AMERICAN REACTS TO EUROPEAN CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS! (HOW DOES EUROPE CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS?) 😳
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- čas přidán 17. 11. 2022
- #Favour #FavourInternational #FavourVlogs
Today we check out European Christmas traditions!
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Many cities in Europe don't have streets that are accessible with cars in their center. They are laid with coble and are for walking or cycling.
Healthy!! 😯
@@FavourInternational yeah and if cars and stuff are requierd to drive there for work they are usually only allowed to do that till 9am and thats it. And you also have to have a permit for your car to drive there
Or trams and bues.
@@matejburic1388 Yes, and some people who live in the neighborhood they usually also have a permit
@@FavourInternational just wear proper shoes and leave the high 👠 at home
"Reindeer are real?!" *me choking on my coffee* Yes, they are real. Both wild and domesticated. The Sami people herd them and there are more reindeer than people in northern Finland... They make for excellend dinner as well.
about the dumbest thing i've heard
I was rolloing on the floor laughing from the "skinny moose".
Brooo😭
@@charonboat6394 SIze different between moose and reindeer is just big. :D
Christmas was originally the midwinter festival, celebrating the return of the light. Lengthened daylight. It’s Germanic hence the pine trees, snow, reindeer, candles and stuff. The Church hijacked it to make it a christian event, but in the Nordic country’s it’s still called Jul. After the pagan jullefest.
Roman celebrate Vulcanalia, is the same than christmas. Food for family and Friend and a lot of present.
its exactly the way around. check the channel InspiringPhilosophy
Yule festival, germabic pagan festival, right?
And Jul or similar (joulu in Finnish)
In Germany 23.12. - 01.01. is called Julfest (but it's no official vacation anymore - still it's remembered as the holiday of the Germanics) and 24. - 26.12. is called Weihnachten. ;)
Reindeer is a Reindeer 😂😂🤣🤣 they are real. Moose is Moose and is a different animal. 🤭❤
absolutely amazing to see that there are so many things we consider normal are not normal in the USA. and the fact you didn't even know that reindeer are actually real and where and how Christmas came to be really astounds me.
Reindeer just as mythical like the unicorn well at least the flying reindeer lmao
Christmas might be named after Christ in English, but in Norwegian, it is named after a Viking god. We call it "jul" after the Old Norse "jol" (refering to the god Odin, also called "Jólnir", or it can refer to winter solstice). Even Christians use this term, and you have it in English as well (as in "yule tide", "yule log" etc). And yes, the old "Yule" period of 12 days celebrating the winter solstice is a few thousand years older than Christmas. In fact, it is considered to be one of the oldest winter traditions in the world :)
true + Jesus was actually born mid April if i remember it correctly. the church wanted to erase pagan traditions, so they just took all of this and made it christian, even though a lot of these things doesn't make sense for christianity (like christmas tree). that's why christmas tradisions differ from country to country.
@@infidiusx9928 Nobody really knows when Jesus was actually born but approximate mid-April estimation is likely due to contextual clues in the scriptures {with the fact the shepherds were tending their flocks at night}. This is far more plausible then the December date. Still, different denominations hold differing dates in their traditional reckonings of when Jesus was born- some with more historical credibility than others.
@@blazednlovinit I would suggest looking at a short history of time by Leofranc Holford-Strevens just don’t confuse it with a brief history of time by Steven Hawkings
Donyou mean what we call Rauhnächte in Germany? The time between the old and the new year from the middle of the winter at christmas eve to the 6th january?
Norwegian jul, Old Norse jól and English Yule are ultimately from Proto-Germanic *jeulō which means ‘festivities’ (compare Finnish juhla). Jólnir may be a name connected to jól, but then it’s likely that Jólnir is from jól and not the other way around (despite the Ágrip account), but many doubt that there’s even a connection between the two, and I think that Dr Jackson Crawford has made a CZcams video on that topic.
The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk, the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the reindeer, white-tailed deer, the roe deer, and the moose.
The moose and reindeer are not the same animal
Fun fact; In Sweden, we celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve (24th), NOT Christmas Day morning (25th). We do have (paid) holiday on 24th-26th though.
It's not a moose. It's a bloody reindeer. They're real.
Okay? Maybe I didnt know that. No need to be a dick.
@@FavourInternational it's called banter me duck. No need to be so sensitive.
@@punksterdude8290 A møøse once bit my sister!
@@FavourInternational Your are old enough to know!!!
I was shooketh when Favour said she had never heard about Christmas markets. It's like one of the things you just *do* to me. Lol. Never realized it wasn´t a thing everywhere. To me, Christmas means family and all that but also markets with reindeer sausages, expensive sauces, and handmade crafts.
And yes. Reindeer are real. They are shorter than cows (most adults *can´t* sit right on their back), have big cloven hooves, and it is the females that have antlers during winter. They are not like Rudolph. Unfortunately, they can´t fly (to our knowledge). They taste similar to moose, but not the same. Moose are more forest-deer, Reindeer are more arctic tundra. I am no expert on deer though.
OMG same! I was like "what do you mean, you never heard of a christmas market?" So funny 😂
🤫 Don´t tell anyone. Reindeer really can fly, but only during Christmas when Santa sprinkles this magic dust on them.... And that is why Rudolp only has his red nose during winter....you cant recognise him out of all of the other reindeers....Obviously except Santa himself.
@@anu83 Yeah, and Rudolph only gets his red nose because he snorts that magic dust.
Many Christmas traditions came from Europe. Christmas trees and advent calendars for example are German inventions as well as these markets or at least in the German-speaking area in the middle ages. Germany alone has thousands of Christmas Markets every year. Most of them are pretty standard (for us) and don't have special treats to offer. But many have special options like medieval ones or covered in lights. In Dortmund is the world's largest natural christmas tree made from 1,700 spuces and has a height of about 147 inches or 49 yards. Some of the markets are held really in forests or castles. Hundreds of them have their own touch and a magical feeling to it but the majority has not such vibes and is more compared to weekly food markets than to christmas even themed as such. They often are located in pedestrian zones in the cities' centers competing with local stores over customers. The stores profit from the markets but at the same time they disturb them as well. In many cases it is impossible to shop in this local shops because it is totally crowded.
Yeah, it quite surprised me too when I found out so much Christmas stuff actually comes from Germany. No wonder we got so much stuff
I remember filming our Christmas market here in Germany for my family at home in the UK because they didn’t have anything like it there. Now the tradition seems to have spread throughout the UK.
Lol at the "skinny moose". The moose is a peabrained truck with a persecution complex. But Reindeer are indeed real, and quite chill, they taste great in stews too. especially with lingonberry jam on the side
I heard that the reindeer sled idea is inspired by he Swedish Christmas Goat. It was the goat that used to bring presents. Then it was the tomte (that has kinda merged with Santa) that brought them riding on the goat. Then it was tomte on tha sled pulled by goats.
Goat isn't that exotic and not "northerly" enough, so they made it to reindeer. Whoever "they" are supposed to be.
The finnish "ALE" sign actually is an abbreviation of alennusmyynti (lit. discount selling). This means that they have discounts going on. A bar/pub in finnish would be called baari or pubi respectively.
Sounds like REA in Swedish, which is short for realisation.
@@magdalenabozyk1798 Exactly right
Germany:
The most beautiful Christmas market in Cologne (Germany) is not at the cathedral but at the Alter Markt (the old market). But that doesn't matter, both Christmas markets are only a few minutes walk from each other. This way you can comfortably enjoy both in one evening. However, in Germany there is a long tradition of Christmas markets in almost every city, where mainly Christmas handicrafts, sweets and food are offered. Also of interest are the traditional or smaller, magical Christmas markets such as the Reiterlesmarkt in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, the Christmas market in the Ravenna Gorge or the Nuremberg Christkindlesmarkt. The Dresden Striezelmarkt is one of Germany's oldest Christmas market and will open its doors for the 588th time in 2022. You read that right, this Christmas market has mostly been held on the Altmarkt in Dresden during Advent since 1434. But he is not alone in this, the Munich Christmas market was first mentioned in 1310, when it was still called Nikolausmarkt and the Stuttgart Christmas market was first mentioned in 1692.
The main difference between Christmas in Europe and Christmas in USA is that in Europe we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ whereas in USA you celebrate the invention of the Coca Cola Santa Claus.
🤣🤣🤣
As someone who grew up in Iceland, where we have a bunch of reindeer (mainly on the east side of the country), I am amazed that you didn't think they were real animals! But then again, I can't blame you if you are not used to them. So yes, reindeer are very much real :D
I'm happy that you liked Wrocław, Poland. Hope you get to see it in real life one day, greetings from Wrocław!
I was going to travel to Prague via Wroclaw next year. I will get 2 great Christmas destinations in 1 trip :)
Prague is beautiful city
@@itzpixu9911 ...this time of year, I hear.
Breslau❤
Christmas is very much a pagan festival predating Christianity.
In Europe, the mixture of these older pagan traditions with Christian traditions is far more visible than in the US.
The lights, the trees, the feasting, the gift giving, mixed with the hymns and choirs and church services.
I love Christmas! ❤️ 🎄
The pre Christian celebration in Germanic and Scandinavian lands was called Yule - or derivations of Yule - this was to celebrate the winter solstice. A Yule log (think large hunk of tree trunk or root) was dragged on to the fire to burn for the whole festival, homes were decorated with evergreens, from this we get Christmas Trees, traditional decorations and of course Yule Log cake. Almost nothing about how we celebrate Christmas out side a church, is Christian.
@@pureholy you are not Pagan. Christmas is nothing to do with paganisms and hasn't for over 2000 years. You dint worship any gods. I don't see why you celebrate it tbh.
Santa isn't pagan..
@Sutty85 Of course Santa is pagan. Father Christmas, Odin, both have influenced the modern figure and both are pagan. "Pagan" simply meaning the countryside beliefs.
The date is pagan, the tree, the feasting, the decorations, the foods, heck one could argue that the Christian tale of the 3 wise men following a star us just Orion's belt and Sirius showing the position of the midwinter dawn.
@@BusyAndySings paganism hasn't been in a thing in Europe for well over a thousand years. Christmas isn't a pagan festival and you are not a pagan. 🤦🏻♀️
@@sutty8526 I didn't say I was pagan. I said Christmas largely is. With some Christian flavouring added.
"Gamla stone market" 😁 No, the translation should be "Gamla stan's marknad" which means the old town market. Stockholm was founded 1252 and Gamla Stan is very popular with aficionados of handicrafts, curiosities, and souvenirs. The narrow winding cobblestone streets, with their buildings in so many different shades of gold, give Gamla Stan its unique character.
I find it funny that you assumed Cologne / Köln must not have many tourists because the signs aren't translated X'D Köln is a very popular tourist attraction.. for people from the netherlands, belgium, france, denmark, uk etc. Of course the signs aren't translated into every single on of those languages. Not all tourists speak english.
One farily unknown cool christmas destination in Europe I can recommend is Valkenburg in the Netherlands. The christmas market is set up within a large natural cave system and there are usually grand snow scultpures set up depicting stories (which depend on the theme of the year.) Sometimes biblical, sometimes not. Last time i went they had scultures of the story with Scrooge and the ghosts of Christmas.
In London
The Trafalgar Square Christmas tree is a Christmas tree gifted to the people of Britain by Norway each year since 1947. It's a cool tradition.
Strasbourg, France and the surrounding towns (in the Alsace region) look amazing because they're formerly German cities/towns, therefore the buildings there has a Germanic style, you can find similar towns all over Germany, Austria.
Reindeers are indeed real, I live in northen norway and here most of the reindeers are not wild, but domesticated (to a degree, they roam in the wild), a few families of Sami people herd the reindeers as they have done for thousands of years.
Where I live there is reindeers eating during the summers, so we see them quite often when we are out in the nature.
I thought everyone knew reindeer were a real breed
Clearly not
@@FavourInternational how tho? On Christmas you see them every where , or when you learn animals as a kid
"I never heard of Bath while I was in England"
Oh.
Oh no.
They're coming.
*Jane Austen Hardcore Fans breaking through the underwood*
"WELL, LET ME TELL YOU A STORY..."
Hyde park is a park not a mall it’s like Central Park
Raindeer are also called caribou 😉, and they're a lot smaller than moose. As for Christmas, yes it originates in Europe. Like most christian holidays it's a recycled older pagan holiday, that was incorporated into christianity, basically so that people could still celebrate important dates of the past and be christian at the same time 😉. Most scholars agree, that the actual Jesuses birthday isn't actually in december, but the date was chosen because of an older celebration.
So many things I would adress in this video (which was nice to watch all togheter). So Christmas as you mentioned it is a mix of different traditions. Going from memory alone so there might be some mistakes, the christmas tree in the house was to have an evergreen plant inside as sign of resiliance and resistance to the dark and cold period, the decoration of trees comes from an old Greek tradition, Santa Claus is red because of Coca Cola (I hope you know this) but was originally green or brown depending on the regions and was way creepier (not always with deers, sometimes it was with wildboards actually). They all come from Europe though, the traditions you mentioned. As for the question about Vikings and Christ, you just have to check history to really have your answer. Also, the church made many of his holydays overlap to already existing holydays to make the transition into Christianity more acceptable (again, just historical facts here :) )
And no, I wouldn't want to visit the USA, nothing particularly againts it, mainly is because I like ancient history and I wouldn't feel safe.
Today in the UK Father Christmas and Santa are interchangeable but when I was a kid we had Father Christmas who wore a long green coat with fur trimmed cuffs and hood, he was always on foot, sometimes he had a sack, sometimes he pulled a small sled.
As Sheldon Cooper explained, Christmas is the celebration of the winter solstice. That was like the summer solstice the most important festivals of the pre-Christian time. Because the pope and his were clever, however, he simply set Christmas on this date, and so in today's Christmas many traditions from all over Europe are still noticeable, which then also came with the emigrants to the USA, such as St. Nicholas, who is actually celebrated on Dec.6., but over time became more and more Santa Claus.
@@keineahnung5466 Wait, USA people don't have Saint Nicholas as a different entity from Santa Claus?
But why don't you all mention beetlaham or Jerusalem...that's where Mother Mary gave birth to Jesus
@@necrona amazing isn't it.
That's not a moose! We actully have reindeers in the North. I'm from Sweden and we have them here.
As someone from vienna, I am so proud my city is on this list
Not sure what makes me more sad: The point that you asked if X-Mas originated from Europe or the point THAT I KNEW FROM THE START that you will be asking such a question at one point.
So you did not know that reindeer actually existed 😂 in all Scandinavian countries we have both Moose and Reindeer they are two different species 🤗😎🇧🇻
Bath in the uk is nearly 2000 years old being the one authentic and still existing Roman baths heated by hot spring in the UK, it’s what the town is named after. It’s a beautiful town with a university with all the old buildings and streets associated with the different eras that have come and gone over that time. Well worth a touristy visit even without the Christmas market.
You can see the northern lights and midnight sun on your continent too, if you just go far enough north.
This picture shows the Cologne Cathedral in Germany which goes back to 1700 years of history and is a world heritage site. The Christmas market makes the atmosphere even more beautiful with its lights.🙂🎅
Was it around 18:30 this style of architecture is called half-timbered house, if you want to translate it. Here in Germany we call this style of architecture Fachwerkhaus (that's the German word) and there exist some houses here in Germany that are over 300 years old...some can be over 500 years old...
I missed Nürnberg (Nuremberg) and the little Burghausen Advent Markt, but Christmas was invented by the catholic church. It was deliberately celebrated on the roman Saturnalia, which lasted from December 17. to the winter solstice, bc we don't know when jesus was born (or if he existed at all). Same with easter and other festivities. They wanted to outdo the pagan celebrations, so they deliberately chose pagan "holidays". So christmas can be deemed a roman invention. The original saint Nicolas was a bishop from modern day Turkey and gets celebrated on December 6. in Europe, but that's where Santa's name comes from.
Christmas trees came from Germany btw. Prince consort Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria, brought that tradition to the British empire from where it got around the world.
Hyde Park is one of the huge areas of green spaces within London, like Central Park in New York. London has many green spaces including Hamdon Heath, Regents Park and numerous others. One of the others is Richmond Park and nature reserve which actually has over 600 deer that roam freely over it's land. Many of these various parks have Christmas events on over the Christmas period.
What did the black old lady that moved from America to Norway say in almost tears..?
She met an old Norwegian lady, asking her for directions and when it came to "Where are you from?" she answered and the Norwegian lady replied with:"Oh, you're American!"
No mentioning of colour of skin, Black, African-American, Creole, you name it.
She was just American from the United States...and when she realized she wasn't being judged for her appearance or judged in any possible way, just be, she came to tears and knew she was home.
And you can do the same...
In ancient Europe pagan populations celebrated the winter solstice Jule when the light begin to shine again over the darkness (the northern people used to decorate the trees) the Romans called their celebration Sol Invictus so the Church decided to superimpose a "Christian" festivity upon the pagan one (Jesus is our invincible sun) because is easier to transform something than destroy it (same as Halloween), every Christian festivity is a pagan one transformed even Easter (the pagan goddess Eostre celebrated at the beginning of spring).
Hyde park is a massive park in central London. A bit like central park in America but bigger
Gingerbread houses look like European buildings because Gingerbread houses were invented here in Europe.
Theyre not moose, they're reindeer, a lot smaller than moose
Ah! I believe you can see the northern lights in Alaska, too.
In scandinavia we all celebrate Jul/jol/joulu etc its an old tradition from the time of the vikings long before christianity took over. And if i remember correctly most people still celebrate on the 24th and not 25 here
Hyde Park is a park. Do you mean Harrods?
in England, Christmas markets are often called German markets and sell mulled wine and wooden toys. in England under Cromwell Christmas was banned because the puritans did not like anything jolly our traditional Christmas was re-started by William Shakespeare and his story called a Christmas carol, Queen Victoria and prince Albert introduced Christmas trees from Germany,
father Christmas ( in England) was originally Saint Nicolas from what is now Turkey and has many names
This markets are for gifts and decorations, and almost everithing is hand made. I love them!
ALE in Finnish does not mean pub or bar, just means 'on sale' or discounted
Yep, I was writing the same. 🙂
16:06 Fun Fact: Santa Claus (St. Nicholas) actually born in Demre, Antalya, Turkey 😅 Even his thumb located in Antalya but Santa Claus is more associated with Finland because it is a colder and cozy place. 🇹🇷🎅
NOTE: *But he isn't Turkish, just lived in today's Turkish lands*
In the Netherlands St. Nicholas has his own (children's) holiday on the 5th of december. He arrives from Spain.
@@davey2487
I think it's same here in Belgium.
@@mariatheresavonhabsburg December 6 in Belgium (the day of his death).
December 6th in Germany as well :)
One thing I've noticed in many american reactions films, is the "for free" issue. Though one might generally say that in most EU countries education, healthcare is for free, it is not 100 percent true. We (as I am a European) pay taxes and health insurance to have access to various amenities without further fees. It is automatically taken from our salaries, e.g. the german public healthcare insurance (mandatory) is ca 14% of our brutto salary and tax can vary from 12% up to 49% depending on Steuerklasse (literally tax class/grade).
All in all, I definitely prefer EU system, however I find these "reaction films" very amusing.
The Church "borowed" from a lot of ancient mythology to create Christmas. Even the date 25th of December originates in the Mithras Cult of the Roman Empire. The tradition to give prsents originates on Saturnalia, the festivities at the end of the year.
The Christmas Tree however originates in Germany in the 16th century and because Queen Victoria married Albert von Baden, the German Christmas traditions came vis England to the Anglo Saxon Countries.
When you visit places like this don’t forget they will be the original. US places made to look like these for Christmas festivities were made because of the immigrants who made their homes to look like their homeland, or cooked like their home cooking or made their beer like home (Budweiser for instance in European original).
The reason many countries close to Sweden looks like Sweden is because of the Swedish empire. Because it lasted almost 500 yrs, many buildings will of course look like swedish architecture.
Also, I am going to the Swedish Market in Gamla Stan (old town) as well as going ice skating next Wednesday :)
Great to see your enthusiasm. You are right, travel as much as you can while you can.
It is said that Queen Victoria's husband 'Prince Albert' introduced to Britain the concept of a tree in the house.
The houses with the wood in the walls are called "Fachwerkhäuser" in German. "half-timbered houses" is the Google translation.
In Poland, we call Christmas "święta Bożego Narodzenia" or "boże narodzenie" for short. It literally means "the holiday of God's birth" (the short version is just "God's birth"). Fun fact, but when you say in Polish "wesołych świąt" (happy holidays) although it doesn't specify which holiday, it indicates you mean Christmas. It's like saying "happy holidays" and "merry Christmas" is the same in Polish.
In Denmark we call it "Jul". No need to use a million characters on it ;)
@@traver1965 In Poland we can use also Gwiazdka which means little star for Xmas
I think that you might find Christmas in New Zealand a bit of a shock. Being in the southern hemisphere it is coming into high summer at the end of December so no snow and recently the traditional hot dinner has been replaced by many with a picnic on the beach or a barbecue in the back yard. Also, by our last census about half of our population reported as having no religion, so many families now don't have any formal celebration unless children are involved who of course enjoy a bit of a party and gifts. It is also the beginning of our six week school holiday and many families are away or going away for two or three weeks together (We have government guaranteed vacation days for all employees so this is no problem, many industries closing down for several weeks over this time).To each his or her own.
I was surprised that the video didn't ad Copenhagen Denmark, or other big cities in Denmark. The big celebrations around December 21 were originated by a party to celebrate winter solstice, the day of year with the shortest daylight, and the start of days getting longer and longer day by day. Even the Scandinavian vikings did have big celebratings at their time, before christianity took over.
In the northern part of Norway, Sweden and Finland (called Lapland), and even in Alaska and Canada, there is a group of people who are nomads with big hordes of reindeers. Maybe that's why Santa have reindeers. I do know that many people think that Santa is from the North Pole, or Finland..... but he lives in Greenland... he do even have a post office in Greenland. And elves have workshops where they make and wrap presents for the world's well behaved children. :)
Some parts from Poland "belonged" to Germany and it was called East Prussia (Ostpreußen) so that's the reason why the architecture from some buildings are similar. Especially when the building is about 100 years or so...
Greetings from Berlin
Krakow wasnt ever German and it looks similar
Also Gdansk
@@majanv11 aber Danzig war halt ein Teil von Ostpreußen 🤷
@@videomailYT It was founded by polish ruler Mieszko. Its polish city and was for a long time then it was taken by Prusia and Germany After WWI it was a free city. After WWII it was polish again as it should be. Learn how to write in english if you want to discuss. I dont know where u germans get this conviction that all polish cities were german just because you stole it a few times lmao. Its not the reason to say its architecture is similar bc germany stole it. It had many influences not just german. We had to rebuilt our country from scratches bc ur country ruined it but we still had beautiful architecture that was ours that havent been destroyed. If u didnt stole and detroy things we would have many more beautiful places :)
@@majanv11 ^^ so that would also mean, when you found architecture from the Roman empire somewhere else and not in Italy that this region or town would also be founded from romans...sry, but so how you write it sounds like it is like that... 🤷
When you're back in London these cities can be reached very cheaply via budget airlines. Only a couple of hours away.
The punsch she was talking about in Vienna wasn't featured in the video that went with the voiceover.
You are correct that the video showed a bread bowl. They are one of my favourite things about Christmas in Vienna. Often filled with garlic soup.
There is a wonderful book about the pre- Christian European traditions surrounding Christmas. The title is "The Old Magic of Christmas" The author is an American. Linda Raedisch. I think you will like reading about the beautifiul ancientness of it all. US Christmas can be so commercial. And yes reindeer really exists. Wishing you many travesl and experiences in your future.
The Germanic tribes in the North German area up to Scandinavia celebrated their midwinter festival or Yule, which was also a festival of the dead and fertility, on this very day.
Already in the year 217 Pope Hyppolit tried to eliminate all these cults, which were celebrated with large expenditure, by shifting the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ on 25 December. For this purpose, the metaphor of light was transferred to Jesus Christ, because the Old Testament already called the expected Redeemer the "Sun of Righteousness"
The place with steps is called Pall Mall leading to Green Park. Hyde park is close by and it's the biggest park in central London.
Christmas markets are a thing all over Europe these days. Fairground rides are often incorporated too. Plus there are loads of illuminated trails in parks and estates of country houses. I'm off to the Windsor Great Park illuminated trail next week; they are magical and easily become customs. I always have a soft spot for Rome at Christmas too although there are loads of fab places in Europe at Christmas.
Europe was the first continent to ever celebrate christmans.
I've never seen someone disbelieve in the existence of reindeer before, even after googling them in front of us all.
I have to point out that they did an error at the stockholm part, its gammla stan market (old city market) not old stone market. In swedish the market is called Stortorgets Julmarknad.
From the earliest written evidence, the Christmas celebration is described with the expression "drinking Christmas", which originates from pre-Christian times. Viking Age Christmas included celebrations with large amounts of food and mead. As part of the introduction of Christianity in the Nordics, the church allowed the pagans to keep their eating and drinking feasts, but persuaded them to drink to the baby Jesus instead of Odin and Thor. Viking were already celebrating the winter solstice. The times where the sun shines longer every day.
Ancients Romans have something similar called 'Saturnalia' for the god Saturn (the god of seeds and sowing) . They had feast, drinks and they forget some rules during a period that lasted from 17-23 December. Later, the Christians took that date for the Christ birth.
A mid-winter festival has probably existed since there were village living, back to the late stone age.
There's a tradition that marks it today, but it's been moved to the new year: 'out with the old, in with the new'.
By the middle of winter, everyone knew who would make it until the next food was available (spring, or later if a crop had to be planted) and who wouldn't.
So gifts, extra food for small children (subject to a test of who has been worthy / healthy and who has not), with the parallel tradition of creatures such as Krampus (who punished the bad in winter) or Grandfather Frost (who made sure you got what was coming to you), suggest there was a sacrifice (hopefully of animals) part-way through the winter.
Yule (Jul to the Vikings) is probably the remaining vestige of this. This ancient pagan event (like Halloween and Midsummer) has been dressed up in Christian clothing, but remains to show how desperate winter could be.
Christmas at one point was not the most important Christian festival, that was Easter. But like most events a lot of the celebrations predate Christianity. Essentially the Europeans celebrated/marked the Winter Solstice - the time of least daylight - celebrated with greenery being brought in, berries etc as a sign of eternal life, a motif picked up by Christians.
14:12 We say "pubi" or "baari" in Finland. "Ale" means "sale" in Finnish. 😭
Aww you really need to go! Hell, I need to go! There are Christmas markets all over Europe. Germany is the one really well-known as a country. However, all European countries have some. OMG there's even Christmas market cruises! Girl, you've gotta check these all out!
The area in cologne in germany is one if the most visited tourist destinations in europe in deed ;) but you wount find signs in english or so anywhere. and why ? it shows a bit of respect to the country you are visiting if you learn at least some words :)
👍
Oh God! Did you just google if reindeer are real? Lapland (Sweden, Norway, Russia and Finland) is the home of the Sami people. Reindeer herding was the traditional basis of the Sami economy, although that practice has declined significantly. The Sami are engaged in fishing, agriculture, forestry and mining as well as other occupations across northern Europe.
My most Favorite Drink on x-mas markets is a Feuerzangenbowle, to watch how they make it with fire and all is an zeremony show too, i love it. I love Feuerzangenbowle so much ♡😋
Bath is beautiful. The famous Crescent - features on many films & TV programmes. Also the beautiful Cathedral next door to the fabulous Roman Baths! Check them out.
are reindeer real? omg did you really say that?
Hyde Park is a huge park slightly bigger than central park. No idea what mall you went to? One of the Westfield ones perhaps?
18:29 in Germany we name them Fachwerkhaus (half-timbered house)
The most beautiful Christmas markets in Germany: Leipzig, Dresden, Magdeburg, Goslar, Braunschweig, Erfurt. And in many small towns all over Germany
You did find out Reindeer are real right? Also mose are 3 - 4 foot higher.
Malnourished Moose! That's hysterical!
Bath is a beautiful city, the Christmas market is In the area were the Romen baths are and is on for a good few weeks. My husband and I went last year and it hadn't really recovered from lockdown. It's good to book a hotel a good year in advance as it is a popular destination. Oh yes I live in Ilford up the road from Barking.
Cologne is very tourist. Germany just doesn't do translation. They even don't subtitle english tv shows/movies, they just put german audio over it
You have also nordern lights I think. If you go to alaska I asume that you would be able to see them.
i've been to nyc, louisville, detroit, tampa, orlando, miami beach and a few other places. i must've missed the tourist-centered areas, all signs were in english. :/
I like your reaction on this video, hope you will be able to travel to Europe some day to visit these places. To me as a European, it is sort of 'normal' that cities are that way, with the nice architecture and the cobble stones. I live in the Netherlands, and Christmas Markets are not so common here. A lot of Dutch people go to Germany to visit these Markets. Last weekend i was in Switzerland and they are also very enthousiastic about Christmas decorations and Markets, going on special boats.
Well...thats bc you are celebrating Sinta Claas much bigger than Christmas.( Im half dutch..so we also had to learn the difference between Germany and Netherlands...;)
Oh please, Reindeer and Moose are different creatures & here's the rub, only female Reindeer have antlers! 🤯
No the male reindeer's have antlers too but they drop/shed them every winter and they get bigger every year when they grow back The females have smaller antlers that they don't drop.
Hi
Im from North Macedonia, Europe, we are christian orthodox country, we celebrate Christmas on the 7th of January. We, Serbia and Russia are celebrating it on the 7th :)
"Are reindeer real?" as if my family hasnt been herding them for generations lol
Chrsitmas in Czech are called "Vánoce". It cames probably from some German words and and ethymology says that it could be from Night of Lights, Night of Wine. But the origin comes in time of old Saturnalia times which was linked to wine. So it´s just mix od old very tradition and Christianity. I live in South Bohemia (South Czechia or Czech Republic) and here si market linked to punch and grog and hot wine & food and Christmas goods and handicraft. And in České Budějovice you can buy about 20 differemt punches.
I don't think Tim Burton looks like a reindeer. Also, Finnish Santa Claus doesn't fly in his sled, his reindeer are just fast.
Going to my local christmas market tomorrow. Can't wait. Just a shame its not a dickensian one. I'm gonna try get to one this year. Super hoping for snow. Have you looked into the history of the trafalgar square christmas tree??
Here in Portugal, here in the north anyway,we eat codfish in the Christmas Eve and open the 🎁 Christmas presents at midnight...
Nottingham has just put up an elevated skating ring around the Christmas Market
Pagan Christmas is yule if I know it correctly, but the Christians wanted to steal some traditions so the fused it together somehow. In Greece due to Christmas being the celebration of saint Nicolaus originally and it’s saint Nicolaus who later became Santa Claus. But due to it being Nicolaus instead of decorating Christmas trees, the Greeks originally decorated Christmas boats.
St.Nicholaus lived in Turkey and Greece about year 600, so yes he predates the vikings by 200 years.