“There used to be more tinsel” – Christmas in Tyrol, Austria in the old days – Part 2

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The mountain landscape in Tyrol, Austria is already sugared white and well-known old and new Christmas music can be heard on the radio during December.

Cookies are being baked in many kitchens and there is a wonderful smell of cinnamon, orange, and cloves everywhere. A contemplative time is just around the corner, which is deeply rooted in the old customs and traditions. But gold, frankincense, and myrrh have not been under the Christmas tree for a very long time and so we wondered, what used to lie under the evergreen fir and how was Christmas and Advent celebrated back then, decades before we were born.

Today I want to share the memories of Maria, born in 1937 in Zillertal, Austria, right underneath the Pankratzberg.

“At Christmas, my mother did a lot of laundry and baked kilos of cookies. There was only one variety, simple butter biscuits. We were allowed to eat the ones that were a little too brown, the rest was held back for Christmas.”

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Maria was one of seven children. Unfortunately, her three brothers died in infancy. Her parents ran a farm in Pankratzberg on a lease, which is very common in Tyrol and Austria. To get down to the valley, they walked for an hour. In the snow-covered winter months a lot longer, unless they had their toboggan (sleighs) with them.

Maria remembers the times back then. “Shortly before Christmas, a pig was slaughtered, and we used all of it. We never had to go hungry. On Christmas Eve, in the stable and the rooms in the house the burning of incense smoke cleaned the air. I had gotten the Christmas tree from the forest a few days earlier. I can still remember, I was 12 years old at most. Everyone had to help and so I did. I felt pride when I brought home the tree.

The ‘good’ cookies were in a bowl, and a few hung on the Christmas tree. There were also church day doughnuts.

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In addition to the cookies, the tree was decorated with colorful baubles, lanterns, birds, sweets in paper, and candles. On the table was a small nativity scene.

The gifts were mostly things to wear, such as Doggln, a kind of felt slippers that mom secretly made at night during the year. (They are only made and sold in Austria). Rarely were there toys for us children but year I got a wooden doll. It had been carved by a neighbor. The doll disappeared every year shortly before Christmas and then rested on Weihnacht/Christmas Evening under the Christmas tree with a new dress. I also got a carriage for the doll once, and I was very happy. We never sang Christmas carols because no one in the family could sing. With the felt slippers on our feet and torches in our hands, we children tobogganed down into the valley for midnight mass.”

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Families from all over the region trudged through the deep snow to the church to celebrate the birth of Jesus. “Today, Christmas is no longer celebrated traditionally and in church,” says Maria thoughtfully. In the hectic time, it can easily be forgotten that Christmas has nothing to do with consumption, stress, and hectic. “The time we take for others and spend together is the most valuable thing,” says Maria. This is the true spirit of Christmas.

Christmas has gotten away from me through the years. I adjusted to the American Christmas but always remembered the old days with Grandma on the farm. Life has gotten too hectic and I feel that I need to honor my roots as well as the old times a bit more.

That’s why I try to bring them back on my blog, including the Christmas jodels 🙂