Many people think that Christmas started in America, but this is not the case, it is Germany that has had the most influence on Christmas. The advent calendar is known to come from Germany, where as most of the advent calendars are manufactured and have chocolate inside them. It is traditional in Germany that each of the days has a gift behind the number (usually chocolate). All the presents in Germany are opened on Christmas Eve, after the present opening it is traditional to go to midnight mass. Christmas day is about spending time with the family.

Other German traditions which are still happening today are the Gingerbread houses, the Christmas Tree (which has had influence all over the world) and nutcrackers.

Father Christmas in England and America has always been a big influence on Christmas, although known under different names ie. Kris Kringle, Santa Clause and St Nicholas he is still the same man.

In England however the tradition of Christmas has always been that on Christmas eve the children put out their stockings for Father Christmas, they also put out a mince pie and a glass of sherry, and Father Christmas comes down the chimney to put presents in the stockings whilst they are sleeping. The presents are opened on Christmas Day, then the whole family get together for a Turkey dinner. Boxing day traditionally was the day to open the Christmas Box and share presents with the poor, but in recent years it has just turned into another day of people rushing to the sales to bag a bargin.

The Christmas cultures are so differ so much between England and Germany that greeting cards have script inside them that are completely the opposite to each other. When it comes to translating these Christmas cards (Weihnachtskarten) the job becomes complex, as to put a script into a greeting card you must be aware of your audiences expectations. To understand another culture and to translate this into a card can prove hard at times.

Many of the Christmas Cards which are bought in the United Kingdom each year, have either Christmas Greetings (Weihnachtsgrüsse) on them, or Seasons Greetings. As German tradition is so different to England’s and the United States it would be hard to guess what would be deemed as appropriate for a Christmas Card. Where as England has lost the tradition of Christmas somewhere along the line, Germany still follows the Christmas traditions for which they are well known.