GERMAN CANADIANS IN MANITOBA
PAGE 2
The
Profile of the German Community of Manitoba
INDEX
8. Advent, Christkindlmarkt, St. Nikolaus and Christmas
15.
Epilogue
16.
Bibliography and Contributors
No other
country has shared more of its Christmas traditions with the rest of the world
than Germany.
On the
first Sunday of Advent, four Sundays before Christmas, the Advent season begins
and lasts until Christmas. The Advent wreath, usually made of spruce or fir
branches and suspended from a centre pole by for red ribbons, is adorned with
four red candles which are lit one by one on the four Sundays before Christmas.
The candles symbolize the light Jesus has brought into our world. -Children
open a new window on their Advent Calendar each day until Christmas and recite
a short prayer for the day, or pick a sweet from the window, preferably the
latter.
About
three weeks before Christmas Day, the Christkindlmarkt (Christ Child market)
opens in virtually every German village, town and city. The most opulent and
widely known of these is held in Nuremberg. The Market is set up in the ‘Altstadt’,
the oldest section in the city. Heavily damaged in World War II, it has been
restored to its medieval splendour, and visitors are in an atmosphere which
has changed little in centuries.
Chriskindlmarkts
are usually set up in the town square or in front of the major church. Customs
may very throughout the countryside, but all Christkindlmarkts share one thing
in common: only Christmas articles are sold here. Brightly lit booths sell everything
from fruits, candies, cookies, marzipan (almond paste), grilled sausages and
herring, Glühwein (mulled spiced
wine), toys and hand blown glass ornaments.
Today, the German community in Winnipeg participates in an annual Christkindlmarkt held under the auspices of the German–Canadian Congress. To provide a permanent home for the Christkindlmarkt, Mr. Martin Bergen (Marlborough Development Corp. Ltd.) has assigned the Fort Garry Place for this event. The mandate of the Winnipeg Christkindlmarkt is to showcase and uphold the Advent and Christmas Traditions of the German Speaking Community. This three–day event in a Christmas atmosphere incorporates the performing talents of community entertainers, the exhibits and sales if traditional wares handcrafted by Manitobans of German–language background, and the sale of Christmas treats (Glühwein, of course, included).
In
the evening of 5. November, the day before St. Nikolaus (Saint Nicholas’
Eve) children would put their shoes or stockings outside, hoping that St. Nikolaus
would fill them with candy and small gifts for those who have been good. Naughty
children would get a lump of coal or switches from " Knecht Ruprecht",
his less welcome assistant. In time, these two figures merged into one, now
known as Santa Claus. (It was the Coca Cola company that established our current
Santa Claus on this continent, endowing him with their product’s colours and
defining his jolly character traits.
On Heiligabend
(Christmas Eve), a few hours before supper, the children are sent out of the
house to play or go carolling in the neighbourhood. Then the father would set
up the Christmas tree and help mother decorate it. She would put on guilded
nuts and red apples. Candies wrapped in fancy tinsel paper twinkle from deep
within the boughs. Then the magnificent hand-blown glass ornaments which has
been passed down from generations are hung and special cookies which she had
been baking for weeks. Each bow receives carefully placed strands of ‘Lametta’
(silver tinsel). Finally, she clips on white wax candles. Under every household
Christmas tree the Nativity scene is displayed to exemplify the religious nature
of Christmas. The star of Bethlehem adorns the Christmas tree or the Nativity
set.
Before
supper, to the sound of the tinkling bells, the children are invited to view
the tree for the first time. The candles are lit, and the family sings ‘Stille
Nacht’ (silent Night) or ‘Oh Tannenbaum’. Father may then read the story of
the birth of Christ, before the family sits down for the traditional fish dinner.
Only then are the presents opened, and the evening is spent with the children
playing with their new toys, and the family listening to Christmas carols. The
high point of the evening is when the family goes to midnight service.
On Christmas
day families attend daytime church services. It is a family day with relatives
dropping in toward afternoon to view the tree and exchange presents. The traditional
Christmas Day dinner is the ‘Weihnachtsgans’ (Christmas goose), stuffed with
apples, plums, chestnuts, and a variety of salads, accompanied by a variety
of vegetables specially made for the Christmas feast and wine to toast the season.
Desert would include a ‘Frankfurter Kranz’ (a round cake covered with hazelnuts
and almonds), ‘Pfeffernüsse’
(sugar–coated gingerbread cookies), and ‘Dresdner Stollen’, the traditional
fruit cake.
In1781 the commanding officer of the German troupes, von Riedesel, was headquartered in Sorel, Quebec. Shortly before Christmas, his wife insisted on a traditional German Christmas tree to celebrate the Season. The general complied, and on Christmas Eve, a traditional spruce, with most of the customary decorations but especially the white candles, adorned the headquarters. This custom caught on quickly, and within two years had reached what is today Saskatchewan. This is how the German Christmas tree came to Canada.
One German tradition which is alive and well in the German Society of
Winnipeg is the Frühschoppen (morning pint), a gathering on New Year’s morning of
all those revelers from the night before (New Year’s Eve). After a hearty brunch
the band strikes up again to welcome the New Year.
9. Karneval (Carnival, Mardi Gras):
Karneval originated in ancient Roman and Germanic customs. Both celebrated
it prior to seeding time with a parade float, ‘carrus navalis’ (boat on wheels).
Written records in 1133 AD refer to a ‘Foolsboat’, occupied by 11 joking fools.
The first carnival parade (Rose Monday) on record took place in Cologne in 1341.
Two carnival customs evolved from these 11 fools namely, the ‘Elferrat’ (Council
of Eleven), which is the governing body of every carnival society and the major
participant in all ceremonies, and the opening date of the carnival season:
the 11. day of the 11. month at 11 minutes past the 11. hour. The church of
the day decided not to suppress this pagan tradition, but to incorporate it
into the church year, the main celebrations taking place before lent.
For centuries German carnival has centred in the Rhine River region and
has become such an unshaken custom as ice-hockey is to the Canadians. –The first
of the modern carnival societies was founded in Cologne in 1823 which is still
the stronghold of German carnival. From there it spread through the rest of
Germany and the neighbouring countries, from Holland to Italy, and finally to
the Americans.
The Mardi Gras Association of the German Society of Winnipeg, Der
Treue Husar, has been active for many years, and has enriched the Society’s
entertainment calendar and the public at large with many zestful and colourful
celebrations every year. To name some of them: The season opens on 11. November
which has a ‘Prunksitzung’ (pomp meet); ‘Drei Tolle Tage’ (Three Crazy Days);
the Prince Proclamation; ‘Stadtübernahme’
(taking charge of the town); costume balls. Toward the end of the season: the
‘Lumpenball’ (tramps’ ball); the funeral of the carnival takes place at 11 p.m.
before Shrove Tuesday, and the ‘Heringessen’ (herring and fried potatoes) on
Ash Wednesday.
The Maifest (May Festival) is an ancient agricultural ritual celebrating the coming of spring and to ensure fertile crops. The may pole, bedecked with ribbons and wreaths, is a permanent reminder in front of the Society. During the celebrations a white-clad maiden, symbolizing spring, chases a black witch, symbolizing winter, from the premises.
Each autumn the German Choir puts on its Winzerfest (vintage festival), celebrating the grape harvest. Guests are entertained with musical interludes and songs, and, of course, the traditional wine tasting.
Every fortnight the Women’s Auxiliary hosts a Kaffeklatsch (coffee
party) and entertains seniors with coffee, cake, and wine; a welcome opportunity
to exchange the latest news and to reminisce about the good old days.
When
a German public notary invented the card game Skat some 150 years ago
it was soon accepted with open arms throughout the world. It is not a game of
chance but a thorough brain massage, the chess of all card games. The Winnipeg
Skat Club plays weekly for the Club and Manitoba Championships, and hosts an
annual tournament for all Canadian and American skat players.
Folklorama,
Winnipeg’s foremost tourist attraction, is the most successful advertisement
for Manitoba’s cultural mosaic, and German culture and traditions have been
well represented in many German heritage pavilions since Folklorama’s inception
more than 25 years ago.
The general public has always been invited, and successfully so, to share in the way we celebrate our traditions, from St. Nikolaus for children to the Winzerfest for music and wine lovers. Only this way can our neighbour and friends appreciate and become familiar with German culture and tradition.
Two
observations:
Some
young parents of a small ethnic group had decided- on their own- to join their
ethnic club. When they explained their request in a meeting before the board,
the speaker was interrupted by the chairperson with the words, that in this
club only the ethnic language is used. With that the parents left -never be
seen again.
The
young generation is our only hope to continue what our forefathers built, and
what we maintained. Let us make the younger generation feel welcome by letting
them find their roots in their own way.
If we let the present trend continue we will soon follow the same path of those organizations that only recently went down under (Montreal, Toronto)!
Let
us remember what our forefathers accomplished to survive in terrible times.
16.
Bibliography and Contributors
1. 175 Years of Germans in Manitoba; Alexandra Dirk; 1991; German-Canadian Congress (MB) Inc.
2. One hundred years – German Society of Winnipeg; Centennial Book; German Society of Winnipeg; 1992
3. Christmas Traditions; Teresa Tacchi;
4. Christmas in Germany; World Book Inc.; NTC Publishing Group, Illinois; 1991
5. Carnival Traditions; Duncan Stewart-Mitchell
6. 23. Annual Western Canada Mardi Gras Festival Program Booklet “Harmonie” Mardi Gras Association; Regina; 1995
7. The “How-To” of German Carnival in Canada; Egon Stanik; 1998
8. Germans in Canada–A timetable; Historical Society of Mecklenburg Upper Canada
(This
text was researched, compiled and donated by Mr. Egon Stanik, P. Eng.)
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