Die Weihnachtsgurke
Also known as the Christmas Pickle in the United States, the Weihnachtsgurke / Christmas Pickle Legend is like many legends - only as good as the story tellers who share it. Take time to read below and enjoy the legend and maybe even start your own family tradition with a Christmas Pickle on your tree.
The Legend of the Pickle -
The Christmas pickle is not really a pickle at all, it is a pickle-shaped ornament. A very old Christmas Eve tradition in Germany was to hide a glass blown pickle ornament (originally it was simply a regular pickle) deep in the branches of the family Christmas Tree. The parents hung the pickle last after all the other ornaments were in place. In the morning they knew the most observant child would receive an extra gift from St Nicholas. The first adult who finds the pickle traditionally gets good luck for the whole year. This Christmas pickle story, with a few minor variations, can be found all over the web and in print inside the glass ornament package. It says that Germans hang a pickle-shaped glass ornament on the Christmas tree hidden away so it's difficult to find. The first child to find it on Christmas morning gets a special treat or extra present.
Of course, the real essence behind this family tradition (like any other) is to take time to savor the moment with family and friends and while searching for the pickle enjoy the beauty of the tree and it's ornaments - teaching children to stop and enjoy the beauty of the season and not focus on the gifts under the tree.
In fact, when my wife and I first got married, I found one of these Christmas pickle ornaments in a store, complete with its origin story, and being intrigued with the story, I bought one. My mother's side is almost exclusively German, so I thought we were carrying one a long-lost family tradition. We have certainly had fun with the Christmas pickle in our household.
Or so one of the legend goes... Apparently, people who know Germany well or are Germans themselves, when told about this legend, most often say that they have never heard of it....in fact, it may have been some German-American invention by someone who wanted to sell more glass ornaments for Christmas. Or maybe Weihnachtsgurke was an obscure regional custom that few people are aware of? The town of Lauscha in Germany is well-known for its various glass ornaments, and as early as 1847 was making fruit and nut-shaped glass ornaments...perhaps they or others made these pickle ornaments, and celebrated this custom? After doing some digging, here is what I have found out about the legend of the pickle.
A second version begins with a family story of a Bavarian-born man named John Lower (perhaps Hans Lauer?) who fought in the American Civil War. A prisoner in poor health and starving, he begged a guard for just one pickle before he died. The guard took pity on him and found a pickle for him. The pickle by the grace of God gave him the physical and mental strength to live on. Then, once he was reunited with his family he began a tradition of hiding a pickle on the Christmas tree. The first person who found the pickle on Christmas morning would be blessed with a year of good fortune, and this could have been the genesis for the Christmas Pickle tradition we now know of.
Yet another version seems to have begun in Berrien Springs, MI, and tells a medieval tale of two Spanish boys traveling home from boarding school for the holidays. When they stopped at an inn for the night, the innkeeper, a mean and evil man, stuffed the boys into a pickle barrel. That evening , St Nicholas stopped at the same inn, realized the boys plight and tapped the pickle barrel with his staff, magically freeing the trapped boys.
Berrien Springs actually calls itself the Christmas Pickle Capital of the World. They celebrate with an annual Christmas Pickle Festival which takes place in the early part of December. The highlight of the parade is the Grand "Dill"meister who passes out fresh pickles along the parade route. You may even purchase the German glass pickle ornaments at the towns museum.
German Origins?
Rumor and speculation place the origin of the tradition in Germany, however few in modern-day Germany recognize or have even heard of the Christmas pickle, though there are some folks who claim that a grandfather or great grandmother who was from Germany did have a pickle for their Christmas tree. Regardless of where it came from, the Christmas tradition survives and is a fun and great family tradition worth sharing. Interestingly, ornament manufacturers continue to make the specialty ornaments and enjoy sharing this legend and its origins regardless.
The Lauscha Connection
There may be, however, a somewhat tenuous German connection to the glass pickle ornament. As previously mentioned, glass Christmas ornaments were being produced in Germany. As early as 1597, the small town of Lauscha, now in the German state of Thuringia (Thüringen), was known for its glass-blowing (Glasbläserei). The small industry of glass-blowers produced drinking glasses and glass containers. As mentioned, in 1847 a few of the Lauscha craftsmen began producing glass ornaments (Glasschmuck) in the shape of fruits and nuts. These Glaskugeln were made in a unique hand-blown process combined with molds (formgeblasener Christbaumschmuck). Soon these unique Christmas ornaments were being exported to other parts of Europe, as well as England and the U.S.
Today Lauscha exports glass pickle ornaments to the U.S.—where they are sold along with the “German” tradition story. In case you believed that the pickle ornaments were not sold in Germany, it turns out that they are! For example, on a December visit with a family in the small German town of Höxter an American lady had not only seen Weihnachtsgurken ornaments for sale at the local Christmas market, but witnessed the Christmas pickle custom itself being observed in the family's home in Höxter. But does that prove it's a German custom?
A Web search in German and English turns up only the fact that the pickle ornaments are indeed sold in parts of Germany, ranging from Höxter in North Rhine-Westphalia to Kissing in Bavaria. Most of the German articles on the topic debunk the legend. Efforts to get confirmation of the actual pickle custom from someone in Höxter have so far been fruitless. (Have the people there really kept this custom a secret for all these years?) We still lack any proof that this is truly a German custom, or that the custom is not a fairly recent invention. Has the popularity of the supposedly German legend in America brought it to Germany, or was it really the other way around? It's still a mystery.
All we can say for certain is that to this day few in Germany have ever heard of the German Christmas pickle custom. So far there has not found much historical or other evidence to indicate that the Weihnachtsgurke is a genuine Christmas custom from Germany. However, that doesn't stop thousands of people from still carrying on the tradition, and sharing the story of the Christmas Pickle.
Sources: http://www.german-way.com/german-christmas-pickle-ornament/, http://german.about.com/library/blgermyth11.html, and personal experience.