Christmas is, as in most countries where Christianity is a major religion, a major holiday in Germany. Of course, other religious holidays such as the Muslim Ramadan and the Jewish Hanukkah are also celebrated in Germany at this time of year. Although the German word for Christmas (das Weihnachten) is a neuter noun, it's rare that you use a definite article with the name of a holiday—in the same way that you rarely hear "the Christmas." Let's take a look today at some typical Christmas terms you'll hear in Germany during this holiday season.
Manchmal wird der Adventskalender auch einfach Weihnachtskalender genannt.
Sometimes, the Advent calendar is also called simply the Christmas calendar.
Caption 9, Eva erklärt: den Adventskalender
Play Caption
Wir haben jedes Jahr im Advent Stollen gegessen und die Kerzen am Adventskranz angezündet.
We ate stollen every year during Advent and lit the candles on the Advent wreath.
Captions 24-25, Nicos Weg: Lieblingsfeste
Play Caption
Advent (der Advent) is the period prior to Christmas preparing for its celebration. Connected with Advent, you have the Advent calendar (der Adventskalender) and the Advent wreath (der Adventskranz). Although the word "stollen" is also an English word, not everybody knows that it means the German style of Christmas cake: der Stollen or der Weihnachtsstollen.
Und die Bescherung, ist die vor dem Essen oder nach dem Essen bei Ihnen?
And the gift exchange, is it before dinner or after dinner for you?
Caption 41, Weihnachtsinterviews: Cettina in Linkenheim
Play Caption
Die Bescherung may also be translated as "the gift-giving" or "giving out the presents" etc. If you're wondering why kids in Germany have to wait until just before or after dinnertime to open the presents, they are in fact opening them early: Die Bescherung takes place on December 24th on Christmas Eve (der Heiligabend). Parents in Germany probably discovered that if the kids get to open their presents on Christmas Eve, it's possible to sleep in later on Christmas day!
Die Geschenke liegen meistens unter einem geschmückten Tannenbaum.
The presents are usually under a decorated Christmas tree.
Caption 33, Weihnachten in Deutschland: Weihnachtstraditionen
Play Caption
You probably know the song "O Tannenbaum" already. Sometimes the Christmas tree is also called der Christbaum.
Also das Schönste an Weihnachten für mich ist eigentlich der Glühwein.
The nicest thing about Christmas for me is actually the mulled wine.
Caption 23, KIT: Was ist für dich das Schönste an Weihnachten?
Play Caption
So while Americans of legal age are reaching for their eggnog at Christmas, Germans will be imbibing Glühwein.
Heute wollen wir mit euch Plätzchen backen.
Today we want to bake Christmas cookies with you.
Caption 3, Weihnachtsplätzchen backen: mit Diane und vielen kleinen Helfern
Play Caption
Felicia hat ein gutes Plätzchen für das Tipi gefunden.
Felicia has found a nice little place for the tipi.
Caption 67, Abenteuer Nordsee: Unter Riesenhaien und Tintenfischen
Play Caption
In the first caption, the singular of Christmas cookies is das Plätzchen, which literally means "little place." Note that in the second caption, Plätzchen is used more literally and is not about setting up a tipi on some Christmas cookies!
Der Nikolaus bringt den Kindern Süßigkeiten.
Saint Nicholas brings the children candy.
Caption 16, Deutsch mit Eylin: Pronomen
Play Caption
Nikolaus–more formally der Sankt Nikolaus–is the German equivalent of Santa Claus. In fact, Nikolaus is the historical basis for Santa Claus, who first widely appeared under this moniker in 19th-century America.
Further Learning
Watch some of the videos above on Yabla German, and happy holiday wishes from all of us here at Yabla!
Many of us are living in countries with shopping restrictions due to health measures taken during the coronavirus pandemic, meaning we may need to shop for many things we need on the internet. The word bestellen, most commonly translated in this context as "to order," has thus become an especially important term this year.
Diesen Film können Sie als DVD unter folgender Adresse im Internet bestellen.
You can order this film on DVD at the following web address.
Caption 18, Bibliothek der Sachgeschichten - Müllmännerlied
Play Caption
We also use bestellen when ordering food in a restaurant, although these days that usually means ordering food for takeaway:
Die Tochter hat Pizza bestellt...
My daughter ordered pizza...
Caption 82, Weihnachtsinterviews - Cettina in Linkenheim
Play Caption
Möchten Sie denn schon was zu trinken bestellen?
Would you like to order something to drink now?
Caption 10, Abendessen - mit Marko
Play Caption
Although bestellen is most commonly used to mean "to order" something, there are also a number of other contexts where the verb is used that require a different translation altogether. Quite differently from the English "to order," where something will be coming to you, the German bestellen can also be used to send out greetings (Grüße bestellen) or to ask someone to say thank-you for you:
Bestellt dem Marquis meinen herzlichsten Dank!
Send the Marquis my most heartfelt thanks!
Caption 41, Märchen - Sagenhaft - Der gestiefelte Kater
Play Caption
Bestellen Sie dem Feldmarschall von Kluge,
Tell Field Marshall von Kluge
ich danke für das in mich gesetzte Vertrauen.
I thank him for the trust he places in me.
Captions 55-56, Die Stunde der Offiziere - Dokudrama über den 20. Juli 1944
Play Caption
In the context of biology, you can use bestellen with the preposition um to describe the condition of a species:
Um die seltene Marmorata-Forelle ist es schlechter bestellt...
Regarding the rare marble trout, it looks worse...
Caption 29, Alpenseen - Kühle Schönheiten
Play Caption
Jetzt interessiert mich das aber doch, wie's um den Bestand bestellt ist.
Now, however, I'm interested indeed in how the population is doing.
Caption 5, Abenteuer Nordsee - Unter Riesenhaien und Tintenfischen
Play Caption
Further Learning
Take a look at all of the meanings of bestellen on the Duden website and search for bestellt and bestellen on Yabla German to see other ways the word is used in different contexts.
For the last weeks, many Germans have been visiting Christmas markets, opening the windows of their advent calendars, and celebrating Nikolaus. Tomorrow night is Christmas Eve, which is called der Heiligabend or der Heilige Abend in German. Let's look at some vocabulary associated with Christmas Eve traditions.
Many families in Germany will have gotten a Christmas tree and decorated it in time for Christmas Eve. A Christmas tree can be referred to as der Tannenbaum (which is simply "the fir tree"), der Weihnachtsbaum, or der Christbaum.
Jetzt schmücken wir den Baum noch mit ein paar goldenen Kugeln.
Now we'll decorate the tree with a few golden balls.
Caption 57, Frohe Weihnachten - der Christbaum
Play Caption
In Germany, it is traditional to exchange gifts on Christmas Eve rather than the next morning. The exchange of gifts is known as die Bescherung.
Wie machen Sie das mit der Bescherung?
How do you do your gift exchange?
Caption 7, Weihnachtsinterviews - Diane in Karlsruhe
Play Caption
Families may go to mass as part of their Christmas Eve tradition:
Meistens gehen wir auch vorher... vorher noch in die Kirche.
Usually we also still go beforehand... to church beforehand.
Caption 37, Weihnachtsinterviews - Cettina in Linkenheim
Play Caption
A traditional Christmas Eve meal in Germany is rather simple, consisting of either fish, or sausages with potato salad. The large Christmas feast is generally eaten on Christmas day. Throughout these days, there are also many sweets that are typically consumed. For more information on these, we would suggest watching the following video by Eva:
Nachdem ich euch ein typisches deutsches Weihnachtsessen gezeigt habe,
After I've shown you a typical German Christmas meal,
kommen wir nun zum Wichtigsten, nämlich den Weihnachtsnaschereien.
we now come to the most important [thing], namely, the Christmas goodies.
Captions 9-10, Weihnachtsessen - mit Eva
Play Caption
Further Learning
For more holiday vocabulary, check out our recent blog post. There are a number of individual videos on Yabla German that will certainly get you into the Christmas spirit. Listen to a traditional Christmas song, see Krampus parade around at the Christmas market in Munich, and watch some Germans decorate a Christmas tree under water. Or watch one of our feature films, such as Ein Sack voll Gold or Weihnachtsmann gesucht, starring a young Christoph Waltz!
Ich hoffe, euch hat's Spaß gemacht,
I hope it's been fun
und wünsche euch frohe Weihnachten!
and I wish you a merry Christmas!
Captions 71-72, Frohe Weihnachten - der Christbaum
Play Caption
Beyond "merry Christmas" there are a number of other ways to give season's greetings as well, for instance your Christmas could be schön:
Dann wünsch' ich euch schöne Weihnachten.
In which case I wish you [plural] a wonderful Christmas.
Caption 84, Weihnachtsinterviews - Cettina in Linkenheim
Play Caption
Let's not neglect the period before Christmas, which in German is the same word as in English:
Der Advent, das ist die Zeit vor Weihnachten.
Advent, that is the time before Christmas.
Caption 3, Weihnachtsmärkte - mit Eva
Play Caption
And if we're going to make it through all the Christmas shopping, we'd better have some Stollen to see us through:
Das ist der Christstollen.
This is the Christstollen.
Der wird auch Weihnachtsstollen genannt.
It is also called Christmas stollen [fruit cake].
Captions 22-23, Weihnachtsessen - mit Eva
Play Caption
If you don't have your Christmas tree yet, you might have to go diving for one!
Nasse Weihnachten:
Wet Christmas:
Der Tannenbaum steht fast vier Meter tief unter Wasser.
The Christmas tree stands nearly four meters deep under water.
Caption 1, Weihnachten geht baden - Tannenbaum unter Wasser
Play Caption
Further Learning:
Do a search on Yabla German for typical Christmas words and get into the Christmas spirit while improving your German at the same time. Happy holidays!
In keeping with the holiday spirit, let's take a look at a few German words that can be formed using Weihnachts- (Christmas-) as a root. Many of today's standard Christmas traditions originated in Germany, but as you can see from the Krampuslauf video, Germany still has a few Christmas traditions that remain very unique!
If you haven't done your Christmas shopping yet, you only have a couple of days left! Better head down to the Weihnachtsmarkt, which, although traditionally Southern German, can also be found in other parts of Germany:
Hier am Berliner Gendarmenmarkt
but here at the Berlin Gendarmenmarkt [a square in Berlin-Mitte],
gibt es auch einen kleinen tollen Weihnachtsmarkt.
there is also a great little Christmas market.
Caption 7, Weihnachtsmärkte - mit Eva
Play Caption
And while you are there, you'd better pick up something delicious at the Weihnachtsbäckerei, because:
In der Weihnachtsbäckerei gibt es manche Leckerei.
In the Christmas bakery there is many a treat.
Caption 23, Der Sternschnuppenmarkt - in Wiesbaden
Play Caption
Of course, your main purpose there is not to snack on pastries, but to pick up some Weihnachtsgeschenke:
Hier kann man schöne Weihnachtsgeschenke kaufen.
You can buy beautiful Christmas presents here.
Caption 14, Diane - auf dem Weihnachtsmarkt
Play Caption
When you get home, it may be time to decorate the Weihnachtsbaum!
Also der Weihnachtsbaum
Well, the Christmas tree
wird bei uns am Vierundzwanzigsten aufgestellt.
will be set up at our place on the twenty-fourth.
Caption 27, Weihnachtsinterviews - Cettina in Linkenheim
Play Caption
Learning suggestions:
Can you figure out what some of these other words based on Weihnachts- (Christmas-) mean?
Weihnachtssachen, Weihnachtsbaumständer, Weihnachtsspenden, Weihnachtstrubel, Weihnachtsferien, Weihnachtsmann, Weihnachtsessen
Search for videos on Yabla that use these words to better understand their meaning and context!
The most typical New Year’s greeting in Germany is the slang phrase Einen guten Rutsch ins neue Jahr! or simply Guten Rutsch! These can be translated literally as “A good slide into the New Year!” or “Good slide!”
Dann wünsch' ich euch schöne Weihnachten,
In which case I wish you [plural] a wonderful Christmas,
'nen [einen] guten Rutsch ins neue Jahr und viel Spaß beim Anschauen. Tschüß!
a good slide to the new year and a lot of fun while watching. Bye!
Captions 84-85, Weihnachtsinterviews - Cettina in Linkenheim
Play Caption
The word Rutsch means a downward sliding movement, and the greetings are meant to convey a smooth transition into the New Year, though the origin of the phrase is still uncertain. Let’s have a look at the more ordinary ways Rutsch and rutschen are used.
In an interview, Germany’s top windsurf star, Bernd Flessner, is asked if he can get from Altenteil Halpen to the Lighthouse in einem Rutsch durch (in one go [literally “through in one slide”]). The answer? Yes!
In einem Rutsch durch? -In einem Rutsch.
In one go? [literally “through in one slide”] -In one go.
Caption 9, Das "Race around Fehmarn" - Neuer Surfrekord
Play Caption
A professor involves his talking pet bird named Dodo in demonstrating Newton's law of inertia using the “Dodomobil," (really just a shoebox). The verb rutschen (to slide or skid) is in more common usage than the noun Rutsch:
Dann... theoretisch, fährt dann das Dodomobil
Then… theoretically, the Dodomobile then continues to drive...
oder rutscht, besser gesagt...
or slide, rather…
rutscht das Dodomobil unendlich weiter.
the Dodomobile continues to slide infinitely.
Captions 38-39, Das 1. Newtonsche Gesetz - erklärt am Beispiel des Dodomobils
Play Caption
Piggeldy and Frederick are playing on a Rutschbahn (a slide):
„Richtig", schrie Frederick und rutschte die Rutschbahn hinunter.
"Right," shouted Frederick and slid down the slide.
Caption 36, Piggeldy und Frederick - Spielen
Play Caption
Watch out, Grandma! Here rutschen takes on another meaning:
Dann rutscht die Oma auf einer Bananenschale aus.
Then the grandmother slips on a banana peel.
Caption 13, Ivana erzählt Witze - Fritzle und die Oma
Play Caption
So whether you are sliding down a slide, sliding into the New Year, or slipping on a banana peel, understanding this versatile word can help you have a guten Rutsch ins Deutsch!
Spanish
French
Italian
Chinese
English
English 
Español
Français
Italiano
Português
Deutsch
