"From the Knieper badger to Santa Claus... - the history of Christmas customs in Mecklenburg"
The exhibition tells the story of the first Advent wreath, the arrival of the Christmas tree in the living room and Santa Claus bringing presents. In addition to the almost forgotten pagan customs, the Christian Christmas festive cycle is also presented.
What about the Christmas tree? It's not as old as you might think and at the same time much older than you might think! Even in early cultures, green bushes were decorated to evoke the return of spring.
It is also interesting how Christmas decorations were used as a reflection of social conditions. During the Nazi era, for example, airplanes, hand grenades and swastika balls made of glass were supposed to hang on the festive trees - but the Christmas tree was usually decorated traditionally, full of hope and longing.
And what about presents? Giving presents to children only developed in the course of the 19th century, when the personal value of the child in the family and society also increased.
Even if the wish lists were not always entirely immodest around 1900, they cannot be compared with today's gift-giving mania.
Christmas as a celebration of the family in the 19th century sense has been dissolved by the disintegration of traditional families. Today, the Christian content of the celebration is often no longer perceived, because we live in a time of the "disenchantment of the world", which does not even stop at the "magic of Christmas".
