Europäische Weihnacht – in Vielfalt geeint - Sutter GmbH & Co. KG

Lieblingsbeschäftigungen an den öden Winterabenden.
Jede estnische Region hat ihr eigenes
Strickmuster. Angeblich stammen diese Muster
noch aus einer Zeit, als man mit ihrer Hilfe
ertrunkene Seeleute leichter identifizierte.
Christmas and New Year’s Greeting:
“Haeid joulupuehi ja head uut
aastat!”
Since the EU expansion took place in May 2004 the
people in the whole of Europe should realise that
there are three very different states located by the
Baltic Sea, whose respective individuality is well
worth taking a look at “independently”. But still –
and let’s be honest about this – we tend to call the
Estonians, the Latvians and the Lithuanians conjointly
the “Balts”, lumping them all together. Yet it
is not that difficult to find out about the specific characteristics
of any one country – such as, for example,
their different Christmas customs.
In Estonia – and presumably only there and nowhere
else in the world – the Christmas days are rung in
with the ancient tradition of “brooming”. It is the
duty of the children in the house to gather all besoms,
brooms, mops and brushes in the kitchen and clean
these thoroughly of their dust and dirt once a year.
They do this with great care, and even check the stables
and the sheds to make sure that they have not
forgotten a single broom, as if the well-being of the
house and the fortune of its residents depended on it.
The children’s eagerness, however, has its very own
self-seeking motive. They are told that witches come
to haunt the Christmas season, roaming the area on
their brooms, playing pranks on everybody and even
occasionally stealing a gift from underneath the
Christmas tree, only to fly off to other countries with
it. But brooms – and in Estonia every child knows
this – only fly if they are really dirty and a cleaned
broom, on the other hand, is no ideal means of transport
for witches.
The most important celebration for the Estonians
throughout the year is, by the way, not Christmas,
but Midsommer held on St. John’s the Baptist’s Day,
i.e. June 24. Many Estonian proverbs and aphorisms
link these two festivities: Mida külmem jõulu, seda
palavam jaan (“The colder Christmas is, the hotter
St. John’s the Baptist’s Day will be.”) There are as
many sayings in Estonia as there are fish in the Baltic
Sea. Kevadine päe on pikem ku jõulune nädäl (“A
day in spring is longer than a week at Christmas.”);
Laadalt hobuse ostmine ja metsast jõulukuuse otsimine
on raske amet (“It is difficult to buy a horse at
the market and to find a good Christmas tree in the
forest.”); Joul aadust paras (“Christmas Eve is the
best thing about Christmas.”) For Estonians,
December 24 is the Christmas highlight. This, combined
with the many long vowels of this peculiar
language shows that the Estonians are related to the
Finns (jFinland), at least more so than to their
Latvian and Lithuanian counterparts with whom,
much to their own (and their) dissatisfaction they
are frequently seen as one.
Which brings us to the Christmas dinner – in Estonia
a bloody matter, since Verre pannekoogid, a type
of dessert crêpes, or Sauerkraut with cranberry chutney
and black pudding are the most popular festive
foods.
Underneath the Christmas tree
there is frequently a new celli
– Estonia, next to Finland,
has the highest mobilephone
density rate in
Europe – or a hand-knitted
jumper, since knitting
has a long tradition
in Estonia and is
among the favourite
occupations
during long winter
nights. Every
region in Estonia
has its own
knitting pattern.
These patterns
supposedly
originate from days
when they helped
identify drowned sailors.
Estland/Estonia
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