Saturday, January 06, 2007

We Three Kings.......and also....on the 12th Day of Christmas....

You might be saying "Wait a minute....she CAN'T still be singing Christmas Carols can she? Enough already!" Today is a holiday here in our region of Germany (and several others)..it is the twelfth day of Christmas, or Drei Konige Tag (3 Kings Day), the day of Epiphany. If you have visited here you may have noticed on most doorframes some chalked letters and numbers and wondered what they are. They are the initials of the 3 Kings C+M+B (Casper, Melchoir, and Balthasar) followed by the year which are written in chalk on this day every January. It is meant to be a blessing on your home. The star singers, usually a group of 4 girls dressed up as the 3 kings and another one who carries the star that they follow go around the town singing their 3 kings song and putting the blessing on the house. The homeowners usually give them some coins which are taken back to the church and sent to a charity organization and also some candy for the singers to share. The past few years we have not been home when the star singers visited our street, but this year we were lucky and we were home and I got some pictures of them. What an interesting and fun tradition!

6 comments:

Charlee said...

I had never heard of this before...way cool!

Chelsea said...

Such a neat tradition! It's going to make a great layout!!

Vicky said...

There always seems to be something happening where you live...being there must really be an adventure for you.

Jaci Clark said...

I thought I stop over and say "HI". You are living in my most favorite place ever! I LOVE Heidelberg!!!

That is such a great tradition. So glad you were home this year and got to see them finally!

Tschüss erstmal

DivaMom96 said...

That IS a fun tradition! I love visiting foreign countries and learning about their unique festivals and traditions. Did you know that in England, Halloween isn't a big deal? I had a neighbor who moved here from England and she absolutely loved how we celebrate Halloween here.

Sounds like a lot of fun there! Keeps Christmas going as long as possible ... hee, hee, hee!

Mary said...

what a great tradition and a great subject for your scrapping