Tourist in Copenhagen

Danish
Christmas
Christmas in Denmark is a seasonal
feast that harks back to time
immemorial. An age-old festival
of light, it is a time to rejoice the
advent of a new year.
Christmas Eve is the highpoint
of the Danish Christmas. This
is when families gather for the
evening Christmas meal, which
often means either roast pork,
duck or goose served with
pickled red cabbage and
carame lised potatoes. Then,
after a game of hunt-and-seek
for the almond in the creamy
rice pudding, they dance around
the Christmas tree singing
Christmas carols and open the
many presents piled high under
the tree.
The Danes also celebrate the
evening before Christmas Eve
as well as Christmas Day itself,
and even Boxing Day. Here,
many Danes gather for sumptuous
Christmas meals offering
a smorgasbord of seasonal
delights.
One thing most visitors will
notice is the warm-toned light in
homes and restaurants.
Christmas trees in Denmark are
real spruce trees and they are
candlelit! Since time immemorial,
the Danes have
celebrated winter solstice with
a festival of light. Now this
festival is called Christmas – or
jul in Danish (which is an Old
Norse word that means ‘wheel’,
signifying the turn of the year).
Another old Danish yuletide
tradition is the Christmas elf –
nisse in Danish. Heaven forbid
should you forget to leave a
bowl of rice porridge in the
attic for this mischievous little
being!
Christmas hearts
Christmas is a time
for hearts in
Denmark, when
Christmas trees
are often decorated
with folded
paper hearts – sometimes
intricate origami-style works
of art but most often a simple
decoration made by weaving
two pieces of paper together.
The first person to introduce
the paper heart was Danish
fairytale writer Hans Christian
Andersen, who sparked the
nationwide craze for these
decorations in 1861.
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