind when choosing the perfect German Christmas gift for your man.
Christmas Shopping in Germany
Around 56% of German people carry out their Christmas shopping between the middle of November and the middle of December and the most popular time within this period is the last week of November.Then there are the 10% or so who leave everything to the last minute and dash out to do their Christmas shopping with only three of four days left to go.
This is where our Christmas Gift Certificate section comes in particularly useful. All you have to do is select and print out one of our high quality gift vouchers and use it to present your gift or to make a promise of a forthcoming gift to your loved ones. They are sure to be impressed!
More information about german
christmas gifts and traditions
- german christmas songs
- German Christmas Cards
- German Christmas Markets
- German Nutcracker
- German Pyramids
- German Smokers
- German Christmas Cookies
Special Tip: Buy a guitar for christmas!
Did you know that guitars are a very popular Christmas gift in Germany - especially those for beginners or kids. Check them out at the comrehensive German guitar guide: www.gitarrenguide.com.
By the way the German expression for guitar is Gitarre.
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