With the holiday season fast approaching, we’ve decided to write about Christmas traditions in a handful of countries with the help of our lovely locals.
It turns out that every nationality has its own quirks when it comes to celebrating Christmas, and something that may seem completely normal in one country might raise more than a couple of eyebrows in another.
13 Yule Lads and rotten fish in Iceland
There’s a legend in Iceland that there are 13 men who each make an appearance once a year, starting from 13 days before Christmas. Each of the men has a specific characteristic – one has a big nose, one likes to slam doors, and another steals leftovers from pots.
They also leave treats in the shoes of nice children, similar to Santa’s elves. Naughty children get rotten potatoes, which according to the legend, will eventually be eaten by Troll Grýla – the Yule Lads’ mother.
Photo credit: Visit North Iceland
The day before Christmas Icelanders have a tradition of Þorláksmessa (the mass of Thorlak). It’s held in memory of Thorlakur Thorhallsson – the saint who died the same day in 1193. Part of the tradition is to eat rotten skate, the more rotten the better. It tends to stink up the whole neighborhood, but the idea is to make you really appreciate Christmas dinner the day after.
Potato salad with bockwurst and Christkind in Germany
It turn out that people enjoy a true delicacy on Christmas Eve in Germany – potato salad with bockwurst, which apparently is a huge frankfurter. Traditionally after dinner people would go to church, and many still do, though nowadays young people sometimes skip church and instead head to the pub with a group of friends to enjoy good company and a drink.
In parts of Germany people believe that the Christ Child sends a messenger on Christmas Eve, appearing as an angel bearing gifts. The angel is called Christkind and is usually depicted with blonde hair and angelic wings. There’s also a Christmas Eve figure called Weihnachtsmann (Christmas Man) – he looks like Santa Claus and also brings gifts.
St Lucy’s Day in Croatia
According to our local contributor in Zagreb, St Lucy’s Day is one of the most magical days of the year as it represents the beginning of Christmastime in Croatia.
In the past, people would foretell the fortune of the upcoming year according to the crop yield around this time. If the wheat looked good at Christmas, you could expect to do well the following year.
There are lots of other customs related to divination on St Lucy’s Day, for example if you sprinkle some salt on 12 slices of onion exactly 12 days before Christmas, on Christmas Day the state of the slices will reveal the weather of each month in the forthcoming year.
Image credit: Rok Hrast
The divination part has something to do with St Lucy being a patron saint of sight and everything connected with the eyes. In fact, although her name sounds gentle, her appearance is far from nice. In depictions she is draped in white and carries a plate with her own eyeballs on it!
One legend explains that she lost her eyes as a result of the torture that led to her martyrdom. Another legend explains that she tore her eyes out deliberately and gave them to a man who had fallen in love with her for her beautiful eyes. Only then would he leave her alone so she could dedicate her life to God.
Gatherings of ‘transplants’ in the United States
In L.A. and other American cities with lots of ‘transplants’ – those who grew up in one place but now live in another – there is a tradition of ‘orphan holidays’. When everybody else goes home to celebrate Christmas with their families, the transplants gather together for their own big meal and maybe a gift exchange.
One of the most common means of exchanging gifts is a White Elephant Party. Everybody brings something from home – wrapped up of course – and one by one the guests open the packages. When it’s your turn to open a gift, instead of opening it you can steal one that someone else has already opened. Whoever you stole from gets to either open a new gift or steal from somebody else.
Christmas pudding and paper crowns in the United Kingdom
I guess it’s no surprise that the traditional Christmas meal in the United Kingdom is turkey and Christmas pudding – a very sweet, alcoholic, and fruity cake. Many households have their own recipe for Christmas pudding, some having been handed down through families for generations.
The recipe brings together what traditionally were expensive or luxurious ingredients. When preparing Christmas pudding – usually a few weeks or even few months before Christmas – every member of the family stirs the batter and makes a wish. It’s also common to add a small coin to the pudding as it is believed to bring wealth to whoever finds it.Photo credit: Charlotte’s Lively Kitchen
Another well-known tradition includes pulling Christmas crackers that are filled with little treats and paper crowns. You have to ask someone to pull the other end of the cracker in order to open it, and everyone is supposed to wear their paper crown for the whole evening.
Nine Christmas dishes and puzurs in Latvia
As with most parties, the meal plays a big role in Latvian Christmas celebrations. To attract good luck and prosperity for the year to come, Latvians used to lay a table with at least nine dishes for the Christmas meal.
Many families still try to stick to this tradition, which can result in a very heavy feeling in the stomach after the meal. Needless to say, these Christmas dishes are very nourishing. The most typical dishes include boiled peas with fried bacon and onion, sauerkraut, and different kinds of vegetable, meat, and fish dishes.
Some Latvians choose to stick with traditional Latvian Christmas decorations – one of the most symbolic being puzurs – a geometrical ornament made from straws that are held together with yarn.
They aren’t very complicated to make, but it takes some patience. These ornaments are meant to cleanse the house in a spiritual sense. Many small triangle and pyramid-shaped puzurs are believed to carry out the cleansing.
Photo credit: dace-puzuri.blogspot.com
Although it has almost died out, one of the nicest traditions is to dress up as different animals and weird human beings, and visit your neighbours singing songs. A guest is a blessing in many cultures, and Latvians are still considered to be very hospitable.
Sinterklaas in the Netherlands
The Dutch get to welcome not one but two generous bearded saints at Christmas. Besides Santa, there’s another bearded hero who shows up by boat, having sailed all the way from Madrid! Sinterklaas (Saint Nicolas) is every child’s favourite!
Based on a children’s book from the 19th century, Sinterklaas travels around the country from roof to roof on his white horse delivering packages down chimneys. Actually, Sinterklaas’ helpers – the Zwarte Pieten (Black Petes) – are the ones who go down the chimneys and deliver the packages to all of the children who have been good during the year.
If you’ve been a bad kid, Sinterklaas and the Zwarte Pieten will take you back to Spain for a year as punishment. Kids put rhymes, drawings, and carrots (for the horse!) in their shoes in exchange for sweets. And you better sing all the Sinterklaas songs loudly next to the chimney, otherwise they might skip you on their present delivery round.
On December 5, Sinterklaas’ birthday or Pakjesavond (the present night), the madness climaxes and kids get lots of big gifts.
Donald Duck cartoons and rice porridge in Sweden
Every year on December 24 at 3 pm, half of the Swedish population sits down in front of the TV for a family viewing of Donald Duck cartoons. Each year the same 1958 edition of Walt Disney Presents Christmas Special, From All of Us to All of You is screened. This cartoon has been airing without commercials at the same time on the same channel since 1959.
The fact that Christmas is planned around the screening of this cartoon suggests its cultural significance. When the cartoon is on, everybody is expected to watch it with full attention. Even though they’ve probably seen it dozens of times before, they’re still happy to do it and even find it amusing.
Photo credit: Högtider
Another popular Christmas tradition in Sweden is risgrynsgröt (rice porridge). It’s usually served as the Christmas meal dessert. There’s typically an almond hidden in the porridge that’s said to bring good fortune to the person who discovers it.
Verivorst and sült in Estonia
For a long time the Soviet powers discouraged people from celebrating Christmas in Estonia, seeing it as a religious holiday and thus a threat to the socialist system.
They even invented a new word to replace Christmas – näärid instead of jõulud – and moved the celebration to New Year’s Eve. Bringing a Christmas tree home was always a quiet sign of protest, even if hidden behind closed curtains.
Going to church is no longer forbidden, but for many Estonians, atheist as they are, December 24 may well be the only day of the year they do it. Many families head to the cemetery before or after church to light candles on their grandparents’ graves.
Photo credit: mk.eestiselt.org
Religious or not, however, Christmas in Estonia is all about extensive eating – verivorst (black pudding or blood sausage), sült (a terrine of the flesh from the head of an animal), oven-roasted pork with potatoes, and sauerkraut are present in most homes.
While Santa Claus looks similar to the American one, in Estonia he doesn’t just hand out presents – he expects everyone to sing or read a poem in exchange for their gifts. He sometimes also carries a twig for the naughty children.
Opening photo credit: Scott Feldstein