Christmas in Nordschleswig

That the German and Danish borderland is a melting pot of Danish and German culture, is particularly visible at traditional events such as Christmas. This is the case with my family as well. Before noon on Christmas day, my family and I are always visited by my grandparents, with whom we enjoy a small “julefrokost” with. “Julefrokost” can be translated into Christmas lunch, and is Danish tradition, where many different dishes, such as marinated herring, are eaten, and beverages such as dark beer and Aquavit are served. After that we usually visit the German Christmas service in Tingleff. The pastor preaches in German and all the Christmas songs are sung in German as well. The church in Tingleff, and a lot of other churches in Nord Schleswig, share their church with both the Danish and the German community.

When we return home, we enjoy our Christmas dinner which consist of roasted goose and Risalamande as our dessert. Then we proceed to sing 2-3 German songs in front of our beautifully decorated Christmas tree. After that we open our presents.

Overall, we have a great mix of both German and Danish traditions, which I wouldn’t miss for the world!

– Phillip Schmidt, chairman of the “Jungen SPitzen”