Posted on by Iris

Weihnachten vs. Christmas

As I was browsing some blogs this morning, I came across Amie’s ‘Boy Story‘ (you know, I always find good blogs through the comment section). Amie had a short but compelling question posted and that gave me some food for thought…
Growing up in Germany, there was never a question what Weihnachten (Christmas) was about. Although not a very ‘Church Going Nation’, Germans have not lost the focus what Weihnachten (sorry, couldn’t find a site that explains it in English) truly means. The celebration of our Redeemer’s birth – the birth of Christ.
Germans do celebrate St. Nicholas on December 6th, but St. Nicholas was/is not Santa Claus. So, I searched the Web and found this entry. Very interesting how Christmas has changed in this country.
I am challenging you for this year to put your focus back on the true meaning of Christmas. Put Christ back into Christmas…
In His grip,
Eph2810

14 Replies to “Weihnachten vs. Christmas”

  3. Thank you for sharing this post!

    I really appeciated the History of St. Nicholas and the fact that He loved the Lord Jesus Christ.

    Indeed we need to focus back on the true meaning of Christmas, of focusing in on our Lord Jesus Christ.

    Be blessed and have a super week,

    Paul

    Reply

  5. I’m curious, is there the focus on shopping and gift buying in Germany?
    I will always be interested to hear about growing up in Germany.

    Reply

  7. Sorry Amie – couldn’t respond last night – blogger was being goofy. I really think I should go ‘pro’ next year – lol…
    Anyway, when I grew up, we received some gifts, but mostly little stuff we needed, e.g. clothing. And of course lots of goodies, like chocolates and my favorite: Stollen (hard to describe – something like a fruit cake I guess, but much, much better). One of my favorite things around Christmas time are the ‘Weichnachts Maerkte’, where you can buy ‘Gluehwein’ and browser for little gifts. But I just talked to my Mom on Friday, and the gifts are getting bigger. The greatest thing though was spending time with family and singing Christmas songs…oh, what a great memory ***sigh***
    Wendy, thanks for stopping by. I have been trying to figure out what the acronym ‘PC’ stands for – sorry. Hope you stop by again sometime. BTW – I do like your new template, but I was also very impressed by the old one.:)
    Uh – just noticed today is December 6th – St. Nicholas Day :)…

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  8. Happy St. Nicholas day! 😀

    I certainly wish that we emphasized spending time with family/friends, and other traditions more than gifts.

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  9. I couldn’t agree more on that Amie 🙂 –
    I just had a great thought…I might just bake cookies to give to my friends for Christmas…That was another tradition we had at Christmas time – cookie exchange. Wow Amie – you just brough back things I have forgotten – thank you! I am all excited now…

    Reply

  10. My mother’s family was named “Kleine”. Her mother’s family came over from Germany sometime in the early 1900s. Her mother was not allowed to speak English in their home.

    She passed on the tradition of celebrating St. Nicholas day to me. 🙂

    (I found it quite interesting as a young adult to learn that “Kleine” means “Little”.)

    You didn’t know I had a German heritage, did you? 😉

    My wife says it explains why I like saurkraut and sausage… 😉

    Reply

  12. I have honestly never heard of celebrating St. Nicholas Day. Interesting fact. On that note, Happy St. Nicholas Day.

    And I will give some thought to establishing a more Christ based Christmas this year. Maybe a new tradition…I appreciate your thoghtful post.

    Came via Wendy.

    3T

    Reply

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