How did the Pennsylvania Dutch celebrate Christmas?
The Pennsylvania Dutch responded by celebrating their most cherished Christmas traditions from home and creating a few new ones. At the center of a home’s Christmas celebration was the tree, a fir cut from Pennsylvania’s abundant woods and brought inside a few days before Christmas.
Who are the Pennsylvania Dutch?
The Pennsylvania Dutch ( Pennsylvania German: Pennsilfaanisch Deitsch ), translated from German to English as Pennsylvania Germans, are a cultural group formed by German immigrants settling in the state of Pennsylvania during the 18th and 19th centuries.
Why do we celebrate Christmas in Pennsylvania?
The German and Swiss immigrants who came to Pennsylvania around 1700 brought with them their own beloved Christmas traditions, which are still alive and well in Pennsylvania Dutch communities today, and have helped to shape all Americans’ Christmas traditions.
What was Christmas like for German immigrants in Pennsylvania?
When German immigrants first arrived in Pennsylvania, however, they were taken aback by their English neighbors’ lack of Christmas spirit! In Germany they had been used to a Christmas filled with joy and mirth, where friends and family gathered to sing and eat, exchange gifts and make merry.
Is Belsnickel a real tradition?
Amongst the Pennsylvania Germans, Belsnickel is the character who visits homes prior to Christmas to check up on the behavior of the children. The traditional Belsnickel showed up at houses 1–2 weeks before Christmas and often created fright because he always knew exactly which of the children misbehaved.
Is there such thing as Pennsylvania Dutch?
The Pennsylvania Dutch are descendants of early German-speaking immigrants who arrived in Pennsylvania in the 1700s and 1800s to escape religious persecution in Europe. They were made of up German Reformed, Mennonite, Lutheran, Moravian and other religious groups and came from areas within the Holy Roman Empire.
What are some Pennsylvania Dutch traditions?
Pennsylvania Dutch Christmas TraditionsHiding The Pickle In The Tree.Turning The Christmas Tree… Upside Down.Welcoming The Belsnickel.Hanging A Moravian Star.Celebrating Second Christmas.
Is Belsnickel a demon?
He's also is known as Kriskinkle, Beltznickle, Pelsnichol, and sometimes as the Christmas woman. Some see the Belsnickel as an amalgamation of the forgiving, gift-giving Saint Nicholas and Krampus, a horned, half-goat half-demon, who during the Christmas season punishes children who have misbehaved.
Can German speakers understand Pennsylvania Dutch?
The languages are all similar, but far from identical. Louden explains that as the minority language, most Amish Swiss German speakers can understand Pennsylvania Dutch, but the reverse isn't necessarily true.
Are Amish and Pennsylvania Dutch the same?
Pennsylvania Dutch is the language used by the Amish population here in Lancaster County. It is considered to be their first and native language. The Amish learn to read, write and speak in English, allowing them to communicate with the 'outside world'.
Which is an iconic food of the Pennsylvania Dutch?
Pennsylvania Dutch specialties Apple dumpling—cored and peeled apple, covered in a pie-crust, dusted with sugar or cinnamon, and baked. Served in a bowl with milk. Sometimes eaten as dessert, but generally a meal in and of itself. Bova Shankel—a pierogi-type dish of potato dumplings and sauce.
What is a Pennsylvania Dutch Christmas?
Early Pennsylvania Dutch Christmas traditions include dying eggs with onion skins – we now associate that practice with Easter, but it was an originally a Christmas activity. The festive eggs would then be used to decorate the tree. Another traditional holiday decoration in Lancaster is a pretzel.
Is Pennsylvania Dutch a culture?
The Pennsylvania Dutch culture, which is now over three centuries old and still evolving, is an American hybrid creation put together from Continental Europe, British Isles, and American building blocks in Southeastern Pennsylvania.
Who is Santa's enemy?
Krampus1) What is a Krampus? Krampus is basically the anti-St. Nicholas, the opposite of Santa Claus. He's a fugly mythical creature usually depicted with similar features as the devil.
What is the evil Santa called?
KrampusThe ancient goat-demon from Germany has become more and more popular in recent years.
Is Santa real?
He is based on St. Nicholas of Myra, who, according to Christian tradition, was a bishop in that small Roman town during the 4th century. Nicholas's reputation for generosity and kindness gave rise to legends of miracles he performed for the poor and unhappy.
What does it mean if you are Pennsylvania Dutch?
Definition of Pennsylvania Dutch 1 : a people originally of eastern Pennsylvania whose characteristic cultural traditions go back to the German migrations of the 18th century. 2 : a dialect of German spoken mainly in Amish communities especially in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana.
Is Pennsylvania Dutch different from Dutch?
Although the term "Pennsylvania Dutch" is often taken to refer to the Amish and related Old Order groups, the term should not imply a connection to any particular religious group. The word Dutch does not refer to the Dutch language or people, but is a corruption of the endonym Deitsch.
Is Pennsylvania Dutch actually German?
The Pennsylvania Dutch (also called Pennsylvania Germans or Pennsylvania Deutsch) are descendants of early German immigrants to Pennsylvania who arrived in droves, mostly before 1800, to escape religious persecution in Europe.
Why do Amish speak Pennsylvania Dutch?
With that said, most places in Lancaster and the surrounding areas teach Pennsylvania Dutch as their first language. Pennsylvania Dutch is a dialect of German that was actually their first original language, which is why they place such an emphasis on it today.
What are the traditions of the Dutch in Pennsylvania?
Pennsylvania Dutch Traditions. The German and Swiss immigrants who came to Pennsylvania around 1700 brought with them their own beloved Christmas traditions, which are still alive and well in Pennsylvania Dutch communities today, and have helped to shape all Americans’ Christmas traditions.
What did the Dutch do for Christmas?
At the center of a home’s Christmas celebration was the tree, a fir cut from Pennsylvania’s abundant woods and brought inside a few days before Christmas. Children kept busy stringing popped corn ...
What was the Christmas tradition in Germany?
In Germany they had been used to a Christmas filled with joy and mirth, where friends and family gathered to sing and eat, exchange gifts and make merry. Few colonists in the north paid much attention to the holiday, letting it pass by without celebration like any other day.
What is the tradition of Belsnickling?
Even after Belsnickel and the Christkindl were replaced by the Santa Claus we know today as Christmas gift-bringer, the tradition of “Belsnickling,” where groups of masked young people went door to door entertaining on the nights preceding Christmas, continued for many years.
Who wrote the Christmas tradition in Pennsylvania?
Smith says the tradition is covered in one of the pioneering scholarly works on Pennsylvania German Christmas traditions, “Christmas in Pennsylvania” by Alfred Shoemaker (1959). In it, Shoemaker explains how Christkindl eventually evolved into Kris Kringle.
Where did the Belsnickel originate?
Smith says he has seen other sources that suggest that the two are completely unrelated as Knecht Ruprecht was associated with Northern Germany and the Belsnickel was more likely derived from southwest Germany.
Who wrote Christmas in Pennsylvania?
In their book, “Christmas in Pennsylvania: A Folk Cultural Study,” Alfred Shoemaker and Don Yoder described a visit from the Belsnickel:
What episode of Dwight Christmas is Belsnickel in?
In episode 9 of season 9 of the Scranton-based sitcom, titled “Dwight Christmas,” which first aired in 2012, Dwight included the Belsnickel in a Pennsylvania Dutch-themed Christmas party he planned but never pulled off for the office. Don't Edit.
Where is Belsnickel in Pennsylvania?
The Belsnickel is one part of the annual Pennsylvania Dutch Christmas program, Christmas on the Farm, at the Pennsylvania German Cultural Heritage Center at Kutztown University in Berks County. Here’s a look at this year’s program. Pennsylvania Dutch Christmas on the Farm celebrated at heritage center : photos. Don't Edit.
What is the Belsnickel?
Some see the Belsnickel as an amalgamation of the forgiving, gift-giving Saint Nicholas and Krampus, a horned, half-goat half-demon, who during the Christmas season punishes children who have misbehaved.
Where did the Belsnickel originate?
Please try again later. The Belsnickel originated in the various companions and servants of Saint Nicholas (Santa Claus) in the folklore of German-speaking Europe. Among them is Knecht Ruprecht. He’s also is known as Kriskinkle, Beltznickle, Pelsnichol, and sometimes as the Christmas woman.
What is the name of the Christmas woman?
He’s also is known as Kriskinkle, Beltznickle, Pelsnichol, and sometimes as the Christmas woman.
Where did Marcus Schneck come from?
Marcus Schneck, [email protected]. He’s a creature of folklore from the Palatinate region of southwestern Germany, brought to America by German immigrants, who became known as the Pennsylvania Dutch. The figure has persisted in the Pennsylvania Dutch regions of the U.S. and spread a bit into the wider culture, ...
What is the Pennsylvania Dutch?
German American, Swiss American, French American. The Pennsylvania Dutch ( Pennsylvania German: Pennsilfaanisch-Deitsch ), also referred to as the Pennsylvania German s, are a cultural group formed by German immigrants settling in the state of Pennsylvania during the 18th and 19th centuries. These emigrated primarily from German-speaking territories ...
Where do the Dutch live in Pennsylvania?
The Pennsylvania Dutch live primarily in Southeastern and in Pennsylvania Dutch Country, a large area that includes South Central Pennsylvania, in the area stretching in an arc from Bethlehem and Allentown through Reading, Lebanon, and Lancaster to York and Chambersburg.
What language do the Dutch speak in Pennsylvania?
Pennsylvania culture is still prevalent in some parts of Pennsylvania today. The Pennsylvania Dutch today speak English, though some still speak the Pennsylvania Dutch language among themselves. They have cultural things similar to some things that the Mennonites in the same area do. Some Pennsylvania Dutch phrases include "outen or out'n the lights" meaning "turn off the lights", "its gonna make wet" meaning "its going to rain", and "its all" meaning "its all gone". They also sometimes leave out the verb in phrases turning "the trash needs to go out" in to "the trash needs out". The Pennsylvania Dutch often have some foods that are uncommon outside of places where they live. Some of these include shoo-fly pie, funny cake, and jello salads such as strawberry pretzel salad.
Where did the Amish come from?
Of note were Amish and Mennonites who came to the Palatinate and surrounding areas from the German-speaking part of Switzerland, where, as Anabaptists, they were persecuted, and so their stay in the Palatinate was of limited duration. Most of the Pennsylvania Dutch have roots going much further back in the Palatinate.
What caused the Germans to come to America?
The devastation of the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) and the wars between the German principalities and France caused some of the immigration of Germans to America from the Rhine area. Members of this group founded the borough of Germantown, in northwest Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, in 1683.
What religions did the Dutch adhere to?
The Pennsylvania Dutch maintained numerous religious affiliations, with the greatest number being Lutheran or German Reformed, but also many Anabaptists, including Mennonites, Amish, and Brethren. The Anabaptist groups espoused a simple lifestyle, and their adherents were known as Plain people (or Plain Dutch); this contrasted to the Fancy Dutch, who tended to assimilate more easily into the European American mainstream. By the late 1700s, other denominations were also represented in smaller numbers.
Who was the first Mennonite to come to Pennsylvania?
This group of Mennonites was organized by Francis Daniel Pastorius, an agent for a land purchasing company based in Frankfurt am Main. None of the Frankfurt Company ever came to Pennsylvania except Pastorius himself, but 13 Krefeld German ( South Guelderish -speaking) Mennonite families arrived on October 6, 1683, in Philadelphia. They were joined by eight more Dutch-speaking families from Hamburg-Altona in 1700 and five German-speaking families from the Palatinate in 1707.
What year did Dwight Christmas air?
"Dwight Christmas" aired on NBC on December 6, 2012. In its original American broadcast, the episode was viewed by 4.16 million viewers and received a 2.1 rating/6% share among adults between the ages of 18 and 49. This means that it was seen by 2.1 percent of all 18- to 49-year-olds, and 6 percent of all 18- to 49-year-olds watching television at the time of the broadcast. The Office ranked fourth in its timeslot, being beaten by an episode of the ABC series Grey's Anatomy which received a 3.0/8% rating, an entry of the CBS series Person of Interest which received a 2.9/8%, and an installment of the Fox program Glee, which earned a 2.2/6% rating. In addition, The Office was the highest-rated NBC television program. The episode ranked number one in its timeslot for men aged 18–34.
Who wrote the Dwight Christmas series?
Production. "Dwight Christmas" was written by executive story editor Robert Padnick, marking his fourth writing credit for the series after joining the writing staff in the seventh season. It was directed by Charles McDougall, his first directing credit for the season. McDougal's first job for the series was directing its first Christmas episode ...
What episode is Dwight Christmas in?
Dwight Christmas. " Dwight Christmas " is the ninth episode of the ninth season of the American comedy television series The Office and the 185th episode overall. The episode was written by Robert Padnick and directed by Charles McDougall. It originally aired on NBC on December 6, 2012.
Who played Kelly Kapoor in the Christmas episode?
Fischer said that filming the last Christmas episode was "emotional" and regretted not being able to have Mindy Kaling, who portrayed Kelly Kapoor on the series, film a karaoke scene. This is the second episode of season nine to not feature Andy or Clark.