Advent Advent ein Lichtlein brennt

  According to tradition, the advent wreath was created in 1839 by,  Johann Hinrich Wichern, Evangelical pastor and theologian, and head of an orphan home as a way of giving the children a concrete method of counting down to Christmas. His wreath was made by pounding 24 nails into a wagon wheel and putting a candle on each one, four large ones for the Sundays, and 20 small ones for weekdays. Each day an additional candle was lit until at last all were burning and Christmas had arrived. In 1860 the first advent wreath was made of pine branches and over time the smaller candles were removed leaving only the larger four. It wasn't until 1925 that the Catholic church displayed an advent wreath in one of its churches for the first time. This was in Cologne. Munich followed suit a short 5 years later.

Some Advent wreaths contain three purple candles representing three weeks of the liturgical year (church year), and one pink which represents a time of fasting. In Catholicism, the week leading up to Christmas was traditionally a time of fasting similar to the time leading up to Easter. This was still common when my parents in law were children. They waited with great anticipation for the rich treats of Christmas to be served after the Christmas service. In fact, it is interesting to observe that lebkuchen (gingerbread) was actually developed in its current form (it existed in several forms earlier) as a fasting food by monks in a cloister in Nuernberg.

In Ireland and many other traditionally Catholic countries where advent wreathes are primarily found in churches, there is a fifth, white candle often called the Christ candle. This is lit on the 24th since the last advent Sunday usually occurs before the 24th. I can remember seeing these 5 candle advent wreaths fairly often in churches in the US. Candles, however, generally tend to match here and are usually sold in sets of four.

   Something I learned a few days ago is that compared with the round advent wreaths of central Europe, Sweden uses four candles in a row on a plate. Their round wreath of candles is more commonly associated with the santa Lucia crown. Perhaps they are the source of the second most popular, long, advent wreath format here. We have had both over the years, last year we had year's one and this year the kids helped put one together with four candles in a row together.

  Regardless of the format, advent wreaths are an important part of European households. We light our candle either during breakfast or at coffee time each Sunday, many people light them at Sunday lunch. No matter what time they are lighted they create a celebratory atmosphere. Advent is the time of stillness, quiet,  lights, and warmth. So different from the excitement, anticipation, joy, and jostling business of my American heritage.

Below are the photos I took of this years advent wreath being assembled. We are looking forward to lighting the first candle in a few short hours.

   If I could choose an adjective to sum up Advent in Austria as well as one for the US, I would choose 'Peace' here and 'Joy' there. In these two words, the difference in atmosphere is most palpably felt. It is the difference between 'Joy to the World' and 'Silent Night- Stille Nacht'.

How do you celebrate Advent? Do you have special personal or cultural traditions? Do you have an Advent wreath? Let me know in the comments.

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If you liked this post you might also like some of my other cultural, holiday posts:

The Christkindl Markt

Martinitag

All Saints Day