Jewelry & Watches Toy Gift Ideas Clothes, Shoes & Bags Food, Beer & Wine More gifts for Him More gifts for Her Best Gifts for Families Learn German Free Seasonal Search Better! Stay in Contact
...about pickles and other German Christmas traditions
This year, why not try German christmas ornaments that come from the country that gave us glass bauble ornaments?
The choices of ornaments are endless. Everything from traditional stars and snowflakes to NASCAR and Disney are available to choose from.
You can color coordinate your tree as simply as you do the rest of your house. Find here some inspirations and background informations when you consider christmas ornaments with the german touch.
Christmas Tree Origins
Not only were traditional ornaments created in Germany it seems the Christmas tree too has roots there.
The legends of the origins are varied and many most indicating that the practice pre-dates the Christian holiday, which it now represents.
No matter the truth of the legends, it is clear that the first trees were decorated in Germany as far back as the 16th century.
German Christmas Customs
Traditionally, parents would lock up a room until Christmas Eve, then they would wake the children at midnight and open the room revealing a fully decorated tree with gifts and goodies beneath, sometimes to increase excitement, a bell was used to call the children. Then the family would sing carols and read the Christmas story.
Glass Pickle Ornament
A common dilemma of who would open the first gift was solved in a unique German tradition of hanging a glass pickle ornament on the tree. It was the last ornament placed and was hidden in the branches. The first child to find this unique German ornament was the one who would be allowed to go first.
I have to admit I've read about this legend on a website selling German christmas decorations. Although I'm born in Germany and live here for more than four decades I've never seen that any Germany family would practice this tradition neither did I hear about it...Yet you can buy glass pickle ornaments online.
Some customs you may recognize besides the Christmas tree is the tradition of children placing their boots outside the door where Santa Claus would place fruit, nuts and chocolate if they had been good and bundles of twigs if they had not.
German Christmas Ornament History
In a little town in Germany around 1847, a glass blower named Hans Griener invented the first blown glass ornament for his Christmas tree. Legend says that he could not afford the traditional decorations so he decided to make his own.
The original creations were ones of fruits and nuts with a silvery coating comprised originally of lead and mercury and later a silver nitrate and glucose combination. Before he knew it, his creations were in high demand locally and he expanded his designs to include other shapes, including the spherical one we are all so familiar with now.
Christmas Ornaments from Laucha
It was not long before other glass blowers in the region noticed the popularity of Greiner’s invention and were creating their own variations. Soon the entire country was getting their Christmas ornaments from Laucha; the Queen of England even procured them for her tree, which was photographed for London newspapers.
Exports throughout Europe exploded. By the 1880’s an American retailer by the name of F.S. Woolworth had discovered the baubles on a trip to Germany and began exporting them, what had once been a German novelty was now a standard decoration.
Modern Day Christmas
All the aspects of a traditional German Christmas can be seen in homes today. Christmas trees, glass ornaments, fruits, nuts and stockings all have their humble beginnings in Germany. Add some nostalgia to your Christmas this year and place authentic German ornaments on your tree. Perhaps you can find a pickle ornament of your own to hide among the branches.
The choices of ornaments are endless. Everything from traditional stars and snowflakes to NASCAR and Disney are available to choose from.