Yule and Christmas in Denmark


Jul, the Danish Jule and Christmas, is celebrated throughout December starting either at the beginning of Advent or on December 1 with a variety of traditions. Christmas Eve, Juleaften, the main event of Jul, is celebrated on the evening of December 24, the evening before the two Christmas holidays, December 25 and 26th. Celebrating on the eve before Christmas is also used for most other holidays in Denmark.
Jul is originally an ancient old Norse tradition related to the Germanic Yule celebration of North Europe, but was mixed with the overlapping Christian tradition of Christmas when Denmark was christened during the 11th century. The traditions related to Jul have evolved through the centuries, still with many pagan traditions carried on today. In the 1800s, the tradition of bringing a Christmas tree inside the home was introduced gradually, inspired by Germany.

Christmas Eve

In the evening, an elaborate dinner is eaten with the family. It usually consists of roast pork, roast duck, or - more rarely - roast goose, with potatoes, caramelized potatoes, red cabbage and plenty of brown gravy. For dessert, risalamande, a cold rice pudding dish, is served with a hot cherry sauce, traditionally with a whole almond hidden inside. The lucky finder of this almond is entitled to a small gift, which is traditionally a marzipan pig. In some families, it's tradition that the rice pudding dessert is made with the remaining rice porridge from the previous evening, a meal served on the 23rd, Lillejuleaften, with cinnamon, brown sugar, and butter. It is eaten warm with a fruit drink or sweet malt beer.
After the meal is complete, the family will dance around the Juletræ and sing Christmas carols and hymns like "Nu er det jul igen" and "Et barn er født i Bethlehem". When the singing is complete, presents from under the tree are handed out by the children or in turn. After they have been opened, there are more snacks, candy, chips, and sometimes the traditional Gløgg.

Church visits

In Denmark, there is a tradition to go to Church on the afternoon of Christmas Eve, on the 24th. The text is Luke 2, but since the 24th is not an official Christmas holiday, there was no official ritual for that day until recently.
Most churches have Christmas services on both official Christmas holidays, 25th and 26 December, with well-defined rituals.
Going to church on Christmas Eve has become very popular. The services on 24 December are the most heavily frequented services of the year with around a third of the population attending.

Christmas lunches

Throughout the Yule period, a range of Yule dinners or lunches are arranged. Before December 24, most workplaces, unions, schools, football teams, or extended groups of friends arrange a Julefrokost, but sometimes they are delayed until January. This typically involves plenty of food and alcohol, and often takes place on a Friday or Saturday night.
After December 24, usually on Christmas Day and the Second Day of Christmas which are public holidays, the extended families arrange a familiejulefrokost. This usually involves more food, and takes place from noon until evening. An average Dane usually attends three to four julefrokoster and one or two familiejulefrokoster during Jul.
A typical Yule Lunch involves much beer and snaps. It begins with a variety of seafood dishes; open face sandwiches with pickled herring, shrimps and deep fried plaice filet with Danish remoulade. Sometimes gravlax or smoked salmon and smoked eel are offered as well. Pickled herring comes in many varieties, with white, red, curried and fried pickled herrings as the most common options, and it is served exclusively on rugbrød, a special Danish rye bread, based on sourdough and whole grains. Next will be a variety of warm and cold meats, such as fried sausages, fried meatballs, boiled ham, liver pâté and fried pork, served with red or green braised cabbage dishes. Desserts are usually cheeses, fruit and risalamande, a special rice dessert associated with Christmas. From time to time, someone calls out "Skål" to make a toast, and everyone stops eating to take a drink. Normally, everyone takes public transportation to the event, to avoid alcohol related traffic accidents on the way home from these parties.

Christmas confectionery and sweet treats

Throughout the Christmas month of December, various confectionery, fruits, cakes, beverages and sweet treats specifically associated with Christmas are widely available in the streets, in shops, cafés or in homes. This includes nuts, dried fruits, oranges, clementines, mandarins, pigeon apples, brændte mandler, glazed apples on a stick, pancakes, æbleskiver, pebernødder, klejner, brunkager and other types of småkager, gløgg of various recipes and a variety of marzipan treats, some of which includes chocolate and Danish nougat.

Christmas Calendars

Denmark has adopted and expanded the German tradition of Advent calendars. It is common to have Julekalender that mark all days from December 1 until December 24. They are often made of cardboard with pictures or treats such as chocolate. They come in various forms whether home-made or manufactured and can contain innocent stories of Yule, or might even be scratchcards.
A popular version is the gavekalender. These can either function as a julekalender marking all 24 days up to Yule Eve with a gift for each day or they can function as Advent calendars marking the four Sundays of Advent instead with a gift for each Sunday.
A special Danish calendar tradition started by DR in 1962 consists of broadcasting TV shows with exactly 24 episodes, one each day up to Yule Eve. The tradition has become very popular and every major network now has TV calendars during the Christmas period, whether original productions or TV shows. The tradition of TV calendars has also been adopted by the other Scandinavian countries.

Christmas vacation

Because of the high concentration of holidays at the end of December, it is possible to have a vacation between Christmas and New Year without missing many days at work. This holiday is usually named "Juleferie" or Yule Vacation, and is usually considered to be in the date range from December 24 until approximately January 1.

Other traditions

In Denmark, Santa Claus is known as Julemanden and is said to arrive on a sleigh drawn by reindeer, with presents for the children. He is assisted with his Yuletide chores by elves known as julenisser, who are traditionally believed to live in attics, barns or similar places. In some traditions, to maintain the favor and protection of these nisser, children leave out saucers of milk or rice pudding or other treats for them on the afternoon on the 24th, and are delighted to find the food gone on Yule morning.
Danish homes are decorated with kravlenisser, which are cardboard cutouts of nisser which can be attached to paintings and bookshelves. This is a unique Danish tradition started in the early 20th century.
Julehjerter or pleated Yule hearts are handmade decorations which are hung on the Yule tree. Children together with other members of the family create the hearts from glossy paper in various colours.
St. Lucia Day is celebrated on December 13.

History

Until 1770, the Christmas holidays included 2nd day of Christmas and Epiphany on January 6. Afterwards, only 1st and 2nd Christmas Day are holidays, and January 6 is now a celebration day.
The first Christmas tree in Copenhagen was lit in Ny Kongensgade in 1811. Christmas trees became popular among the middle class from about 1820 and hence spread to all levels of society.