The Advent

Discover Alsace’s Advent traditions — wreaths, candles and calendars — timeless symbols of joyful anticipation before Christmas in Strasbourg.

The Advent Wreath

The Advent wreath, or Àdvantskrànz, is a Protestant tradition invented by Johann Wichern in the 1830s in Hamburg. This director of an institution for underprivileged children, the Raue Haus, had the idea of keeping the children engaged by lighting one candle each day from December 1 to 23.

The Advent wreath as we know it today, made with fir, spruce, holly, or laurel branches and adorned with four candles lit on each Sunday before Christmas, developed around 1860. In Alsace, the first mention dates back to 1894, but the custom became widespread mainly between the two World Wars.

The Advent Calendar

The Advent calendar is another way to mark the days leading up to Christmas. Starting on December 1, one of the twenty-four windows is opened each day, revealing a picture, a treat, or a small gift.

The first printed Advent calendar dates from 1903, created by the Munich native Gerhard Lang. He was inspired by a practice of his mother, who attached twenty-four cakes to a cardboard to manage her impatience. He also drew on an older tradition of giving children, each day of Advent, an image representing Christmas customs.