Christmas in ! ! The German season officially begins with the first Sunday of Advent. (a type of cake), the oldest known German Christmas treat, Christmas cookies (Plätzchen) and houses are often baked during this time.

The Advent is decorated with four candles, one of which is lit on each of the four Sundays before Christmas.

The is a German invention that was origi- nally designed to involve children in the festivities leading up to Christmas. 6th of December is ‘Nikolaustag’ (' Day).

Traditionally, a shoe is left outside the door on Saint Nicholas’ eve on the 5th of December. Children hope, (if they have been good) that the following morning, they will find small gifts in them ,or a stick if they have been bad. A scary character called "" accompanies St. Nicholas. “Knecht Ruprecht” is sup- posed to punish children who haven't behaved during the year!

CHRISTMAS MARKET

The German markets are one of the famous in Germany. “”, in , is the name of one of the oldest German Christmas markets. Germans make beautiful Stollen is the traditional is gingerbread houses and . It dried cookies. containing a cake and fruit , and marzipan often . icing sugar covered with

A typical in Germany would be a , duck, pork or turkey with red cabbage Potato salad with Frankfurter or and potatoes. Wiener sausages are popular in Germany on . One Christmas Eve, back in the early 1500s, Martin Luther was walking through the snow-covered woods when he came across a group of small fir trees shimmering in the moonlight. It was so pretty he decided to copy it for his children. Luther set up a small fir tree at home and decorated it with candles, which he lit in honour of the birth of Christ. It was due to Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's German husband, that the

tradition came to Britain in 1840.

In Germany, Christmas decorations are a lot less bright and gaudy than in Britain and are often made of traditional ma- terials like wood, glass or straw. CHRISTMAS

The giving of gifts, usually takes place on Christmas Eve! Gifts are traditionally given in Ger- many by an angel called the ‘Christkindl’ (Christ Child's messen- ger), who is a beautiful fair-haired girl with a shining crown of candles who visits each house with a basket of gifts.

What originally started out as a church cele- bration of Christ's birth has gradually become a family celebration. Time is spent mostly with extended family, but on Christmas Eve, German families - whether Protestant or Catholic and even those who are not regular church-goers - often attend mass or a church service. While the mass traditionally takes place at midnight, in recent times the services have moved to early evening. Christmas in Germany now is a family centred holiday with

a lot of beautiful traditions. Frohe ! 1. Findet die Wörter im Rätsel!

D P U K N I K O L A U S T A G

ADVENT L R U P R E C H T V F D C Q I

NIKOLAUSTAG M S P R U E X W G B R H E G R T K R A M L E Z E I R T S R Y RUPRECHT W D M Z Y F N G X I J Y C B F STRIEZELMARKT E V R A E E H W S G Y G X R N STOLLEN I L I R P C E T E N S J A V L

FRANKFURTER H M N Y I N K M Z N W N M B X CHRISTKINDL N V O P B I U I U M K T S K G

WEIHNACHTEN A J V J N V D X Y F T C T T B C V G D M O M D U N N Y O U W

H T L D Z X Q R E L R T L G Y T B V L C S T V D E M P L Z N E L W Y R E D Z G Q E T E Z L N C I Z R A Q T G X F I N M R

2. Beantworte die Fragen! a. How do you say Merry Christmas in German? ______b. What is ’ name in German? ______c. On which day do children receive presents in Germany? ______d. What does “Striezelmarkt” mean in English? ______e. Who is “Knecht Ruprecht”? ______Stollen

Ingredients Serves: 15

 2 teaspoons dried active baking yeast  175ml (6 fl oz) warm milk (45 C)  1 large egg  75g (3 oz) caster sugar  1 1/2 teaspoons salt  75g (3 oz) unsalted butter, softened  350g (12 oz) bread flour  50g (2 oz) currants  50g (2 oz) sultanas  50g (2 oz) red glace cherries, quartered  175g (6 oz) diced mixed citrus peel  200g (7 oz) marzipan  1 heaped teaspoon icing sugar  1/2 tsp ground cinnamon toasted flaked almonds for sprinkling on top

1. In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm milk. Allow mixture to stand until creamy, about 10 minutes. 2. In a large bowl, combine the yeast mixture with the egg, caster sugar, salt, butter, and 3/4 of the bread flour and beat well. Add the remaining flour, a little at a time, stirring well after each addition. 3. When the dough has begun to pull together, turn it out onto a lightly floured sur- face, and knead in the currants, sultanas, dried cherries and mixed peel. Continue kneading until smooth, about 8 minutes. 4. Lightly oil a large bowl. Place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cov- er with a damp cloth and let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour. 5. Lightly grease a baking tray. Flatten the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the marzipan into a rope shape and place it in the centre of the dough. Fold the dough over to cover it. Pinch the seams together to seal. 6. Place the loaf, seam side down, on the prepared baking tray. Cover with a clean, damp tea-towel and let rise until doubled in size, about 40 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180 C / Gas mark 4. 7. Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 150 C / Gas mark 2 and bake for a further 30 to 40 minutes, or until golden brown. Allow loaf to cool on a wire cooling rack. Dust the cooled loaf with icing sugar, sprin- kle with cinnamon and finish with toasted flaked almonds. GUTEN APPETIT!