When it comes to traditional holiday images,
Germany's Bavaria is the heartland.
Here we'll savor classic holiday themes:
Glittering trees, old-time carols,
and colorful Christmas markets.
These markets, called Christkindl markets,
enliven squares throughout Germany.
The most famous is here in Nurnberg.
It's a festive swirl of the
heartwarming sights, sounds, and smells
of Christmas.
Long a center of toy making in Germany,
a woody and traditional ambiance prevails.
Nutcrackers are characters of authority:
Uniformed, strong-jawed,
and able to crack the tough nuts.
Smokers, with their fragrant incense wafting,
feature common folk like this village toy maker.
Prune people, with their fig body,
walnut head, and prune limbs,
are dolled up in Bavarian folk costumes.
And hovering above it all is the golden Rausch angel,
an icon of Christmas in Nurnberg.
Rausch is the sound of wind blowing through its wings.
It's a favorite for capping family Christmas trees.
Bakeries crank out old-fashioned gingerbread --
the Lebkuchen Nurnberg --
using the original 17th-century recipe.
Back then, Nurnberg was the
gingerbread capital of the world,
and its love affair with gingerbread lives on.
Shoppers can also munch the famous Nurnberg bratwurst,
skinny as your little finger.
And sip hot spiced wine.
As in so many cultures,
kids love their local version of Santa Claus.
While Santa is a legend,
his character is based on St. Nicholas,
a kind and generous bishop
who actually lived in Turkey in the 4th century.
Holiday gift giving, especially in Catholic regions,
is often associated with the feast day of St. Nicholas,
December 6.
But Germany is Luther country.
Back in the early 1500s, the great reformer, Martin Luther,
wanted to humanize the Christmas story
by shifting the focus away from the saints
and back onto the birthday boy, Jesus.
Rather than jolly old St. Nick
bringing the goodies on December 6th,
Luther established the idea
that gifts would be given on the 25th
by the Christ child or, in German, "Christkind."
[ Speaking German ]
[ Laughing ]
But for kids, it was hard to imagine
the little baby in the manger delivering gifts,
so an angel served
as the gift-giving Christ child.
And somehow the angel came to be represented by a young girl.
She spends her reign spreading the joy of the season.
The Christkind concludes by telling the enthralled children,
"If you're very, very gentle, you can touch my wings."
Nurnberg's favorite angel then leads her fans
into the children's section of the market
where expertly bundled kids enjoy a Christmas wonderland.
[ Children shouting ]
The Christkind isn't the only one handing out good cheer.
Carolers spread the joy of Christmas
using the town's historic courtyards
as impromptu concert venues.
And here in the land of Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart,
seasonal music fills the churches.
[ Choir singing in German ]
[ Song ends ]