December is here, and plenty of people are (or have been) decorating their homes like putting up the tree, the wreaths, and the lights before Christmas comes. But not every country does that in the same way.
In the December 27, 1951 issue of The Romeo Observer, Helga Neubauer is seen decorating a Christmas tree with her "foster parent" Mrs. Voyle D. Robertson in preparation for her first American Christmas. She came to Romeo in the summer of 1951 as an exchange student from Frankfort, Germany and stayed for a year. Her trip was sponsored by the International Rotary Club's Youth for Understanding Movement through the Romeo Rotary Club.
In the article "Rotary Exchange Student Explains German Christmas," which accompanies the photo above, Helga does just that.
For starters, in Germany, Santa Clause is called Weihnactsmann. Also, presents are placed unwrapped on a table as opposed to wrapped underneath the Christmas tree. Speaking of that tree, Helga explained that "trees in Germany are put up only on Christmas Eve, and remain through New Year's Day."
She added that people in Germany use candles instead of electric lights when decorating for Christmas. Moreover, Helga mentioned that on Christmas Day, people go around visiting relatives, and the day after is reserved for staying home and celebrating as a family.
Furthermore, markets in Germany are just as brightly lit and stocked as those in America. The main difference was that in the former, there's not a Santa in every store and corner.
Another interesting thing that Germany does is fortune telling on New Year's Eve. Helga said, "We take hot metal and melt it, then each person takes a spoon with a drop of metal and dips it into cold water. The metal hardens into various shapes which are the symbols of something for the coming year."
This is called Bleigiessen (pronounced BLYE-ghee-sen) or lead-pouring, which people in Germany still do today, even though lead-pouring kits are currently banned in that nation.
So how did Helga feel about celebrating her first American Christmas? Well, when she was asked if she was enjoying celebrating that holiday in the states, like a typical teenager, she simply claimed, "I sure am."
Source: The Romeo Observer, December 27, 1951, p.I-1 and The German-Way & More