German Christmas traditions

German Christmas traditions do not fit into one day. Christmas in Germany begins with the first candle on the Advent wreath, runs through St. Nicholas Day and weeks of Christmas markets, brings the presents on the evening of 24 December, and in Bavaria reaches into January with Epiphany on 6 January. Several customs that Americans know well, such as the Advent calendar and the decorated tree, have roots in the German-speaking world, while at least one supposedly German custom is hardly known in Germany. This guide goes through the season in order, with a look at what is special in Bavaria.

German Christmas traditions in Advent: wreath and calendar

The season opens with the Advent wreath, a ring of evergreens with four candles. It was invented in 1839 by the Protestant theologian Johann Hinrich Wichern in Hamburg as a way of letting children count the days to Christmas; our Advent wreath guide tells the whole story and lists the Sundays for 2026. Munich plays a part in the story of the Advent calendar: in 1908, the Austrian Catholic portal katholisch.at reports, a Munich publisher, Gerhard Lang, printed the first calendar with little doors to open. It was first meant as a religious preparation for Christmas; today its doors hide pictures, sayings or sweets.

Christmas cookies, Stollen and the markets

Advent is baking season. According to the portal deutschland.de, families gather in the kitchen to bake many kinds of Plätzchen, from simple butter cookies to Vanillekipferl, and keep them in tins for guests. Lebkuchen, the spiced gingerbread, has been part of Christmas since the Middle Ages, and Stollen, the German Christmas bread with dried fruit and sometimes marzipan, comes from Saxony, with a history going back to the 15th century. Recipes and background are on our pages about German Christmas cookies, Lebkuchen and Stollen.

From mid-November, the German Christmas market fills town squares with wooden stalls, lights and the smell of Glühwein. Our guide to German Christmas markets covers the history and three long-established markets with their 2026 dates, and the Munich Christmas market page has all the details for the city.

St. Nicholas, Krampus and Barbara branches

Early December brings three customs in a row. On 4 December, St. Barbara's Day, people cut branches of cherry or other fruit trees and put them in water in a warm room, hoping they will flower by Christmas; according to old belief, blossoms by Christmas promise luck for the coming year. The night before, on 5 December, children set their cleaned boots outside the door, and on St. Nicholas Day, 6 December, they find them filled with nuts, apples and sweets. In Bavaria and the Alps the saint is accompanied by the horned Krampus, and in Munich a big Krampus run crosses the old town on the third Sunday of Advent. The German page on Barbara branches explains how to make them bloom on time.

The Christmas tree

Today the decorated tree is the best-known symbol of Christmas, evangelisch.de writes. Its oldest written record comes from the Upper Rhine: an account book of 1521 from Schlettstadt, today Sélestat in Alsace, notes payment to the foresters guarding the fir trees that residents were allowed to cut for decorating. In 1539 a tree is recorded in Strasbourg Cathedral. According to the folklorist Manfred Becker-Huberti, the custom comes from the church: in the late Middle Ages a paradise play was performed before the nativity play, and its tree was an evergreen decorated with red apples. He also explains that the tree was long a mainly Protestant custom while many Catholics held on to the nativity scene, and that only around 1900 did it shine in living rooms of both denominations. The Vatican has set up a tree in St. Peter's Square only since 1982.

Christmas Eve: Bescherung and the Christkind

In Germany the presents come on Christmas Eve, Heiligabend: according to deutschland.de, the gift-giving, called the Bescherung, traditionally takes place on 24 December rather than on Christmas morning. Many keep dinner simple so they can concentrate on the celebration: a YouGov survey of December 2015 found sausages with potato salad on the Christmas Eve table of 26 percent of Germans, well ahead of any other dish. The Christmas Mass of the Holy Night, the Christmette, is described on our German page Christmette. In Bavaria, Christmas Eve is a legally protected quiet day from 2 p.m., and Munich's Christmas markets close at that hour.

Who brings the presents depends on the region. Traditionally the Christkind, an angel-like figure in white, comes in southern and western Germany, while the Weihnachtsmann, the German Santa Claus, comes in most of central and northern Germany. The Christkind arose after the Reformation, when Protestants turned away from the veneration of saints and gift-giving moved from St. Nicholas Day to Christmas. From 1531, presents in Martin Luther's family were given in the name of the "Holy Christ", but whether Luther invented the Christkind is disputed. It brings the presents in secret, and nobody ever gets to see it.

Christmas Day and the Second Christmas Day

Christmas has two days in Germany, the First and Second Christmas Day. In Bavaria the holiday law lists both 25 and 26 December as public holidays. On the 25th, deutschland.de writes, the festive main course in many homes is a goose, often stuffed with apples, onions and spices, with red cabbage and dumplings on the side. Our page on German Christmas food has more German Christmas recipes and dishes, from carp to cookies.

Rauhnächte and Epiphany

According to Alpine custom, as the Salzburg tourist office describes it, masked Perchten appear in the Rauhnächte, the nights between the winter solstice and Epiphany; see our German page on the Rauhnächte. In Bavaria, 6 January, Epiphany, is a public holiday. Around that date children dressed as the Three Kings go from door to door as star singers, Sternsinger, bless homes and collect money for children's projects around the world. With blessed chalk they write a formula such as 20*C+M+B+27 above the door. The letters stood originally for the kings Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar and are read today as "Christus mansionem benedicat", Christ bless this house. The children's mission society that organizes the campaign revived the custom in 1959 and estimates that about 300,000 children and young people take part each year.

More customs of the Bavarian year are collected under all topics.