Unique Texas (and Close By) Christmas Traditions (Dec 10 - Part 3)

by Scott Sosebee

We continue this week with another “Only in Texas” Holiday tradition

An Old German Christmas in Fredericksburg

Some of the most iconic Christmas traditions celebrated in the United States were brought here long ago by German immigrants, mostly people who fled turmoil and unrest in the German states in the middle of the 19th century. Things such as the Christmas tree, Christmas markets, the advent calendar, and, to some extent, “Santa Claus,” all have origins amongst German people. Texas has one of the richest histories of German emigrants, and of all the towns in Texas that trace their roots back to original German settlers, none remains more identified with all things German than the Central Texas city of Fredericksburg.

A visit will not transport you back to Bavaria or anywhere close to anywhere else in Germany; it is, after all, the center of Texas and in climate and physical geography, Texas is not Germany. You likely will not see snow, and you will probably not be wearing a parka, but if you shut your eyes and just picture it, maybe you can transport yourself to a small German village in December. What you will find in Fredericksburg is a place in which some of the old Christmas traditions remain.

When Germans first began to establish the town that became Fredericksburg in the mid-1840s, their celebrations were rooted in the old German customs. The beginning of the traditional anniversary of Christ’s birth for Germans started with St. Nick’s Day, a celebration based on a mythical character that was modeled on the very real St. Nicholas, who lived in the region of Turkey in the early centuries of the Christian Era. The German St. Nick, of course, eventually evolved into our modern iteration of Santa Claus. St. Nicholas was the patron saint of children, which meant the mythical St. Nick arrived on the Feast Day of St. Nicholas on December 6, and he would place fruit and candy in the stockings of children hung by a mantle in the house. The gift-giving of St. Nick continued in Fredericksburg through the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Beginning in the 1930s, the Fredericksburg Lion’s Club started a community-wide celebration built around St. Nick’s Day. Held on the weekend between St. Nick’s Day and Christmas Eve, the Lions would light a large Christmas tree on the courthouse lawn. At the lighting, a good portion of the town’s residents would gather and watch the proceedings, then they would walk to the high school auditorium where they all sang traditional Christmas carols—many of them in the original German—and then the program ended with a rendition of “Silent Night” and then “God Bless America,” the last a nod to the town’s wishes to be seen as patriotic Americans after some of their loyalties were questioned during World War I.

From that original celebration, the event evolved into a longer and much more elaborate activity called the “Christmas Nights of Lights,” which takes place around the traditional tree in the town square, which in German is known as the Markplatz. The activities signal the Weihnachtszeit, which is what Germans call the Christmas Season. The Christmas celebration in the Markplatz includes a ten-minute audio presentation that tells the story of Fredericksburg’s German heritage and then a countdown to the lighting of the decorations each evening during the holiday season. Large speakers play Christmas music, and there is an outdoor ice-skating rink—an Eisbahn in German. The rink became an addition in 2008. All around the decorations are twinkling Christmas lights, some traditionally built comfy fires, but the centerpiece, the most impressive part of the Christmas decorations, is a tall, well-adorned “Christmas pyramid,” which Germans know as a Weihnachtspyramide. Hand-crafted in Germany, it is made of wood and has five graduated tiers adorned with candles, wooden choir singers, angels, and nutcrackers, all topped off by whirling propellers. Some have said that it represents a child’s dream of Christmas, a fantasy of all the good parts of the holiday. Part of the figures tell the story of the Nativity, while others highlight historical traditions. And the most fascinating part? It all spins!

A trip to Fredericksburg during the Christmas season is a delight, almost like a Christmas movie coming to life. This year, the festivities will begin on November 24, and run through January 6, although they do take a hiatus on December 31 and January 1.

Do you like to dress up in period clothing? Perhaps act as if you lived in the 1890s? Then you would fit right in with the people who attend next week’s entry, an accounting of Galveston’s Dickens on the Strand celebration.  

The East Texas Historical Association provides this column as a public service. Scott Sosebee is a Professor of History at Stephen F. Austin State University and the Executive Director of the Association. He can be contacted at sosebeem@sfasu.edu; www.easttexashistorical.org.