German Christmas Decorations We’ve Never Had Before! 🇩🇪 from Erzgebirge + Käthe Wohlfahrt
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- Опубліковано 18 гру 2021
- We've bought a few new traditional and truly authentic German Christmas decorations this month to really make us feel at home here in Germany as Americans. Come inside our home in the Bavarian mountains to see some of the beautiful, handcrafted decorations we love - like a Weihnachtspyramide (a Christmas pyramid or windmill), a Schwibboge (a German candle arch), wooden ornaments from Käthe Wohlfahrt, Nusskraker (Nutcracker) and a Räuchermann (smoking figure) from Erzgebirge (the Ore Mountains)! I also share the history of these items and do a fun unboxing of the Christmas ornaments with the kids.
#vlogmas #germany #germanculture #germanylifestyle #weihnachten #christmas #christmasdecor #christmasdecorations
Our First Christmas in Germany Playlist:
🎄 First Time Trying German Christmas Sweets! 🇩🇪 Edeka Supermarket Haul - CHRISTMAS EDITION! - • First Time Trying Germ...
🎄We Bring German Christmas Markets to Us 🇩🇪 Gebrannte Mandeln + Heiße Maronen + Glühwein! - • We Bring German Christ...
🎄O Tannenbaum 🇩🇪🎄 The German Origins of the Christmas Tree + Decorate with Us! - • How Christmas Tree Tra...
🎄Will We Celebrate Christmas the German or American Way? Christkind or Santa Claus? • Will We Open Gifts on ...
📖 See the blog post that goes with this video here - mymerrymessygermanlife.com/ge...
🇩🇪 See all of our Life in Germany blog posts and videos here - mymerrymessygermanlife.com
🇩🇪 See our Life in Germany UA-cam playlist here - • Life in Germany
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Sources for the History:
Deutches Weihnachtsmuseum - www.weihnachtsmuseum.de/wir-u...
en.seiffen.de/glossary/
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nutcrac...
www.dw.com/en/how-the-nutcrac...
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Wir wünschen euch einen schönen 4. Advent! Are there other famous Christmas cities and villages or shops (besides Erzgebirge + Kathe Wohlfahrt) we should all know about?
Aachen and Nürnberg are famous for their special bakeries and Aachen also for the Christmas market
Lübeck in the North of Germany, famous for Lübecker Marzipan and they have an adorable Christmas market also.
@@Tinoseasyjoker there is only one brand though ... Niederegger Marzipan, the rest is: meh! ... but Niederegger is soooo good it will spoil your marzipan taste for ever
@@whattheflyingfuck... yes that is the best. I was once there in their shop in Lübeck during christmas season it was a blast and so yummi. To be honest it is pricy but so worth it.
I‘d definitely recommend Lübeck during Christmas time. There isn‘t just one Christmas Market but multiple ones throughout the city and each one has its own theme! For people in Lübeck Christmas is almost like the fifth season of the year 😊 plus Lübeck is just so beautiful!
If Kevin's ancestors left Germany on a ship, maybe he would be able to trace their journey at the Auswandererhaus in Bremerhaven. Could be a nice trip when the kids are a bit older.
Gute Idee. 👍🏾
In Hamburg is also a Auswanderer Museum where you csn research for ancestors!!
Oh wow!! That would be amazing!!
We tracked the ancestors of my mother (we live in Germany) and what we thought to be her great cousin from Baltimore. We went to the still very medieval looking town of their origin here in Germany and found out it were actually so that their great grandmothers were sisters. But later ancestors had lied in the immigration papers to seem closer related so they could vouch for each other. It was really interesting and my American "aunt" loved the whole trip to her roots.
of you go to the Auswanderermusem in Bremerhaven, you could visit the "Klimamuseum" as well. Your kids would love it
The nutcracker ballet is actually based on a story written by Ernst Theodor Amadeus (E.T.A.) Hoffmann (1776-1822), a German writer. The story is called "Nußknacker und Mausekönig" and depicts German Christmas traditions in the early 19th century, including the nutcracker in the title. Having read the story from E.T.A. Hoffmann, Peter Tchaikovsky decided to write a ballet music to it.
Yes that's right! Thanks for sharing.
Now I learned something new. Thank you.
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife Nussknacker (Nussbeißer) was original from Berchtesgaden 1650. 85 years later they make it in Thüringen and +/- 1850 the mass production starts in Seiffen/Erzgebirge.
Interesting....Thanks!
Wow this dude literally wrote every story no matter what genre. Didn’t know about that thanks for sharing
When it comes to German Christmas traditions: Don't forget to watch the movie 'Drei Haselnüsse für Aschenbrödel' which is broadcasted every year MULTIPLE TIMES at Christmas time! It's the Czech version of the Cinderella story and it is so iconic 💖. The story behind the movie is so interesting as well 💕
I would say at our home the Movie "Loriots Weihnachten bei den Hoppenstedts" is seen more.. It is funny but I think only for native speakers.
It's on Netflix too.
Ich kenne keinen, der diesen Film zu Weihnachten schaut und höre gerade zum ersten Mal davon. Andererseits schaue ich auch seit zwanzig Jahren kein TV mehr, von daher könnte es eine jüngere Entwicklung sein, die einfach an mir vorbeigegangen ist.
Sicher, dass das eine "deutsche" Tradition ist und nicht einfach was in eurer Familie?
@@luckyqualmi Wenn es nur was in meiner Familie wäre, dann würde der Film nicht jedes Jahr Weihnachten auf allen dritten Kanälen laufen (teilweise sogar mehrfach) und wäre sicherlich auch nicht zum "schönsten Märchenfilm aller Zeiten gewählt worden 😂
@@luckyqualmi Ja, er läuft im Fernsehen und es gibt ihn aktuell auch auf Netflix. Das sagt schon was.
When I was a child, the ornaments we used to decorate our tree with, were straw stars, real red apples, the little tinfoil - things, my sister and I had made in kindergarden and that one little sailing ship, made of the shell of a wallnut, matches and sewing thread and paper. The first one was made by my dad but that one got lost or brocken after some years, so I made a replacement, and now, it's a staple on my own tree as well. The ship is a verry old symbol for the church.
Those ornaments sounds so very special! I love a tree with ornaments that are special, homemade and have a story.
25 lovely minutes for your audience and followers, but I guess, hours of filming, preparing, cutting, editing, a. s. o.
Thank you so much for producing (and sharing) these fabulous videos each week. Made with so much empathy and love, and filled with so many special details (sometimes even unknown for me).
I guess, there will not be many people on this channel (including me !), who can really evaluate, how much time and effort is needed for making such a great job 👍 !
Und heute verabschiede ich mich auf Deutsch: Liebe Sara, liebe Familie McFall, ich wünsche Euch allen Frohe Weihnachten 🎄🎁🔔🕯🎄 !
Liebe Grüße, Klaus Z.
You’re so very kind, Klaus. We appreciate you and your comments! ❤️💚❤️💚
The Käthe Wohlfahrt Shop at Rothenburg ob der Tauber is open all over the Year. It’s a little bit crazy to to see Tourists leaving the shop with Christmas Tree and ornaments in the summertime. Habt einen schönen 4. Advent !
Yeah I bet that's weird! Haha but it's their only time for some of them to visit Germany so they have to buy them when they can.
Also, you can find a small Käthe Wohlfahrt shops on some christmas markets in other cities all over germany. In contrast to other stands, it's like a little hut where you can go inside, so there's almost always a queue outside to get in... but it's nice to warm up in between if you spend a lot of time at the market xD
@@silentcookie7261 oh cool! I didn’t know you could go inside it. They really go all out!
There is also a year round shop in Berlin, on Kudamm.
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife Couple of years ago they opened a highstreet shop in York, England. Here in Lübeck they have a stall at the X-mas market that is about the size of a small house, about 30 people or a little more can squeeze through the aisles in a ziggy-zaggy (on)way scheme, always afraid of breaking something.
Now I am waiting for a christmas video titled "How Ella stole Christmas". She's already very German in her honesty, by the way. :-)
🤣😂😉 yes; i have exactly the same thought 😂😁🤣
Hahaha true! She’s very honest!
Sara, you don't have to worry that much about your pronunciation. You're doing well and it's great to see you and your family pick up the language fairly quickly and also your interest in Germany, its history and traditions. You are role models for other immigrants. :)
Thank you so very much, that means a lot to us as anytime we speak German on the channel we always get people correcting us. It’s discouraging, to be honest. I go to German classes - it’s my German teacher’s job to correct me, not people on UA-cam!! Unless I invite the audience to help me out.
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife You're welcome! Germans are probably just a little too enthusiastic about correcting other people. I'm sure it's not coming from a bad place though. We are lucky to have a family like yours here with us. 😊
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife I actually appreciate the honesty in this comment so much. You can really see how hard you’re trying to get pronunciation right, but obviously it‘s not always gonna work. I think most of the people try to be nice and help but I can totally see how it makes you focus on your faults rather than your achievements.
For example you always do amazing research both for things like todays Video but also when you go on a trip with you family, it clearly shows that you read ahead about things and want your kids to experience these places right. Probably most of the information is only accessible on German, so I think your comprehension must be quite good. I‘m not even surprised anymore when you tell my things about my culture I didn’t even know about.
Long story short you’re doing a great job both on UA-cam and as a mom and we appreciate getting to be a part of your families journey. Don’t let little things like these comments bother you too much, even if they can add up. Cheers!
@@LJMahomes yes that’s exactly it! When you’re learning something new that’s very hard and scary, like learning a new language while living in that new country, for me, I need support and encouragement, not a ton of corrections. So like you said, focusing on the achievements instead of the faults. And it makes me afraid to speak German on channel when I have dozens of correction comments. And I know the people mean well and aren’t trying to be rude or mean, but we get 400-600 comments per video so the corrections can be very overwhelming and discouraging.
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife oh did not know this. sorry, I really thought you were encouraging the audiance to help correct your german. I will refrain from doing it now. Just mention it once in your next videos maybe, cause I really misunderstood that part.
I love your videos but this time is the first time I commented. One can really see the effort you put in in those. Thanks for sharing your life with us. Franzi from Aachen
Thank you! Glad to read your first comment :).
I just love the way how easy and relaxed you are with your children. It makes parenting look so simple and it might sound cheesy but is an inspiration for me as a mom :D
Thank you ❤️💚. I’m also a real mom, too, I want to give you an honest impression. I have moments when I’m very tired, overwhelmed, crying, the house is a mess, the kids are fighting 🤣. Very very real over here, too. But I do love to have the kids on video because it’s memories I can keep forever so I’ve learned this past year how to prepare the kids for the video. I talk them through it before I film and then I let them say what they want and be honest, and that really helps them to be on camera with me. But there are also moments I edit out where I have to tell them to calm down, or sit still, hahahaha, real moments!
holiday greetings from connecticut usa!s-o-o-o happy to see your comment from nrw;my german half of my family migrate from herford to quincy illinois in 1848.since covid i have researched westfalen custom and traditions ;therfore grateful when i find the sharing of regional differences. wishing you and yours the very best in 2022 and sending alucky piggy(correct?)
@@jeanninepeters3068 ....Yeah the Glücksschwein! Nice.
Very thoroughly researched and entertaining as ever ! If you are looking for a serious German challenge, travel to the Erzgebirge and try to understand the local lingo.
Thank you so much! I really enjoyed the research as I learned so much about the Christmas history in Germany! Yeah we definitely want to go to Erzgebirge now!
My family has always had clear / unpainted, handcrafted glass balls from Lauscha. They are gorgeous with candle light on the tree as they reflect and gleam. Add a few other ornaments (straw stars, wooden toys, handcrafted things) and schokoladenkringel and voila: Christmas tree.
Wow beautiful! I’ll look up that company, thanks for the suggestion.
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife it is a city in South Thüringen specialized in Glas crafts. Worth a trip at any time of year...
Don’t forget the Herrnhütter Stern. We have one (imported from DE) in our foyer.
You have done your research, wow!
Another Fun fact: Did you know that uniform of the nutcrackers is often mistaken for a soldiers’ uniform as in the ore mountains it was actually often a miners‘ work gear? At birth every boy was presented with a miner and every girl got an angel, at the beginning of advent you got them from storage (woke them) and put them into the window so everybody knew, how many children lived in the house.
Btw: No Christmas for us without Marzipan! You might want to plan on visiting the Baltic Coast next year. Plan on going to Lübeck and visit the Christmas Market and the Café Niederegger with their famous Marzipastorte. They do have some fantastic museums, too, for the kids.
Another destination might be Bremen and Bremerhaven with it‘s Museums - they do have the Klimahaus - and the Auswanderermuseums in Bremerhaven and Hamburg, maybe you can find out where your family embarked.
And in Hamburg there is the Miniaturwunderland, a destination for all year round, but especially for ugly winter sleet and rain. Plan a whole day and book a behind-the-scene tour!
Einen gemütlichen 4. Advent!
I loved learning from you about the nutcracker and angel, and how people would put them in their windows to show how many kids they had! Such cool facts! And those travel suggestions sound wonderful - thank you!
What I like about the Germn style of decorating is that handmade or solfmade decorations are priced. There is just more love in something where someone spend some time to create.
Plus, I like the tradition to light another candle every sunday. It's a wunderful way to count down to a special day.
I am loving these Adventszeit traditions, too! It’s so special and not something I’ve ever done in the US.
Weihnachtspyramiden are my favorite Christmas tradition. My grandpa is a carpenter and made them for our entire family besides other lovely things. Having handmade things that are so beautiful from family is just so special.
Oh wow! To have a handmade pyramid from your grandfather - that is so very special!!
As a child I visited Lauschaer glass workshops.
Lauscha is world wide known for high quality glass ornaments.
They are the nicest.
Getting Christmas ornaments to gift your to your children when they move out is such a special tradition.
My grandma actually gifted me a lot of Christmas and Easter decoration as a child. I love all of them. She has a very artistic taste.
I also have Glass Ornaments from Lauscha. My grandmother bought them for me and my mum 30 years ago and until today we love them dearly. They are definitvely the most beautiful glass tree decorations.
Okay wonderful! I will check out Lauscha. Many have mentioned it here in the comments so you must be into something!
Great video. I was at a big "Käthe Wohlfahrt" shop at Kurfürstendamm in Berlin yesterday. It was really beautiful. 😍 I can highly recommend it. Fun fact: You love the German Christmas traditions. We love the American Christmas traditions. My boyfriend said: "The shop reminds me a lot of "Macy's Santaland"." We were there in New York at Santa and he spoke German. 🎅🤣
We have a lot of Christmas figures from "Romy Thiel" and I love it. A lot of my family lives in Thüringen. The town Lauscha is very famous for glassblowing. "Krebs" is a good company and has beautiful Christmas balls. I can highly recommend it, too. In Germany it's normal to have Christmas balls at a tree and the children learn from young age to be careful with it.
I really love the tradition to give the kids an ornament each year. We‘ve been doing this for some years now and our ( already grown) kids love it .
Oh that's wonderful!
Thank you for all the snow pictures, and the sound of your steps in the snow. It brings me the right winter mood, while I’m also glad that there is no snow outside my home, that I would have to shovel away. 😄
Also, the quality of your filming is really great once again. You have such a good eye for proportions (as far as I can tell), and I don’t know if you’re doing a lot of colour correction, but the colours look strikingly good as well.
Thank you so much! For this video I didn’t have to do much color correction. I’ve gotten much better at filming correctly the first time which makes editing go much faster!
It's like a winter wonderland there.
So happy for you that this is your first experience of Christmas in Germany. Must be magical!
Yes when it snows it's really magical here! It's nice that we got a lot of snow with all of the Christmas markets here closed.
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife I envy you: Here in Munich the snow is gone completely right now.
In Hamburg it hasn't snowed yet at all😂
Weihnachtsschmuck aus dem Erzgebirge ❤️💚💛🧡❤️ for me there is a huge difference between „Weihnachtsschmuck“ something you keep for years and „Weihnachtsdeko“ something that only lasts one christmas. (And is often made of cheaper materials )
Sarah, you have a nice bavarian accent when you was „gebrannte Mandeln“ 😍
Yeah that's true, we are definitely picking up the Bavarian accent! Our kids are learning Bayerisch at school, too. And I agree - there is a difference between a cheap holiday decoration that is trendy but not special, and something you can pass down to your children. I prefer the latter.
Schöne Winterlandschaft bei euch. 🙂 Vielen Dank für die tolle Recherche und den _„Geschichtsunterricht“_ über unsere Weihnachtskultur. 👍🏾😎 Der _Herrnhuter Stern_ (Moravian star) ist auch noch sehr typisch. Ich wünsche euch ein schönes Weihnachtsfest. 🎄
Vielen dank!
23:40 WAUW that little Christmas Tree, already decorated, great!!
We love the video, thanks so much! Your new ornaments are lovely and fun.xx
I didn’t know about Käthe Wohlfahrt and Erzgebirge until I saw your videos!! 😍😍 So thank you for making such informative and beautiful videos about a traditional German Christmas. 🎄🎄
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife That's so kind, thanks so much!
Ich wünsche ihrer Familie einen schönen 4. Advent. Ich habe an jedem Fenster einen Schwibbogen aus dem Erzgebirge mit verschiedenen Motiven z. B. Dresdener Frauenkirche oder die Kirche aus Seiffen. Mein Weihnachtsbaum ist geschmückt mit Glaskugeln aus Lauscha und Zinnfiguren aus Freiberg. Die Tische und Schränke werden bedeckt mit Weihnachtstischdecken aus Plauener Spitze, auf diesen stehen viele Räuchermännchen und weihnachtlich hübsch dekorierte Bücher. Ich komme aus Schleswig-Holstein und liebe dieses Fest, obwohl leider viele Mitglieder der Familie in den letzten Jahren verstorben sind und Weihnachten immer einsamer wird. Aber ich habe viel Fantasie und gerade zu Weihnachten werden die Verstorbenen wieder für kurze Zeit zum Leben erweckt, auch deswegen liebe ich dieses Fest so sehr.
Super schöne Weihnachtsdeko! And each piece placed so nicely and thoughtfully.
Your home looks soo very Xmassy now to put all us viewers immediately into the right spirit. Thankyou 🧡
I can only say THANK YOU for another wonderful video. Christmas decorations from the Erzgebirge remind me from when I was little. We lived in Vienna but my aunt (mother's sister) lived in Weimar, which was then East Germany, So, whenever possible we received a treasured parcel of Christmas decorations from the East (behind the iron curtain) in return for us sending parcels of western treats goodies to them in the east. .. and I want to thank you so very much for bringing back that wonderful childhood memory. Greetings from Canada :-).
I Ria so lovely to see you embracing Christmas traditions here in Germany, and what a cosy home you created for your family. I am so happy for you.
Ich wünsche euch eine wunderschöne Weihnachtszeit.
If I remember correctly, you are visiting your folks back in the States. So, have a safe trip and wonderful time there, and I am looking forward to your videos coming in the new year. God bless you all!
Thank you so very much! What nice things to say, we appreciate it. Wishing you a very happy Christmas as well! 💚❤️
As usual Sara, you wowed me away. The insane impressions and feelings I got from that intro - just 😍😍😍
I often also learn something new from our own traditions. I didn't know the history of the Schwippbogen. I just know the Schwippbogen in regards of a christmas decoration, as my parents had one all the time in their home. I also knew thats from the Erzgebirge. But I didn't know that it resembles a mine entry. Whats even more sad, as my first profession was to be a miner in an uranium mine back in the 80's before going to university. So thank you alot for those well researched background information.
Thank you so much, Opa Andre! You always leave the nicest and most thoughtful comments. We appreciate commenters like you! 😍❤️💚 Yeah isn’t it cool how the Schwiboggen represent a mine? I never knew it until I was doing the research for this video.
Wow Winterwunderland ! All the snow looks amazing, but in the part of Germany where I live it snows once in a few years!
Yeah it’s amazing down here! We can get a lot of snow!
17:12 Grayson's "Wohlfahrt" is just perfect 😯👍
Thank you! We are amazing at how fast he learned German. Many Germans here say they can’t even hear an accent!
Now that you guys have your proper winter garb, you can get out and really really enjoy the Weiße Pracht.
I love the way you celebrate the new things you get to discover.
♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️
Yes that’s right! It’s much better with the best snow clothes!
Really beautifully done!! Living in Bavaria Germany for 28 years and being born on December 26th (Steffistage) this is also a tradition which blew me away when I first came here. The village boys would come to our bakery/Cafe and I would have to give them schnapps. What I love is my birthday is a holiday here. Being married to a Bavarian family with hundreds of years as butchers and bakers I had a lot of experience with local traditons. My collection of Christmas decorations are mostly antiques going back 60-100 years. Enjoy your collection. Frohe Weihnachten!!
Oh wow, so amazing that you inherited a collection of Bavarian antiques and have a family with hundreds of years I’d butchers and bakers!
You have such beautiful Christmas decorations. Really beautiful. Well chosen sara❗️
I have another suggestion for Christmas specials for you. Why don't you try a baked apple? This is also a very old tradition at Christmas time. There are so beautiful recipes for filled baked apples on the Internet. The finishing touch is a hot baked apple from the oven with a piece of apple strudel and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Yum! 🤤 😋 Maybe add a hot cocoa to it❓Look vor „Nesquick“ in your local supermarket. You can drink it „hot“ at winter and cool at summertime. It‘s the best known cocoa powder in Germany. You would just have to stir it into the milk. 🙋♂️
We’d love to try these baked apples! Are they also popular after Christmas?
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife It's a dish/dessert for cozy winterdays, not typical for Christmas but for "Advent" or even late fall days, I would say. My mom made them in the compartmemt (? Fach) of the wood oven. You can definitely make them after Christmas ! Enjoy!
And big ENCOURAGEMENT for your German learning journey! Sorry for the German "culture" and the countless comments correcting you. I can't pronounce English words like a native speaker (even with training to do so) make lots of Grammar mistakes e.g. Maybe you can remember the typical German pronunciation of the "th" in "revenge" when you read a discouraging comment 😉
Typical fillings for baked apples (Bratäpfel) are chopped almonds, nuts, raisins, honey, cinnamon(!) , or marzipan. I don't like it with marzipan, it's too sweet and overpowering for me, but I like the honey and the almonds. The already (in the o.g. comment) mentioned homemade vanilla sauce on top of / with the apples is very typical and super tasty!
As a German living in Munich, I am very jealous of all this snow right now😁
Yeah maybe it’ll come back in January!
So happy to hear these histories of some of my favorite decorations! Thank you
The four seasons of the year: Spring, summer, autumn and Nutcracker! 😁
Oooo love it!
And Karneval, the 7th Session
Sorry, the 6th season
22:44 Ella's grumpy look when she was looking at her little (beautiful!!) angel ornament - - unbezahlbar / priceless 🤣🤩
Right?! 🤣🤣 Kids are always so honest!
Such a beautiful video again ! I love the intro with your snowy home in the sunshine, perfect music to match and then the cozy inside with all your Christmas treasures. I also like the idea of starting a lovely collection of decor items that will traditionally be used every Christmas to come. This will always be a time of the year for your kids to remember just like it has been for you. I wish you all a beautiful, happy and peaceful Christmas and a good start in a hopefully good New Year !
⁴ b
@@heikeachstaller1286 ???
Thank you, Grandma K! I hope you're having a wonderful Christmas season! Frohe Weihnachten!
Everything else has already been mentioned in the comments........well almost everything. The voice and music accompanying the introductory images is stunning and literally stopped me in my tracks. I just had to know who it was so googled the lyrics. Am right now listening to Handsome and Gretyl's Christmas Album. What a find! Thanks for that from a great music lover 🙂
Wow good job finding that! Yes it’s Hansel and Gretyl. Isn’t that first song just gorgeous?! It also stopped me in my tracks and I had to use it!
Frohe Weihnachten Euch Allen 🙋♂
Danke! Gleichfalls! 🎄
Dankeschön, Arno!! 😍❤️
I'm guessing Ella wants a three-dimensional "active" ornament! You do such a beautiful job of sharing with us, and heroically working at the pronunciations! Thank you for taking me back to my childhood in Bavaria, and keep enjoying these fun traditions!
Thank you for saying that speaking the words in German, for tens of thousands of native German speakers is heroic, because it is!! It’s so hard to learn a language as an adult and pronounce things correctly. And yes I think you’re right - Ella wanted a 3D ornament! Haha good point!
Einen schönen 4. Advent!
Schönen 4ten advent. The snow, the fire, the decorations, it all looks so tranquil.
Love it 💕
I’m glad you enjoyed all of that! 🎄😍☃️
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife I surely do. Been living in Massachusetts for almost 22 years now and in those years i can only remember 1 christmas where we had a little snow ice mix. Thinking back of living in Berlin the years before I left same thing, rainy christmas and new years. No snow. Living through you 😜
@@mamabear3428 oh wow, no snow on Christmas in Boston in 22 years?!
Loved that video! I live in Schwarzenberg (the town you showed at 4:17 - really happy so see my small town in a video ;D) and I dont want to miss the christmas time here in the ore mountains! Favourite time of the year. Especially doing a walk in the evening hours with my fiancee and watching all the windows with a Schwibbogen in every single one of them is something, I absolutely love. This is the definition of "coziness" for me. Greetings and have a wonderful christmas time.
Oh that sounds so very lovely! I definitely want to visit Erzgebirge after making this video!
Sara, I'd say you already have a quite impressive stock of typical German Christmas items and decorations! I especially loved to see you own a lil "Krippe" and brought it with you from the U.S.
Maybe you could add some "Strohsterne" (hand made yourself or bought, in all diferent sizes) to your ever growing stock of Xmas decoration.
Thank you! Next year I would like a Moravian star or two to hang from the windows.
Love that you are giving so much background! I learned a lot 😁! Thank you! ❤️We also love our pyramid and Schwibbogen and we are glad that both travelled all the way from Germany to the US with us without braking 😊
Oh that’s great that they didn’t break!
Wonderful! I‘m still smiling. Such a herzerwärmendes Video. The decoration is perfect. Fröhliche Weihnachten 🎄
Dankeschön, Dolores! 😍
your videos getting better and better......you should buy this house and stay forerver here.....frohe weihnachten für euch alle
Thank you! Frohe Weihnachten für du auch! ❤️🎄☃️🎅🏼
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife love to see you writing German!
I truly hope thst should thete ever be a small spelling, grammar or word choice mistake, that tze unsolicited but ubiquutous oeoole who will correct you, don't break your spirit.
It's something I can't get used to after more than 20yrs here...
@@stephenmcnamara8318 Some of us just try to be helpful as they are really trying hard to improve!
@@franhunne8929
I don't want to speak for others, but as someone who has lived as a foreigner in Germany for decades, and deals with a lot of others who speak German well and make small grammar mistakes - I know no one who appreciates it - if it is not specifically requested by the speaker or the writer.
Always good to check if someones actual goal is to have perfect grammar...or if those corrections are more likely to make them self conscious and stop even attempting - in my experience - the latter.
I'm Vorstand of a Sportverein - all of the ehrenamtler are not native speakers, American, Swedish, Ukranian and Japanese...all close to fluent spoken...none of us ever dare post on the HP or write communication for fear of the unsolicited corrections that come..
If you can figure out what someone meant to say...leave it uncommented usually
@@stephenmcnamara8318 Well, My Merry Messy Life has repeatedly asked if she pronounced things correctly. She is indeed very eager to improve her pronunciation.
Really nice christmas ornaments. Your decoration is so lovely and your home so cozy 😍
Thank you very much! ❤️
Als Oberbayer finde ich die Vorweihnachtszeit im Erzgebirge besonders heimelig mit Räuchermännchen, Schwibbogen, den Geruch von Braunkohle beim Heizen des Hauses. Liebe Grüße aus dem Landkreis Rosenheim
Ah very cool! Wir sind Nachbarn! Landkreis Traunstein hier.
Throwing some shade... rofl.
There is a Kathe Wohlfahrt store in MN. I believe it’s at the Mall of America. I have a few pieces of hers from when I visited Germany and I have about 35 different schwibboggens and other German Christmas pieces from Richard Glaesser and the Erzgebirge area. The one thing that I love that isn’t so much a Christmas piece, are the German wooden jumpers that bounce up and down on a metal spring. My daughter now has a collection. They are so fun!
Oh wow! 35 Schwibbogen! That must be amazing to use them at Christmastime. So cool to know there is a Käthe Wohlfahrt store at the mall of America!
The little Beer drinking guy is the best! Perfect for dads all over the land... Have a merry christmas.
Isn’t it so cute?!
Einen wunderschönen 4. Advent und frohe Weihnachten! Eure Videos sind so gut!
Vielen dank!
Wow! You will definitely have a white Christmas! It's so beautiful! Collecting ornaments over the years, is fun and special. We have a smoking Santa, a candle pyramid and several gorgeous glass ornaments from Lauscha, including a cuckoo clock and some beautiful birds. When my daughter was young, I took her to see the Nutcracker Ballet a couple of times, and it was amazing. This year, we will be spending our holidays with our daughter and sil in NYC, all vaccinated and boostered up. Wishing you a safe and healthy Frohe Weihnachten und einen Guten Rutsch ins Neue Jahr!
New York City is a super fun place to spend Christmas! I know you’ll have a wonderful time! ❤️🎄
Gorgeous, you have become such a wonderful videographer over the last year, it is quite a special talent, and obviously, a lot of work. Thank you for making our Sunday's special with your videos. I am glad you are sharing so many customs with us, the ones particular to the Erzgebirge were not all that familiar to me, we did have a little wind-carousel and of course a nut cracker, as they now have become a universal Christmas decoration, and the ballet has only added to that fame, but many of the other things were less familiar to me.
I grew up with a silver and white Christmas tree (with real candles) a little less fully decorated due to the use of candles, and the glitter and light was always so special. Our tree was only shown to us kids on Christmas Eve, so it was not in the main room, but in the second largest room, which was off limits to us kids especially during Advent, and which opened up at Christmas Eve to show the tree, the gifts, and happened to have the piano there anyways, so it all worked perfectly for celebrating. But our ornaments were silver and white balls, bells, sleds, stars, and of course the special tinsel and white wrapped candy that was prepared during advent and that was hung into the tree. I cannot even find a picture of such a tree anywhere on the web, I think it just is less used nowadays, but used to be quite common, especially in Austria. You can still buy the special candy wrappers on the web today, but you have to start looking for them, they don't seem common anymore.
Individualized ornaments as personalized gifts, I only came to know in the US, and it is such a lovely tradition, and I am glad to see your kids are growing into it. Of course you could buy ornaments at a Christmas market or in various shops, and turn that into a gift, but the individualized attention that your demonstrate so beautifully in the video, was kind of new to me.
Wishing a wonderful Merry and hopefully not Messy Christmas Season to you and your family! All the best
Thank you for your very kind comment, Carol! ❤️💚❤️🎄 I am so enjoying taking videos, especially of nature and my kids. 😍
I also love the Christmas decorations from Käthe Wohlfahrt. Really cute. :)
They are SO CUTE!
I love your videos. We lived in Vienna for 4 years . You are bringing back such wonderful memories. Kathie Wolfahrt was always favorite of ours. Enjoy every minute. It will always be the best memories.
So glad you're enjoying our videos. Vienna is such a beautiful city!
Cute video :) Kids are sooo honest, haha. Actually, your video is perfect timing because I just bought a pryamind at the Christmas market in Strasbourg France yesterday!! This is my first year in Germany (nr Stuttgart) and I am really enjoying it here. As for the Nutcracker, I have been fortunate enough to see it several times in Salt Lake City and also performed once in the beautiful Odessa opera house. Thanks and please keep your videos coming.
Ah very cool!! Are you also a dancer or a musician? Yes kids are so honest, it’s so funny!
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife No, not a dancer. Guess that is a bit confusing. I saw it performed there :)
Gorgeous intro..i look.forward to watching the rest later. Lovely ❤ 🎄🙏💜frohe weihnachten !
Thank you! Frohe Weihnachten!
Thank you for this nice Video.☺️
I Wish you and your Family a Merry Christmas.🎄✨
Vielen dank! Du euch! 🎄😍❤️
Thanks for the Christmas greetings, also wish you a Merry Christmas. The typical Christmas plant is der ilex / die stechpalme . the squirrel stands e.g. on the leaves of the Ilex and the "musikbox" is decorated with it. The charm of this plant, I think, are the dark green leaves with their special shape and the wonderfully red berries. Greetings from Berlin
and I'm just seeing the Ilex is tree of the year 2021
Very informative ! Thank you and have a great Christmas!✨✨👍🏻
Thank you! Du auch!
Beautiful decorations and family.
Schoenen 4 Advent 🎄🕯✨🕯✨🕯✨🕯✨🎄 and Merry Christmas. Appreciate that you're actually saying Merry Christmas 🥰 instead of Happy Holidays 🤗
Vielen dank!! Du auch!
Wonderful collection of ornaments! This is a nice tradition - I'm thinking about doing it in our family :-) (....and I really, really envy you the snow!!!! Here in NRW it is only rainy and foggy - you have real winter - so beautiful! I adore it!!!)
Yeah and we're going to get more snow right after Christmas, so the children here will be able to do lots of sledding on their Christmas break!
Ich liebe die tollen Sachen aus dem Erzgebirge! My father made a Schwippbogen by himself 20 years ago. I still have him in my living room window every year. Thanks a lot for oyur video. It is always a pleasure to watch you!
Hi Leslie! How very special your father made Schwibbogen himself!
My father is very talented in crafts and makes many decorations from found objects, wood, etc.
You might want to look up Herrnhuter Stern - Merry Christmas to you and your family near and far.
Okay cool, will do! What’s special about it?
No it's me thinking that i was missing something all the years :) Learned so much about german traditions :)
I grew up in Germany as my dad was in the air force. I miss the German culture so much.
Oh my everything is so Christmas 😍
I am truly impressed about the things you know and your curiosity to dive deep into the Christmas culture with its local and regional diversity. Even we Germans can learn a ton from your educating videos. You have a nice and pleasantly clean voice. Have you ever thought about working as a radio host or a tv host in an educational tv show?
Thank you so much! I actually did have a podcast that's still running, which is like a radio show, and I really loved making it and producing it. It's called The Merry Messy Moms Show. :)
That was lovely to watch. I love how you embrace your new home country and its traditions and how deep you dive in. What a wonderful family tradition you have created with collecting individual ornaments for your chilren. You asked for some more recommendations for traditonal german Christmas decorations. For sure the glas ornaments from the town of Lauscha are wonderful. From the ore mountains in Saxony come the "Kurrende" - they are the origin for the english Christmas carolers. Very well known are the "Grünhainichener Engel" - you may know them as the angel orchestra. Very beautiful is the "Herrenhuther Stern". There are many plagiarisms on the market - but none comes close to the original. To you and your family: A verry happy Christmas!
Wonderful, thank you for these suggestions!
Wonderful ideas for Christmas gifts! Ella is a hard one to please. So Cute. Merry Christmas!
Yes she is! Hahahaha
It is very entertaining to hear you pronounce the historical German names with as many "ü" and "ö" as possible. :-)
The article has been researched extensively with photos and films. You bought a lot more Christmas decorations than my family ever had. We limit ourselves to the advent wreath, poinsettia in the window and real fir tree with tasteful Christmas decorations.
Learning a language as an adult is a lot harder than learning it as a child, as many Germans learn English. 😉 I’m sure my pronunciation will suck for a long time!
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife mostly you overengineer it a bit :) "ä", "ü", "ö" you can always pronouce them short and quick. like you can say Kääääthe, or just Käthe. Bääär, or just Bär (same as english bear).
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife no worries about your pronunciation. You're doing good, and every time it gets better. We have/had many hockey players from Canada and/or USA, playing for 10 years and longer in Germany, and however they spoke fluent German after a few years, some words were still impossible for them to pronounce. And you're in Germany since February, so all good. Take your time.
@@michischaeffler yes that makes sense! I mean, I have German friends here who’ve been learning English since 3rd grade and they do not have perfect pronunciation, but I don’t expect them to! Accents are normal and I think, very beautiful. I love to hear accents.
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife That's true.
I love the details on the ornaments all hand painted. Takes a lot of time. Very precious. I have to see if i can order some for the US.
The smoking man is my favourit since Iam a child as well
You've been introduced to like $500 worth of christmas ornaments... but I see how they fascinate you.
Mom a has a Seiffen angel choir from before WWII, and they are the cutest.
I'm really looking forward to seeing footage of your beeswax candle christmas tree!
Also mind you to make Bescherung on Christmas Eve after attending the Kindermette. What are you going to eat over the holidays? Traditional Würstchen and Kartoffelsalat on Christmas Eve? Karpfen? Raclette? This could be an interesting vlog!
Yes!! I think we will do Raclette or Fondue…not sure yet.
Another popular Weihnachtsdekoration is the Hutschenreuther Weihnachtsglocke made out of porcelain. It‘s relatively expensive for just one Weihnachtsglocke, but since they are collectors items with new decor each year, they are getting more expensive over the years. Some of them are already five times more expensive as the original price.
Wow cool! Okay we can check those out!
First and foremost Sara and Kevin and family and of course the cat too Merry Christmas to you and yours.
Sara you are soo funny. How you were with your children around the table opening the box. Sooo cute.
Also how you said "5 years later". Very cute too.
Also regarding " Rothenburg ob der Tauber". When you guys are ready to visit this town, start from Würzburg and work your way to Füssen near Schloss Neuschwanstein which is near Austria.
I don't know if you knew this but Germany has "Romantische Straβe" which goes from Würzburg to Füssen and Rothenburg ob der Tauber is along the way and also city of Dinkelsbuhl and city of Nördlingen. You would love it. And Nördlingen is a circle town that has wall around it. And in this town in the middle there is a church "The Nördlingen church tower" has a story of a cat in the tower area. You will walk up to tower. A long walk and once you reach up there that is where the cat is and very nice view of Nördlingen and the surrounding from up there. And also Nördlingen is sitting on a moon rock. Long long time ago part of the moon in a form of meteor fell and what was part of Pre- Nördlingen flew to pre-Slovskia after the meteor fell.
"Romantische Straβe actually goes all the way to Austrian border up on a mountain, but Füssen is also okay.
Finally, and most important, Kevin I noticed from your voice you have the cold. Well by the time you read this I hope you are 100% better.🙏
Hang in there.
Thank you for the well wishes and so glad you enjoyed the video! That Romantische Straße sounds wonderful! And yes I'd love to visit Würzburg and go to Rothenburg ODT. Thank you for the suggestions!
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife You are very welcome Sara. And I hope Kevin is better. At least to me he sounded like he had the cold. I hope I am wrong.
I’m collecting the filligreen ornaments. They are so beautiful. Every year we visit a Christmas market in Germany and every year I’ll buy one ornament. Also Villeroy and Boch have beautiful Christmas things.
Yes they do have beautiful things! I actually bought a ceramic Weihnachtsbaum and a music box from them and I just love them!!
Eine schöne Tradition im Erzgebirge, man stellt einen Bergmann für jedes männliche und einen Engel für jedes weibliche Kind in das Fenster. Bergmann und Engel!
Wunderschön !😍😄💖
the Erzgebirge is a particularly beautiful region, now at Christmas time. the region is very festive decorated with lots of tration. should you go there at Christmas time! Wir Wünschen euch einen schönen 4. Advent.
I hope one year we can! The children don't get any time off of school until after Christmas, so maybe one year we can go after Christmas.
Frohe Weihnachten ... Merry Christmas!
You German words sounds so cute, we love this. 🥰
It's good for you that you have now shopped at Käthe Wohlfahrt! The company was almost bankrupt last year. They sell almost exclusively through their shops and practically nothing online! A pandemic means fewer or no tourists at all. That means no income without tourists! And due to the ongoing Covid situation, I strongly assume that Käthe Wohlfahrt will not survive 2022...
😰😰 oh that’s so sad! I hate to hear that! I was able to buy all of these things online. Perhaps since COVID began they’ve improved their online store because how it’s very big and I was able to find many things.
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife You are right, they started their online shop somewhere between August 21st and September 24th, 2020. But anyway, the online shop doesn’t even come close to what you’ll find in the Rothenburg shop...
We have a Kathe Wohlfart shop in York ( England) which is open all year. It’s in a very old building on Stonegate, near the Minster (cathedral) and is popular with tourists. We’ve also had a Christmas market here this year- slightly more spread out than usual but very busy.
@@NKKBerlin ah very good to know! Can’t wait to visit it!
How very interesting! I have just skimmed through, but I will watch this on my tv this evening with my husband. We‘ve got some of these ornaments, passed down to us, and I knew they were special but I am thrilled you‘ve done all the research about them.
Hi Lauren! Thank you for watching! Do you guys stay here for Christmas?
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife we live here, so yes. We will go out to lunch on Christmas day to replace the celebration that normally happens in GB, and we have Heiligabend at home with a very simple to cook meal, because I am always exhausted and still somehow caught on the hop because it all starts half a day early! 😆
Oh my, what a dream landscape !!! So beautiful... I really envy you ! I live in Munich, there is currently practically no such scenes now.
Best christmas wishes for you and your nice family too !! I hope you and especially your children will enjoy the special spirit !
Well a lot of it has melted here, too, as of today. This was filmed a few weeks ago, as it takes a few weeks for me to edit and get the videos together. But yeah, it was a lot of snow!
Räuchermann has been my favorite as kid, too.
They’re so cool!
Merry xmas and happy new year from tiny , but beautiful Saarland. Love ur channel and im happy u guys adapted so well to living in Germany💥🍾🇩🇪
Hello to you all in Saarland! Thanks so much for watching!
Greetings from Frankfurt. Luckily the Christmas markets were on here this year. We changed our plans and spent a week here enjoying them. We leave the 24th. Frankfurt was alive and buzzing with Christmas spirit, people from all states came as theirs were not on this year. Merry Christmas 🌲☃️.
Auch euch einen schönen 4. Advent 🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️
My mum and dad would have enjoyed your video so much! They started buying Handwerk from the Erzgebirge as soon as they could afford it and did start to sell it in their own shop soon after.
Oh very cool! Maybe I could start a shop one day because I get so excited about these decorations!
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife maybe you should! Although getting into the business is difficult as they still restrict who is allowed to sell to protect their heritage - if I am not mistaken.
But you would be a great ambassador! 😃
I love German decorations the most! They have the best chrisfmas markets.
They are so beautiful!
The most beautiful glass tree ornaments probably come from Thüringen (mainly from Lauscha). My German grandmother also had little glass birds with a feather for a tail which could be clipped to the branches. Another classic was the Dorfener Christbaumkugel, a crystal glass with a figure inside like an angel or a tree.
I’ll have to get some of those!
This video is just so wholesome! Me and my girlfriend really enjoy your videos! You are such a cute family :)
Thank you so much! ❤️💚🎄
Ich träume von diesem Geräusch 😍😍😍
Oh i envy you so much for your "Kachelofen" even if it has no "Kacheln". What a cosy warmth it must spread...
The decorations are marvelous of course !
As ever germany is not only bavaria (or saxony in this case). So i presume you'll find other interesting Christmas traditions in other parts of germany as well.
Have a very nice Christmas time alltogether and a happy new year!
Yes it’s so cool! Though I do miss a big open fireplace where you can see and hear the fire crackling.
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife We do have an open fireplace. And i miss the heating effect though it's nice to look at. Everything has it's pros and cons...