I am back in Germany for my 12th Christmas and the highlight of the Christmas season here is the Heiliger Abend or Holy Evening. Though the title is a bit of a misnomer as the day, December 24th starts with the local church bell ringing at 6:00 am. I roll over but at 6:15, the bells ring with the urgency of an invasion and I have no choice but to get out of bed. I roll into the church, two blocks from my flat at precisely 6:30 am for Mass. By now the church is packed with probably 250 people and another 25 standing in the back.
Over the years, I have learned church etiquette in Germany. Heating is based on the body mass index, the more bodies, the warmer the church. But even a full church does not ensure a truly warm church. Do not stand by an outside wall as in a short period of time, you will feel like you are standing in front of a freezer with the door open. I have felt breezes coming through the church walls. Some years, it is so cold in the church that I can see my breath as I sing and attending midnight mass is more like going to a Green Bay Packer home game. The only item of clothing I was missing that year was my snowmobile suit. So no one takes their coat off and most wear hats and gloves.
The early morning mass is beautiful complete with a choir and organ. I do notice a few of the older women slipping to the back of the church after communion holding their cloth bags - a sure sign that the next stop is the bakery.
I am standing in the back of the church so I am well positioned for the next major event of Christmas Eve - the sprint to the bakery. Purchasing bread daily is an important part of the German diet and bakeries are closed on the 25th and 26th so stockpiling bread is very important.
Mass ends at 7:15 am and I am walking rapidly to Benedict Sikt, the best bakery in Partenkirchen based on the line outside the door on the 24th. I pass Tegelmann's the local grocery store which of course is already open. The bakery is two blocks and I arrive in time to be 4th in line. This is a very important exercise because in no time there will be 10 people in line. Also, I am feeling the pressure because once it is my turn to order, I need to know what I want and to be able to say it precisely in German. The bakery is amazing as there are probably 10 kinds of brochen or rolls and 10 kinds of bread. My order is modest in comparison to others but I still receive the complimentary small loaf of stollen the store gives away on the 24th.
By 7:30, I am on my way to my other food shopping stops like the butcher and the dairy store. The morning shopping is critical as most stores close between noon and 2:00 pm. Many family businesses close the 23rd and don't reopen until the 30th. In Bavaria, Christmas is about the coming of the Christ child and spending time with family and so the shopping exercise is really secondary once the 24th rolls around.
By 2:00 pm, even the cafes are closed and the streets are deserted as everyone heads home to decorate the tree or prepare the evening meal. At this time, I like to visit St. Anton's the Franciscan Church that is a 10 minute walk up the mountain. It is an interesting church because the covered walkway of the Church is filled with hand carved wooden plaques commemorating the fallen of World War II. Many plaques have a small holder where flowers can be placed. This time, I noticed two women decorating plaques with greens and small ornamental balls. I went back to look at one that had been decorated. There was a picture of a couple, she died at the age of 39 in 1945 during the bombing of a German city. He died 6 months later in Russia. I found myself wondering who was the family member that would be decorating this small memorial to a couple that was killed almost 70 years ago. This attention to detail and commemoration of the dead was the perfect lead-in to my next experience.
During morning coffee with my landlady and her husband, she encouraged me to attend a 5:30 pm, Christmas light ceremony at the local Catholic cemetery. So at 5:00 pm, I made my way to the cemetery. I had not been there before and so was trying to follow my map. Suddenly, I was part of a larger crowd, all walking in the same direction. It felt like the wave of people in the States who are going to the 4th of July concert and fireworks. I walked along with the crowd and as we entered the cemetery, people peeled off in different directions to find their respective family grave sites.
I moved toward the large tree in the center of the cemetery decorated with white lights and complete with the local Alpine band playing in traditional dress. The bell of the chapel started ringing at 5:30 pm followed by the band playing Christmas music. Family members would gather in a semi-circle in front of the grave site which was decorated with Christmas greens, a red 8 day vigil light (so-called because it burns for 8 days) and a miniature Christmas tree about 2 ft tall decorated with ribbons or ornamental balls and real candles. A family member would light the candle and then all would stand silently while the music played. This went on for 15 minutes, no one moved or said a word. The last song was Stille Nacht, (Silent Night) and after three verses the music stopped, everyone clapped and then amidst quiet talking, family members left and went home.
A small Christmas tree with lighted candles on a family grave site.
The large Christmas tree in the cemetery.
By 6:00 pm, as I walked down the pedestrian only street of Partenkirchen, the town seemed abandoned as everyone was safely in their homes and continuing their Heiliger Abend celebration. But the evening was not over. At 10:00 pm, the organ concert started in the church followed at 11:00 pm by the Christmas Eve mass filled with incense and the heart tugging singing of Silent Night in a church lit only by candles at the end of the service.
The Heiliger Abend in Germany is much more than an evening, it is a community celebration that permeates every aspect of the life of the community and I look forward to participating every year.
