christmas in austria 奥地利圣诞节
austria shares many christmas traditions with its neighbour germany, but also has many special christmas customs of its own.
during advent, many families will have an advent wreath made from evergreen twigs and decorated with ribbons and four candles. one each of the four sunday in advent, a candle is lit and a carols or two might be sung!
most towns will have a 'christkindlmarkt' (christmas market) from late november, early december selling christmas decorations, food (like gingerbread) and glühwein (sweet, warm mulled wine). cities like vienna, innsbruck and salzburg have huge markets and people from all over the world to visit them.
every town will also have a large christmas tree in the town square. in homes, trees are decorated with gold and silver ornaments and stars made from straw.
christmas in austria really starts around 6.00pm or 7.00pm on christmas eve when the tree is lit for the first time and people come to sing carols around the tree. the most famous carol is silent night, which was written in austria in 1818.
sometimes the tree is also brought in and decorated christmas eve. some children believed that the 'christkind' decorates the tree. the christkind also brings presents to children on christmas eve and leaves them under the tree. (the christkind is described as a golden-haired baby, or young girl, with wings, who symbolizes the new born christ.)
some children might also get a present from st nicholas on december 6th.
the main christmas meal is also eaten on christmas eve. it's often 'gebackener karpfen' (fried carp) as the main course. dessert can be chocolate and apricot cake sachertorte' and austrian christmas cookies 'weihnachtsbaeckerei'.
some people write a special sign in chalk over their front door. it's a reminder of the wise men that visited the baby jesus. it's made from the year split in two with initials of the names that are sometimes given to 'the three wise men', caspar, melchior and balthazar, in the middle. so 2014 would be: 20*c*m*b*14. the sign is meant to protect the house for the coming year.
every year, austria's capital city, vienna, holds a world famous classical music concert which takes place during the morning of new year's day. it's held in the 'großer saal' (large hall) of the musikverein, the concert hall of the viennese music association. the concert is played by the vienna philharmonic orchestra and always features music from the strauss family: johann strauss i, johann strauss ii, josef strauss and eduard strauss. it is famous for its waltz music. during the first waltz played, the the blue danube, the introduction is interrupted by applause from the audience and the musicians then wish them a happy new year! the concert is shown around the world on tv.
another famous event that happens over the new year in austria and germany is the ski jumping 'four hills tournament' ('vierschanzentournee'). it starts in germany with oberstdorf (germany) on the 29th or 30th december and garmisch-partenkirchen (germany) on new years day and continues in austria with innsbruck (austria) on 3rd or 4th of january and bischofshofen (austria) on the 6th january. i'm a big ski jumping fan, so i watch it!