Baumkuchen and German Christmas
German Christmas Traditions
The German Christmas tradition has a variety of elements. It starts at the end of November at the latest, with the first weekend of Advent, when all Christmas markets are open. Here you can find a lot of typical Christmas foods and drinks like Weihnachtsstollen, Lebkuchen, Gluehwein (a hot sweetened wine – great when it’s cold at the Christmas market), but also Baumkuchen.
Also, many families start baking typical German Christmas cookies like Vanillekipferl, Kokosnussmakronen, Spitzbuben cookies and many more. It is a very festive time, when people are reminded of the birth of Jesus Christ and God’s love for mankind during the cold, short and dark days.
Woodwork: Christmas Pyramid
Besides food, decorating and creating a sparkling, wonderful atmosphere is a typical German Christmas tradition.
In many households, a Christmas pyramid can be found in the living room next to the Christmas tree. This is a wooden mill, which is about 30 cm to 2 meters high and consists of 3 layers. The lowest is often decorated with small figures of Jesus’ family, the 2nd layer with sheep and shepherds and the top layer with singing angels. The hot air from the burning candles makes the mill rotate so that each layer moves.
The origin of the Christmas pyramid, like many other wooden decorations, is in the Erzgebirge Mountains of southeast Germany. This is an area that, like the Big Island, is somewhat remote, rather poor and has a lot of wood. The origins of this Christmas pyramid date back to the 18th century and were born out of a need to generate income during the cold season.
Today, this formerly poor mining region is world famous for many different wooden works of art such as the Christmas cradle, nutcracker, Christmas angel or Christmas pyramid.
Christmas Every Day
We at Baumkuchenfarm want to celebrate Christmas every day of the year. And as with Hawaiian culture, we celebrate paradise, life and the delicious food God has given us.
In our gift store we have some exhibits from Germany, including the largest Christmas pyramid in the entire Pacific. It is about 1.5 meters high and rotates.