Alsatian Advent - a Time Apart
In Alsatian culture, deeply marked by the dual Catholic and Protestant tradition, Advent - from the Latin adventus, "coming" or "arrival" - occupies a place of particular importance. This liturgical season preceding Christmas is not experienced as a mere commercial period or consumerist countdown, but as a time of inner preparation, family rituals and traditions passed down from generation to generation. Each Advent Sunday has its own customs, colours and meanings, forming a dense cultural calendar that makes December in Alsace a truly unique month.
Alsace holds a special place in the history of Western Advent. The Rhine region is one of the zones where Advent traditions developed and were codified earliest - from the Middle Ages for some practices - before gradually spreading throughout Christian Europe.
The Advent Wreath - Four Candles, Four Weeks
The Advent wreath is undoubtedly the most universal and recognisable symbol of this period. In Alsatian families, it takes pride of place on the living or dining room table from the first Sunday of Advent. Traditionally made from intertwined fir or spruce branches decorated with ribbons, pine cones and various ornaments, it bears four candles - one per Sunday of Advent.
Each Sunday, an additional candle is lit during a solemn family moment, often accompanied by a carol or prayer:
- First candle: the candle of hope - it symbolises the wait and hope for the coming of the light
- Second candle: the candle of peace - it recalls the message of peace carried by Christmas
- Third candle: the candle of joy - often pink or rose-coloured, it marks the midpoint of Advent
- Fourth candle: the candle of love - lit on the last Sunday before Christmas, it completes the ring of light
The Advent wreath as we know it today was invented in 1839 by Lutheran pastor Johann Hinrich Wichern, who used a wooden wreath with 24 candles. The tradition spread rapidly throughout the Rhine region including Alsace.
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The Advent Calendar - a Germanic-Alsatian Invention
The Advent calendar - that box or picture with 24 windows to open one per day from 1 to 24 December - is today a universal object found in every country. Its origins, however, are deeply Germanic-Alsatian. The first documented forms of the Advent calendar date back to the first half of the 19th century in Protestant families of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, Alsace's neighbours. The first printed commercial Advent calendar was produced in Munich in 1908 by Gerhard Lang.
In Alsace, the Advent calendar has always had a very strong artisanal and personalised dimension. Many families still make their own homemade calendars today - numbered pouches filled with small gifts, decorated boxes, fabric sachets - perpetuating the original spirit of this tradition before it became a standardised commercial product.
The Christkindel - the Gift-Bearing Christ Child
The Christkindel - literally "Christ child" in Alsatian and German - is the traditional figure who brings gifts to Alsatian children at Christmas. Unlike the Anglo-Saxon Father Christmas, the Christkindel is a luminous and angelic figure, often depicted as a winged young girl dressed in white and gold, crowned and bearing gifts and a bell.
The figure of the Christkindel is a creation of the Protestant Reformation. Martin Luther, wishing to turn children away from the cult of Saint Nicholas, encouraged the substitution of Saint Nicholas by the Christ Child as gift-giver. In Strasbourg, the Christmas market still bears its original name of Christkindelsmärik since its founding in 1570.
The Aromas of Advent - Cinnamon, Anise and Mulled Wine
Alsatian Advent is above all a sensory experience. The aromas that fill houses and streets from the first Sunday of Advent are as evocative as images and sounds: cinnamon, anise, cloves, vanilla from the first batches of Bredele; warm gingerbread from the bakeries; spiced mulled wine from the Christmas markets; freshly cut fir trees in the living rooms.
Alsatian mulled wine - Glühwein - is one of the most emblematic drinks of Advent in the region. Made from Alsatian red or white wine, heated with cinnamon, cloves, star anise, orange and lemon zest, it is enjoyed at Christmas markets in decorated ceramic mugs that have become genuine collectibles.
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The Christmas Tree - a Tradition Born in Alsace
One cannot speak of Alsatian Advent without mentioning the Christmas tree, whose paternity Alsace claims. The first documented mention of a decorated indoor Christmas tree dates to 1605 in Strasbourg. In Alsatian families, the tree is traditionally put up on 24 December. The discovery of the illuminated tree, decorated and surrounded by gifts, is one of the most magical moments of Alsatian childhood. Traditional decorations - mouth-blown glass balls, golden garlands, straw angels, Stars of Bethlehem - also tell a long story of regional artisan craftsmanship.
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