Christmas

All About German Advent Wreaths

December 1, 2020 Anika Rieper

If you are German or have lived some time in Germany, you probably have come across an Adventskranz (in Austria: Adventkranz) or advent wreath with four candles. Every Sunday (Adventssonntag) before Christmas another candle is lit. The wreath can lie on your table or a designated spot in your house, or you can hang it from the ceiling.

You can find a hanging wreath more often in a church or a public space than in a home.

And everybody (German) knows the poem:

“Advent, Advent, ein Lichtlein brennt. Erst eins, dann zwei, dann drei, dann vier, und dann steht Weihnachten vor der Tür.“

Alternatively: “…dann steht das Christkind vor der Tür.“

“Advent, advent, a little light is burning. First one, then two, then three, then four, and then there is Christmas (or the Christ Child) at the door (then it is almost Christmas.)”

Many of us probably also know the funny continuation of that poem, well, it’s funny to children: “… und wenn das fünfte Lichtlein brennt, dann hast du Weihnachten verpennt.” (“… and when the fifth light is burning, you slept Christmas away.”)

If you’re curious how I made my advent wreath, click here.

History of the Advent Wreath

The First Advent Wreath

If you read my post about advent calendars, you already know that the first advent wreath was made by Johann Hinrich Wichern in 1839 in Hamburg. He was a protestant theologian and had founded a home for neglected children called “Das Rauhe Haus“. When the children kept asking when Christmas would finally be here, he came up with the idea of marking the passing days with candles until Christmas Eve.

He took a big wagon wheel and put four big white candles on it, one for each Sunday before Christmas. The weekdays were represented by smaller red candles. The wheel hung in the prayer hall and the children could see how many more days it was until Christmas and also learn how to count.

The Adventskranz wasn’t decorated with evergreen until 1860. When the advent wreath became more popular and used in people’s homes, the number of candles was reduced to four to be more manageable.

According to their website, the advent wreath in the Rauhen Haus still has big candles for the Advent Sundays and smaller candles for the days in between. Sometimes cities will set up a wreath with not only four candles for the Sundays but with smaller candles for the weekdays. That kind of wreath is referred to as a Wichernkranz or Wichern-Adventskranz.

The city of Lüneburg has a Wichernkranz on top of their Wasserturm (water tower) and its electric candles are powered by donations. Because of copyright laws I can’t post any photos, but I can share the link to the website.

The Slow Spread of the Advent Wreath

The custom of an advent wreath in churches and homes is a protestant one. Since the advent time in the Catholic Church was celebrated with daily masses and bible readings, prayer meetings and devotions in the protestant regions of Germany often took place in the home. It is therefore not surprising that customs like the advent wreath and the advent calendar were adopted earlier by Lutheran households.

However, the first advent wreath supposedly hung in a Catholic Church in Cologne in 1925. By 1930, an advent wreath had made its appearance in Munich, and in the time after World War II, many Catholic Churches and homes had an advent wreath.

Advent Wreath during the Third Reich

During the Third Reich, anything with Christian roots was renamed and traditions were ‘germanized’. Not only did the advent calendar get a Germanic spin but the Adventskranz was called Sonnwendkranz or Lichterkranz (Solstice Wreath or Light Wreath). The four candles became Wünschelichter (Wish Lights) and Lichtersprüche (Light Syaings) were to be recited. Those sayings could be found in the book Vorweihnachten that aimed to replace the advent calendar.

You can find more information on Christmas in Nazi Germany here (in English) and here (in German).

Advent Wreaths in the US

The advent wreath didn’t make it to the US until the 1930s, and is not a very common tradition. Wreaths are normally hung from the door, and if there is an advent wreath you’ll find it more often in a church.

The Meaning behind the Advent Wreath

Candles and Light

Light, candles, and fire have always played a big role during the winter time when the days are short and the nights are long. Especially in the northern parts of Europe where the days are even shorter light has been important. It is no coincidence that the winter solstice and Christmas fall within days of each other.

While a candle brings light into the darkness, the candle is also a symbol of Christ. He is the “Light of the World” and he also gave his life to save ours, just like a candle gives us light while slowly burning down.

Wreath and Circle

The circle of a wreath stands for eternity, with no beginning and no end. It also symbolizes the earth with the four candles being the four cardinal directions. You can make a connection to an older rural custom, too. According to an unwritten rule, farmhands were not required to work outside in freezing temperatures.

To indicate this, the wagons were taken into the barn and the wheels were taken off and hung up. Wheels have been a symbol for the sun for a long time. Decorating the wagon wheels with greenery shows hope for spring and summer to return.

Greenery

During winter, it was pretty common for people to take whatever was still green in nature and take it indoors. Especially before electricity and when most people relied on nature for their harvest and livelihood, greenery reminded them of spring and fertility. Nature might be dormant outside but greenery inside kept hope alive and brightened the dark days.

When taking greenery into your home was and is prevalent during the cold season it is not surprising that wreaths were made from fir, pine, boxwood, spruce, and other evergreens. Other decorating materials also come from nature: pine cones, sticks, and moss.

Nowadays, you can buy all these materials at the store but you might also just take a walk in the woods and make and decorate your wreath with all the things you find.

Colors

Traditionally, red candles were used on a fir green wreath. But you are not limited to that anymore. Whatever suits you and your home is acceptable as long as there are four candles. I collected many ideas how make and decorate an advent wreath on my pinterest board Adventskranz | Advent Wreath.

If you are looking for advent candles online you might be wondering why many candle packs contain three purple and one rose colored candle. In the Catholic Church violet is the liturgical color of advent, so the candles are violet. The light pink candle is for the third Advent which is the Gaudete Sunday. Gaudete is Latin and means Freuet euch! or Rejoice!

Sometimes you will also see advent wreaths with a fifth candle which is lit on Christmas Eve. You will find that more often in (Catholic) churches, especially in Ireland.

Advent Time: Four Weeks or Six Weeks?

If you have read my post about St. Martin’s Day, then you know that traditionally after the 11th of November 40 days of fasting and penance began. People would have a large meal with goose and pastry on St. Martin’s Day as one last feast before fasting time. This time is sometimes called Nativity Fast.

But we are definitely not fasting these days, quite the opposite with cookies, Christmas parties, Christmas markets, and family get-togethers.

So, what happened to the 6 weeks leading up to Christmas? Why is only four weeks now and who made that decision?

Pope Gregory the Great shortened the Advent Time at the end of the 6th century. He wanted 4 Advent Sundays before Christmas to indicate the 4000 years that supposedly lay between the original sin and the second coming of Jesus.

However, there was little consistency within the church and fasting was sometimes observed, sometimes not. If fasting started on the Sunday after St. Martin’s Day, most people fasted three days a week. But that too was not the same everywhere.

Now, Advent in the Western Church starts on the fourth Sunday before Christmas, therefore making the First Advent fall between November 27th and December 3rd.

There are parishes and diocese who celebrate six weeks of Advent and not four. The Ambrosian Rite in Milan, Italy is one of them, and so is the Mozarabic Rite in Spain.

Before the Advent Wreath: Paradeisl/Paradeiserl or Klausenbaum

While researching the origin of the advent wreath I came across a different custom to mark the four Sundays before Christmas: das Paradeisl or Paradeiserl (little paradise), or Klausenbaum (St. Nicholas’ tree) which predate the advent wreath and the Christmas tree.

Paradeisl or Paradeiserl

You can find a Paradeisl or Paradeiserl in Old Bavaria and in alpine Austria where it has been a tradition since the late Middle Ages. Its prevalence might also explain why the advent wreath didn’t take hold in the Catholic regions until after World War II.

To build a Paradeisl, you need four red apples, four candles, six wooden dowels, and some greenery to decorate. The Paradeisl is not a wreath or circle but a triangular pyramid. The apples are connected with the wooden dowels to form a triangular bottom and three sides. A candle is put into each apple and the sticks are decorated with greenery. You can add other decorative elements, and often the pyramid is set on a plate with nuts and pine cones.

The Paradeisl stands for the Tree of Knowledge while the apples represent the eye of God. With this pyramid tree, people had a piece of paradise in their homes.

I have included some photos I found on pinterest because it’s a little hard to imagine a Paradeisl just from a description. The video shows you how to make a Paradeisl at home. It is in German (or should I say Bavarian?) but I’m sure you can follow the instruction just by watching.

Klausenbaum

A Klausenbaum is basically the same as a Paradeisl, just goes by a different name and is said to be common in the North of Germany, the Baltic area, and Sweden.

I am from the North, and while the sound of Klausenbaum sounds vaguely familiar I don’t recall ever seeing or building one. If you know Klausenbäume first hand, let me know in the comments.

The first part of the word Klausenbaum comes from Sankt Nikolaus (St. Nicholas), and Baum means tree, therefore it is a tree in honor of St. Nicholas. And just like a Paradeisl it is a triangular pyramid made from decorated sticks and apples. The four apples represent the elements earth, fire, air, and water. You might put a cookie with the picture of St. Nicholas at the bottom of the tree, like a Spekulatius.

During the Nazi Regime and World War II, Klausenbäume were made with potatoes rather than apples.

Whether you have an Adventskranz or a Paradeisl, four candles or five, or maybe no decoration because you have cats, I hope you have a wonderful Adventszeit!