Judgment at Nuremberg:

November 28, 2006

Christkindl

“Christmas markets have been part of this festive
time for centuries in Germany. They were usually held in front of
churches and were looked at as part of a church visit. The oldest
recorded market dates to 1310 in Munich, Germany. It was called Nikolausdult
and was very different from the markets of today. It was an opportunity
for farmers to come to town, do some shopping and at the same time,
offer their wares.

The reformation of the church in the 16th century brought changes to the Christmas markets. Nikolaus was replaced by the Christkindl
(Christchild) as the gift giver and the Nikolaus markets became
Christkindl markets. This custom began in the Protestant areas of
Bavaria with Nuremberg being the first city to call its market Christkindlesmarkt. Munich, a Catholic city, changed its Nikolausdult to Christkindlmarkt in 1805.”

– Background for Christkindl Market in Kitchener, Ontario

This will also serve as background for today’s New York Times story on Chicago’s Christkindlmarkt:

“Nativity” Booted from
Ill. Holiday Fair.

From the official promotional material for the Chicago event:

“The Christkindl, the Christmas Fairy, is a cherished
highlight during the Holiday Tree Lighting. The Christmas Fairy
proclaims the opening of Christkindlmarket Chicago.”

Also from the official Chicago Christkindl website:

On the “Christkindl,” the Christmas Fairy & our sister-market visit

www.christkindlesmarkt.de

The
famous “Christkindl,” the Christmas Fairy, is the trademark of
Christkindlmarket Chicago and its sister-market Christkindlesmarket
Nürnberg, Germany

In its English version, the Nuremberg website calls the alleged “Christmas Fairy” an angel:

“The Nuremberg Christmas Angel with her white and
golden dress, long blond curls and her golden crown, has been the
symbol for the Christmas Market for many decades. During Advent time,
the Christmas Angel is the most important representative of the city
and of the traditional Christmas Market.

Every year, on the
Friday before the first Advent Sunday, the Nuremberg Christmas Angel
opens the Nuremberg Christmas Market by reciting a solemn prologue.”

The German version of the Nuremberg site calls the Christmas Angel the Christkind
(Christ Child). This confusion of the Christ Child with a
supernatural bringer of gifts– hence, later, an angel, and, in Chicago,
a fairy– is said to have originated with Martin Luther.

From a Radio Deutsche Welle website–

Nuremberg, City of Angels–

The making of a myth

The Christkind
was originally introduced in the 16th century by religious reformer
Martin Luther. Until then, it was always Saint Nicholas who
brought gifts on Dec. 6. But as Protestants can’t have saints,
Luther needed a new Christmas tradition for his followers. “Luther
wanted to move the gift-giving away from the Catholic holiday on Dec.
6,” said Nuremberg tourism manager Michael Weber. “So he reinvented the
tradition for Protestants by moving it to Christmas Eve and making the Christkind– really, the baby Jesus– the person who brought the gifts.”

It was under the rule of the National Socialists that the image of today’s Christkind
was ultimately anchored in the collective German mind. They built
on Nuremberg’s tradition of producing tinsel angels, and in 1933, had a
young girl in an angel costume open the city’s Christmas Market for the
first time. After the second World War, Nuremberg’s tinsel angels
became simply the Nuremberg Christkind, and the figures were sold
nation-wide.