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Volume 5, October 2003 |
ISSN 1538-893X |
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 Christmas in Austria By Karin Roberts, Old World Crafts |
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Early in December these
Christmas markets open up in small villages and cities all over Austria.
They contain rows of wooden stalls selling Christmas ornaments
handcrafted from glass or wood, hand-carved toys, home-baked gingerbread and
Christmas cookies, hand-made beeswax candles and many other interesting, unique
items. In the center of the market,
erected by the community, typically stands a tall Weihnachtsbaum
(Christmas tree), decorated with countless strings of electric lights. Children
wander completely enchanted through this wonderland, guided by the hands of
their parents, oblivious to the night's chilly temperatures. It is truly a treat
to explore all of the wonderful toys on display while nibbling on roasted
chestnuts or biting into a sugarcoated red apple. This is usually when a child
will make his final decisions as to what his Christmas wish to Christkindl (The
Christ Child) might be. In Austria it is customary that
the Christkindl brings every child a present, and not Santa as in America. These
Christmas wishes are written down on a slip of paper and placed on a windowsill
for the Christkindl to collect. With much anticipation children wait to see if
the slips are gone by next morning, which means that it is a good chance that
the wishes will be fulfilled. It is always a very exciting
moment for children to see whether Christkindl really did come for their
Christmas wishes. For children in postwar period of the 1950's, this was not
something that was taken for granted, due to the economic conditions at that
time. It was always considered a blessing when a child's modest dreams were
fulfilled on Christmas Eve. From the time that the lists
are gathered at the beginning of December until the 24th, when
Christkindl will hopefully fulfill the Christmas wishes, it is an almost
unbearable wait for an eager child. Fortunately, the days seem to go a little
faster with the help of the Adventkalender (Advent Calendar). Beginning
on December 1, children are allowed to open one little door on the calendar
every morning, with the last (and biggest!) door left closed until Dec 24th.
Behind every door is a drawing or picture that has something to do with the
Christmas season. In earlier times, the pictures were very simple: a Christmas
star, a candle, or perhaps a sheep from the manger of the Christ Child.
The musician and schoolteacher
Franz Gruber composed this 185-year-old carol and the young priest Franz Mohr
wrote the words for the small St. Nicolas Church of Oberndorf, Austria on
Christmas Eve 1818. It is unknown
why the young priest wanted a new carol for the traditional Midnight Mass, but
some speculate that a mouse had gotten into the church organ and made it
unusable, necessitating the need for a simple carol that could be accompanied by
the guitar. "The Song Heard 'Round the World" has been since translated into hundreds of languages and is now sung by millions every December, a fact all Austrians are very proud of. Whenever you hear or sing Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht, think about this humble, little chapel in the vicinity of Salzburg where the most famous Christmas carol ever was born of the Austrian Christmas tradition, and how its powerful message of peace has since then conquered the hearts of people around the world.
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Have you ever experienced the
magic of an Austrian Christkindlmarkt (Christmas Market)? The smell of
gingerbread, cotton-candy, roasted chestnuts, sugar apples and bratwurst,
combined with the sight of sparkling lights in the trees and treasures displayed
in endless rows of stalls, is a memory no child can forget. 
Today, there is typically a
small piece of chocolate that goes along with the picture.
