German Christmas Dinner Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What is a traditional German Christmas dinner? ›

Treat guests to a traditional German Christmas dinner with classic dishes like roasted goose legs, braised red cabbage. and dumplings, and don't forget the mulled wine and platter of gorgeous, festive cookies.

Potato salad with sausages

This is indeed one of the number one favourite meals for a German Christmas Eve. One-third of the population serves potato salad with sausages. This perfectly demonstrates the saying that less, in this case, really is more.

In Germany, people use an Adventskranz, or advent wreath, with four candles on it to celebrate the four advents or the four Sundays before Christmas. On each of the four Sundays preceding Christmas Eve, a candle is lit. After lightning the first candle, the Christmas season officially begins.

The traditional German cake for Xmas is called (der) Stollen (Christstollen or Weihnachtsstollen) with Stollen originally meaning pillar. It is made of yeast dough and contains nuts and dried fruit such as raisin.

In Germany, the evening meal is called Abendessen or Abendbrot – the latter is actually more like a supper, and literally translates to 'evening bread'. Following a hearty lunch, Germans traditionally enjoy a lighter dinner, with breads, hams, sausages, cheeses, and pickles all being very common.

Mulled wine is the main drink at the markets. It's so popular that many of the markets have special decorated cups for the wine. You pay a deposit for them and get it back when you return them or just keep the cup as a souvenir of your visit.

In German, the phrase "Frohe Weihnachten!" which translates to "Merry Christmas” is commonly used.

German children call Santa Claus 'Weihnachtsmann' which translates to Christmas man. The Weihnachtsmann is a recent Christmas tradition which has little if any religious or folkloric background.

Christmas pyramids (Weihnachtspyramide in German) are a well loved Christmas decoration and is treasured all around the world. Sometimes called a Christmas windmill, wooden carousel or nativity pyramid, they all have their history in traditional German Christmas celebrations.

Herrencreme. a vanilla pudding mixed with cream and chocolate shavings and a good amount of rum. Kuchen. Kuchen is the German word for cake, and is used in other languages as the name for several different types of sweet desserts, pastries, and gateaux. Lebkuchen.

What is a unique German Christmas tradition? ›

The tradition of Advent wreaths was started by German Lutherans in the 16th century, and today the wreath is still an icon of Christmas in Germany. The wreath consists of four candles in a bed of pine cones, berries, dried flowers and Christmas ornaments.

German people celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve - December 24th, and most stores are closed after 2 pm on this day. The following 2 days - 25th and 26th of December are national holidays. Unlike American kids, German kids open their gifts on December 24th (lucky them!).

The traditional Christmas meal features duck, goose, rabbit or a roast. This main dish is accompanied by German delicacies such as apple and sausage stuffing, red cabbage and potato dumplings. Dessert typically includes Christmas Stollen, considered one of the best Christmas pastries in the world!

One legend has it that Queen Elizabeth I was gobbling up goose when she heard the British had defeated the Spanish Armada in 1588, ordering all of England to mimic her dinner at Christmas. The tradition then presumably spread from England to Germany, where it stuck.

In Germany, a Christmas breakfast usually consists of hearty bread, cold meats and cheeses, and eggs, alongside a number of regional dishes; in the north, many families will have fish with their breakfast. After breakfast, there will be plenty of snacks to keep you from feeling peckish until dinner time.