The Christ Child: The Tradition of Christmas
It’s finally here, the day everyone has been waiting for far too long and the Christ Child brings the presents. With the right rituals, Christmas is always nice for children, no matter how perfect your planning turned out to be.
The story of the Christ Child for children
An evergreen among the gift-giving rituals is the “forbidden” room from the early evening, behind the doors of which mysterious and legendary things take place. The lights on the Christmas tree are lit, the presents are draped under the glowing splendor and the lights are dimmed. Finally, the waiting crowd is greeted by the ringing of bells and the exclamation: “The Christ Child was here!” admitted into the hallowed halls.
Gifts are distributed on the birthday of the child Jesus. In the Middle Ages there was no tradition of giving gifts on Christmas Eve. The children received their gifts on St. Nicholas Day and the Day of the Innocents on December 28th.
How did the Christ Child come about?
The Christ Child was invented by Martin Luther, a church reformer who lived around 1500. He rejected the Catholic saints and wanted to abolish Saint Nicholas. Since he was a very influential man, Santa Claus no longer brought presents to many families. The Catholics, however, held on to their Saint Nicholas for a while longer. The holy child did not become established among them until after 1900. Since then, parents have been telling their children that Santa Claus will bring presents at dusk on December 24th.
The question of what the Christ Child looks like and whether the Christ Child is a boy or a girl cannot be answered precisely. No stories have been transmitted as to how Luther imagined the Christ child. Nowadays, however, a very special image of the Christ Child has prevailed. It is usually a blond girl dressed in white with a crown or halo on her head and angel wings.
Christ Child or Santa Claus?
It is not clear whether Santa Claus or the Christ Child will bring the presents. Families usually have a favourite, but they agree that when it comes to Santa Claus or Christkind, there is always only one gift bringer. Geographically speaking, it is also difficult to say who is bringing the presents to where. However, based on Google search results, there is a slight geographic trend: central, northern and eastern Germany are mostly visited by Santa Claus. West, Southwest and South Germany get their presents from the Christ Child.