{"id":891143,"date":"2024-12-09T14:58:29","date_gmt":"2024-12-09T14:58:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.insightvacations.com\/blog\/?p=891143"},"modified":"2025-10-15T14:50:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T13:50:14","slug":"european-christmas-traditions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.insightvacations.com\/blog\/european-christmas-traditions\/","title":{"rendered":"Exploring Unusual European Christmas Traditions With Expert Carl"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Freshly polished shoes put out on the doorstep, witches delivering presents, and throwing pudding at the ceiling, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.insightvacations.com\/en-us\/destinations\/europe\">European<\/a> Christmas traditions are both varied and intriguing.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Travel Director Carl, this week\u2019s Insightful travel trivia expert, shares the traditions of his native Austria, along with many others from Europe that may surprise you.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Carl inspired this week\u2019s<a href=\"https:\/\/insightful.insightvacations.com\"> travel trivia quiz questions<\/a>, clues to which are in this article. Take a read then play the game.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Many ways and many days<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cChristmas is celebrated many ways and over many days in Europe, with many countries celebrating on Christmas Eve,\u201d Carl tells us. \u201cSome traditions may seem more unusual than others, but all are united in the spirit of festivities and friendship.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;I grew up in Austria, where Christmas is celebrated similarly to most Central European countries, with a countdown of events and intriguing traditions. Austria doesn\u2019t traditionally have a Santa Claus, here, it\u2019s the Christkind (the Christ child) that comes bearing gifts.\u00a0He\u2019s an angel-like figure, with blond curls, feathered wings and a halo.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cOur celebrations begin on St. Barbara&#8217;s Day, December 4<sup>th<\/sup>. On this day, we cut a branch from an apple or cherry tree and place it in our room, eagerly watching for it to bloom on December 24th.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIn preparation for the festivities, we bake Christmas cookies such as gingerbread, vanillekipferl (small crescent shaped biscuits) and husarenkrapferl (an almond shortbread with a dollop of jam) to share with friends and family.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Shiny shoes<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIn <strong>Austria<\/strong>, on St. Niklas Day, December 6, children\u2019s shoes are put in front of the door,\u201d Carl tells us. \u201cSt. Niklas will come by with nuts, chocolate and tangerines.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This festive tradition is also found in <strong>The Netherlands <\/strong>and<strong> Germany<\/strong>. Children polish their shoes and boots, placing them outside. \u201cThe next morning, if they have been good, their boots are filled with sweets, nuts, and small gifts. However, if they&#8217;ve been naughty, they might find only twigs,\u201d Carl warns.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;Staying on the topic of shoes, in the <strong>Czech Republic<\/strong>, it is a curious European Christmas tradition for single women to throw a shoe over their shoulder. It is thrown toward the door to discover what their future holds in terms of love.\u201d \u00a0According to a popular superstition, if the toe of the shoe points toward the door, it signifies that the woman will marry in the coming year. Conversely, if it points the other way, it is considered unlucky.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Letters to Christkind <\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cOn the first Sunday of Advent, we will write letters to Christkind with all our wishes for Christmas gifts,\u201d Carl says fondly. \u201cThe letters are put in between the windows and later Christkind will fly by to collect them. In Austria, we even have a special post office for mailing these letters.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;Did you know that in <strong>Portugal<\/strong>, it is the Three Wise Men who bring gifts? Most children in Portugal write their Christmas letters to the baby Jesus instead of Santa Claus.\u201d Another unique European Christmas tradition seen in Portugal is leaving an extra seat at the dining table for deceased relatives, a practice known as &#8216;Consoda.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIn <strong>Germany <\/strong>there is a post office that replies to all letters,\u2019 Carl says of the story of Himmelpfort.\u201d Legend has it that back in the late 20th century a local postal worker started responding to the handful of letters addressed to Santa, to bring joy to children during the holiday season. Over time, this practice grew, and Himmelpfort became known as a symbolic location for Santa\u2019s correspondence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The local post office embraced this tradition, creating a system for volunteers to write personalized replies to the letters sent by children. Now some 300,000 letters are received and replied to each year.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>The Tree<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cAfter full moon (this year December 15), my family and I will go to a market and select the tree together,\u201d says Carl. \u201cWe always buy from the same farmer, who comes to town from the Danube Valley. The tree will be delivered to our home on December 23 then Christkind decorates the tree with real candles.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While many Christmas tree traditions originate from Germany, the first documented use of a Christmas tree is claimed by Riga, <strong>Latvia<\/strong>. However, this assertion is contested by <strong>Estonia<\/strong>, as both countries claim to have displayed the first Christmas or New Year tree in their capital cities during the late 13th or early 14th century.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIn <strong>Ukraine<\/strong> its considered lucky to have a spider&#8217;s web on the tree, whether as an ornament or a large covering, stemming from the Legend of the Christmas Spider,\u201d Carl says. According to the tale, a poor family unable to afford decorations finds their tree beautifully adorned with a spider\u2019s silvery web on Christmas morning.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Christmas Eve and Christmas Dinner<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWhat is eaten at Christmas depends both in tradition and on your family,\u201d Carl says. \u201cIn Austria we eat carp, fish, goose or Wiener Schnitzel, and a \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cheftalk.com\/threads\/kaiser-schoberl-austrian-imperial-biscuit.53511\/\">Kaisersch\u00f6berl<\/a>\u201d (emperors schoeberl) soup. After dinner, we wait for the silver bell to ring \u2013 this is when Christkind will put the gifts under the tree, the candles are lit, and it is time to exchange gifts.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cYou will find some unique Christmas traditions in <strong>Norway<\/strong>, one of which involves eating a sheep&#8217;s head\u2014an actual main course, not a humorous name for a cake. While in <strong>Greenland<\/strong>, a traditional festive dish is mattak, which consists of whale skin with blubber!<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIn <strong>Slovakia<\/strong>, there\u2019s a custom where the eldest man in the room takes a spoonful of pudding and throws it at the ceiling. The amount of pudding that sticks is believed to determine his luck for the coming year.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cHowever, in Austria we will stick to singing \u201cSilent Night\u201d along with other Christmas songs. Did you know this famous carol was composed in Austria in 1818? Finally \u2013 the gifts are given out one by one, slowly\u2026 such wonderful traditions\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cOver in <strong>Spain<\/strong> on Christmas eve, keep an ear out for the song &#8220;Mil euro, mil euro.&#8221; This is the National Christmas Lottery, or Loter\u00eda de Navidad, a chance for a huge Christmas bonus.\u201d This state lottery has held annually since 1812 and is the second oldest permanent lottery in the world. Offering the biggest prizes, the lottery is such a deeply rooted tradition in Spain, it was held even during the Civil War.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Scary characters<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cNot all traditions are so warm and welcoming, in fact there are some scary characters out there\u2019\u201d says Carl. \u201cIn particular Krampus whom we have in Austrian folklore.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Also \u2018found\u2019 in<strong> Slovenia<\/strong>, <strong>Germany<\/strong>, the <strong>Czech Republic<\/strong> and <strong>Hungary<\/strong>, this horned, half-goat half-demon traditionally accompanies St. Nicholas during the Christmas season. Krampus punishes misbehaving children by scaring them and is a formidable sight. Often depicted with fur, horns, and fangs, he symbolizes the darker side of holiday traditions, serving as a warning to behave.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>\u201c<\/strong>Then you have J\u00f3lak\u00f6tturinn, the &#8220;Yule Cat&#8221; &#8211; a terrifying feline from <strong>Icelandic<\/strong> folklore. He is said to eat anyone who doesn&#8217;t receive new clothes for Christmas!\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>After Xmas<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In many European countries the celebrations don&#8217;t end on December 25. \u201cIn Italy, children eagerly anticipate the arrival of La Befana, a witch who visits on January 5,\u201d says Carl. \u201cEach year, La Befana flies on her magic broom, searching for the baby Jesus while bringing gifts to children along the way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Freshly polished shoes put out on the doorstep, witches delivering presents, and throwing pudding at the ceiling, European Christmas traditions are both varied and intriguing. Travel Director Carl, this week\u2019s Insightful travel trivia expert, shares the traditions of his native Austria, along with many others from Europe that may surprise you. Carl inspired this week\u2019s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":891279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1166,1826,1148,1937],"tags":[1993,65,75,1818,925,1992],"class_list":["post-891143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-europe","category-experts-insiders","category-travel","category-travel-trivia","tag-christmas-trees","tag-destinations","tag-europe","tag-post-template","tag-shoes","tag-traditions"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.2 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Exploring Unusual European Christmas Traditions With Expert Carl<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Shine shoes, throw pudding and beware the cat - Travel Director Carl shares some intruiging European Christmas Traditions.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.insightvacations.com\/blog\/european-christmas-traditions\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Exploring Unusual European Christmas Traditions With Expert Carl\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Shine shoes, throw pudding and beware the cat - Travel Director Carl shares some intruiging European Christmas Traditions.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.insightvacations.com\/blog\/european-christmas-traditions\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Insight Vacations\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-12-09T14:58:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-15T13:50:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.insightvacations.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Large-Munich-Christmas-Market-at-Marienplatz-1186783321.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Leanne Williams\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Exploring Unusual European Christmas Traditions With Expert Carl\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Shine shoes, throw pudding and beware the cat - Travel Director Carl shares some intruiging European Christmas Traditions.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Leanne Williams\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.insightvacations.com\\\/blog\\\/european-christmas-traditions\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.insightvacations.com\\\/blog\\\/european-christmas-traditions\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Leanne Williams\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.insightvacations.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8bfc025a2a102842518b14da71ba537f\"},\"headline\":\"Exploring Unusual European Christmas Traditions With Expert Carl\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-12-09T14:58:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-15T13:50:14+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.insightvacations.com\\\/blog\\\/european-christmas-traditions\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1233,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.insightvacations.com\\\/blog\\\/european-christmas-traditions\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.insightvacations.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/12\\\/Large-Munich-Christmas-Market-at-Marienplatz-1186783321.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Christmas Trees\",\"Destinations\",\"Europe\",\"Post Template\",\"Shoes\",\"Traditions\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Europe\",\"Experts &amp; 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