Sternsinger

2012 has started and I'm just about getting used to writing the year without hesitating! My year began in wintry Germany, with colourful fireworks going off everywhere, but me not seeing much of them except for reflections on fog! Hopefully, the fogginess is not indicative of what lies ahead, although, so far, my head hasn't really cleared up, partly because of jet lag, and partly due to a head cold.

Every now and then I have a hankering for a German Christmas; an excuse to catch up with family for a fun occasion, and some vague nostalgia for Christmases past. No bah humbug for me! Once again, I wasn't disappointed in what the old country had to offer, except perhaps the lack of a decent layer of snow. It was unseasonally mild for winter, and I only saw snow fall twice, not lasting long enough to get the camera out. Magically, some white flakes appeared on Christmas eve, just when the 'Christkindl' was making its approach.

I've written before about Christmas traditions in Germany, however, there was one tradition I had forgotten all about, and one which I was reminded about while travelling just after New Year. There is, in Germany and I believe, several other European countries, a tradition of "Sternsinger" (Star singers), walking through the streets between Christmas and Epiphany (6th December). These are mostly children, dressed as the three kings, Melchior, Caspar, and Balthasar, and singing a variety of carols. The impetus comes from the churches, who collect money this way for childrens charities. In 2011, the money went to support children in South America.

According to Wikipedia, this tradition goes back several hundred years. Children and young adults are sent out from the church, often after a Sunday mass, and knock on doors, offering to sing, pray, or recite a poem. Then the star singers convey a blessing, in the form of letters written on the door, in consecrated chalk. In Germany, the letters would likely be 20*C+M+B+12 ( the current year, a star symbolising the star of Bethlehem, three crosses symbolising the trinity, and CMB, which some believe stands for the 3 kings, others think they mean Christus mansionem benedicat/Christ bless this house). Different areas have different ways of writing the blessing.

I came across some star singers in a cafe, in a small town near Frankfurt. They were singing a song of the 3 kings, and people were happy for their song and their blessings, contributing to the collection quite handsomely! It was nice to see an old tradition kept alive, and I hope political correctness doesn't destroy this basically Christian event.

Toys

DH and I grew up in very different places. I was pretty much a city kid growing up in the US and Germany, taking toys and TV for granted, while Wayne was a country kid in Australia, without TV for much of his childhood and toys a rarity. "What did you do when you wanted to play?" I asked him, and he fondly recalled his cowboys and indians battles with his 3 brothers, pouring kerosene into puddles and lighting them (!), and playing with marbles. We did have marbles in common!
The first toy I remember having is this gorgeous Steiff teddy, which is still one of my treasures. I was about three years old that Christmas, and the box under the Xmas tree was nearly as tall as I was. My parents said I should open the box, and when I did, it tipped over and unleashed an almighty GRRROOOWWWL! Terrified, I ran into the bedroom and hid behind the bed! It took a lot of cajoling to get me back into the lounge room with that fearsome box! Once Mum & Dad opened it, the most adorable teddy appeared, and after Dad tipped him over a few times to show that the growl was harmless, we became fast friends. Most of my toys were of the animal variety. The Steiff company was very well represented, and I had an amazing wooden circus wagon on wheels, a great prop for playing circus with all my animals. One of my favourites was a little puppy dog, which accompanied me everywhere. After losing him on a flight between the US and Germany, I was inconsolable, and the first thing Mum had to do after landing was find exactly the same one - which she did! My godson inherited the puppy, and now his little girl plays with it. I was never that fond of dolls, except for one I remember for her long hair, which I turned into elaborate hairdos using Mum's rollers and bobby pins. When my sister came along, we played with Lego a lot. We also had a supermarket and a dolls house, but they only came out on Christmas. We spent hours 'shopping' for miniature groceries with chocolate coins, and stacking shelves, and eating the produce.... Later toys were novelties, such as green 'slime' - icky! Or those troll dolls with nothing but hair and a squashed nose - remember those? And Smurfs! I think we had every Smurf under the sun! What were your favourite toys?