...that the first printed Advent Calendar (Adventskalender) was manufactured in Munich (Bavaria) in 1908 (some claim it was as early as 1903 in Austria) by Gerhard Lang?
Prior to the paper version, advent calendars took the form of candles (one candle lit for each of the 24 days of December that led up to Christmas Eve (Heiligabend)) or chalk marks around the door frame. While the first printed version did not have any windows that could be opened by eager children, this was soon changed. The tradition of the printed Adventskalender was briefly suspended during World War II when cardboard was rationed in Germany, yet after the war the printing of these calendars resumed, notably by Richard Sellmer.
Please take a moment to visit Richard Sellmer`s Advent Calendar Museum. According to Sellmer, the chocolate filled Adventskalender was introduced in or before 1958.
...that the Schwibbogen was created by a blacksmith named Johann Teller in Johanngeorgenstadt around 1726?
It is said that Mr. Teller was inspired to craft these light carrying arches by the Ore Mountain (Erzgebirge) ore miners who used to make such bows out of wood for their celebration of Christmas at the end of their Christmas Eve shift (Mettenschicht). Another story relates the inspiration of this creation to have come from the miners' lanterns that were hung on the wall during Mettenschicht. These lanterns were said to have formed a lighted arch on the wall.
Today, many times these Schwibbögen decorate the windows of those celebrating Christmas with traditional trappings.
...that the first gilded tin angel (Rauschgoldengel) was made in the 18th century by a master craftsman in Nuremberg (Nürnberg)?
It is said that due to a tragic misfortune the craftsman lost his daughter; however, in a dream she appeared to her father, clad in gold. The next day, he crafted an angel-doll using tin. The doll's head was carved wood, with a likeness of his daughter. When word spread of his angel doll, the craftsman's friends urged him to manufacture more such dolls and sell them at the Christmas Market (Christkindelsmarkt); a tradition was born!
To see some examples of these beautiful dolls, please visit the Rauschgoldengel page of the Nürnberg Toy Museum.
...that there are numerous culinary Christmas traditions that are widely enjoyed in Germany? There are the Christstollen (which is a marzipan-filled fruit bread, distant kin to the sometimes maligned fruit cake), traditional Lebkuchen (which can be baked into the forms of gingerbread-men or a gingerbread house), and of course the famous Glühwein.
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