TO the uninitiated, Germany is composed of mostly Catholics. These Catholics celebrate the longest Christmas in all of Christendom. They start from Advent and end at the Feast of Epiphany. Even the division of Germany for more than 50 years has not stopped the Germans from celebrating the birth anniversary of Christ. But with the reunification of Germany since 1991, folks here have been enjoying Christmas celebrations both in the spiritual and the commercial way.

Let’s start off with the spiritual celebrations. Catholic priests celebrate Advent starting four weeks before the Sunday before Christmas. This Sunday even encompasses the Feast of the Immaculate Conception which is celebrated every December 8. Then on the nine dawns before Christmas, German Catholics diligently wake up to hear mass as early as 4 a.m. This is called a vigil mass, commemorating the birth of their Messiah. After church, Germans are greeted with hearty breakfasts at the street corners composed mostly of chopped ham, bagels and buns and various recipes filled with green onion, pepper and parsley. In short, it really is hearty, delicious and nutritious. And oh, you can top these breakfasts with beer too if you don’t want the usual milk, tea, coffee and orange juice stuff. As everybody knows, Germany is the top producer of beer all over the world. Cardiologists advise two bottles of beer for persons and German folks are the dedicated adherents of this advice.

That is why Germany has one of the highest life expectancies in the world. And as with all Christmas celebrations around the world, a typical Christmas in Germany is not complete without fruit cake. In fact, they set the whole day of December 23 for making pastries and similar stuff. December 23 and 24 are sort of special holidays for them albeit not legal ones. Home buddies don’t work in the professional sense of the word anyway so they all have the time in the world to bake these cakes. Homemakers are likewise fond of crafting and giving out toys for children during Christmas. And the kids are also fond of caroling during Christmas. Watch out if you’re living in a vacation home and renting it. They are fond of targeting foreigners in their caroling but this is all in the spirit of fun of course. Foreigners are perceived to be the most generous givers of all for these children so don’t let their spirits down. After all, Christmas is for children anyway.

Along with the usual saints, children in Germany have another saintly figure aside from Santa Claus – Christkind. Just like Santa Claus, Christkind is also giving gifts during Christmas and is believed by kids to also go down via chimneys of their houses. Christkind is like an angel though complete with wings. Aside from pastries, homemakers in Germany have this passion to create gingerbread houses. These are really yummy and delicious staff. Another nice thing to look forward in Germany during Christmas is that all houses and trees in one’s backyard are lighted up during evenings. They spend a lot of electricity bills for these Christmas lights. But they never mind because it’s all contained in the spirit of celebration.

THESE and other exciting trivia you will find out once you’ll disembark from the plane in Frankfurt when you’ll be going here in Germany this Christmas season. If you merely come from another country in Europe, you don’t need a visa to get here. All you need are the proper documents and the appropriate luggage to come here. But first, you need to reserve for plane seats for Christmas season because it tends to get a little bit speedy out here during Christmas. If you haven’t booked a flight yet, then do so now or else you’ll be out of the way.

In booking for flights going to Bonn or any other international airport here in Germany, you need to book a flight that is a round-trip one. If you book on standalone flights, you may never get in time back home because as stated earlier, it tends to get a little bit speedy in here during Christmastime since this is a mostly Christian country. Or else you may want to get a train through Germany. There are numerous trips everyday since Germany is connected to the rest of the European mainland through Denmark, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Austria, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands and France of course.

When you come here via your own vehicle, make sure you are in for a very long ride and have your gas tank fully filled because there may not be a lot of gas stations along the way. Of course, you need to fill out your toolbox and prepare yourself for any blown-out tires or any other contingency during the entire trip. Make sure to bring along someone with you. This is just a safety precaution. But that is the essence of a road trip – the adventure. Besides, you will experience snowfalls along the way.

And to prepare you in such cold temperature (temperatures here do exist below -8 degrees Celsius), be wearing parkas and other clothes appropriate during winter. Parka is certainly appropriate under this circumstance. Just make sure you don’t wear cottony fiber because cotton tends to absorb moisture. But before coming in here, you need to reserve first for the best hotel deals possible, wherever city you may want to come whether you’ll want to stay in Hamburg or Cologne.

The best hotel deal already comes with the package and all you need to do is click the websites of your favorite travel agencies. There are two of them in the world – Travelocity and Expedia. For those who are living across the United States or Canada, coming here in Germany this Christmas may be equally heartwarming as well. You need to have a visa in coming here though. French-speaking people in Canada may find it cool to speak German. After all, German’s ancestral language is the same as the French ancestral language during the prehistoric ages which is German and Frankish. They both belong to the Romance language when they were united in one tongue by the Roman invaders.

Anyway about the question posed earlier: who is Father Christmas in Germany? He is called the Christmas Man. He often has a companion, an angelic one with robes and wings called Christkind and together they bring good tidings to kids at malls just like what Santa Claus does in the United States.

GERMANY used to be divided into two after World War II. But over time in a span of two decades, the eastern part of what used to be the divided nation is slowly catching up – even Christmas celebrations. Germany is a relatively Christian country and lots of folks here celebrate Christmas. On the other hand, there are also lots of Jews here and so they celebrate Hanukah the same time we celebrate Christmas – in the middle of winter. Winters here in Germany tend to be very cold. And so there are numerous wintry sports here such as ice skiing, sled racing and even horseback riding and hiking in the snow-covered mountains.

This is really an adventurer’s haven all the more enjoying because of the very cold climate with temperatures at times dropping below -8 degrees Celsius. That’s how harsh a German winter climate can be but the Germans have an easy compensation – simply drink beer and the warmth will flow naturally in your body. No wonder beer is an expertise something that Germans have. They want to do anything which will keep them warm in the middle of winter. Also, if you travel to Germany during this season, you need to bring along with you lots of clothing to protect yourself from cold. Once here, all your current outerwear will become part of your underwear or innerwear.

Just make sure you don’t bring any cottony fiber with you because cotton tends to absorb moisture. But these tips are only for the thrifty. For those who can afford it, indulge in shopping. Shopping here in Germany is the same way it is done all over the Western world although you may be awkward at first because everywhere you look, you will always see and hear everything in German. Don’t be too surprised that not every member of the populace speaks English; some speak halting English, others never at all. The European Union has mandated every of its member nation to make it mandatory for its high school students to learn a second language.

But being here in Germany during Christmas really beats being in Japan. First of all, the Japanese are not Christians and they do not use the Roman alphabet so it would be very ridiculous for you to try understanding Japanese characters etched in the middle of Tokyo which is said to be the New York City in Asia. There are lots of cities in Germany you can explore throughout the season. Let’s start off with Berlin. Berlin was once upon a time torn into two – the eastern part belongs to East Germany and the western part belongs to West Germany of course. Now Berlin is a perfect example of how a typical urbane city in Europe looks like. It is complete with almost everything that it is currently classified as a second-class global city. Despite that, there are still towering architectures of old in such old glories as Cologne. You will see distinctively-shaped cathedrals in that city and other snippets from the Gothic era.