ADVENT

In keeping with the religious significance of Christmas, the Church as early as the 6th Century, set apart the four Sundays preceding Christmas as a time of devotional preparation, known as the Advent Season, which ends with Christmas Eve. The word Advent comes from the Latin word advenire-arrive. It is a time of waiting and preparation for the arrival of the Christchild (Christkind) and is filled with holy days, recurring rituals, symbolism and affirmation of the divine. It is also filled with human relations and values, cherished, and passed from generation to generation.

The video Alle Jahre Wieder - color, app. 60 minutes, (all in German) presents this period and captures its spirit. Using many of the best known German Christmas songs, this beautiful, musical and cultural excursion takes the viewer through the Advent Season to Christmas Eve. Some of these songs, in their English version, are familiar to American audiences and are given in brackets.

Played against the backdrop of the medieval city of Dinkelsbühl, the Königsee, Hintersee and the Ramsau in the area of Berchtesgaden, with visits to Nürnberg and the Nürnberger Christkindlmarkt, to the Wallfahrtskirche Grössweinstein, the Cathedral at Bamberg and the Church at Thurnau, it features some of Germany's best known choirs: collegium musicum, Regensburger Domspatzen, Kölner Kinderchor, Tölzer Knabenchor, Berliner Mozartchor, Heino and the Sonntagskinder and other soloists and music groups. It shows close-ups of church interiors, from the romanesque to the baroque and rokoko, magnificent altars and nativity scenes.

Click here for video information and songs in order of presentation.

Click here for the video's free online Teaching aids.

FURTHER ADVENT RESOURCES

  • Links to further songs for Advent and an entire Christmas play.
  • Link to the Adventskranz - Advent wreaths. Follow to links at bottom.
  • Further Christmas Videos from the German Video Center in Indianapolis.
  • Loretta Swit video: "A Christmas Calendar" Christmas traditions in Germany.

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