No fun please, we’re German

Samizdata Illuminatus (Arkham, Massachusetts) · German affairs

Christmas will soon be upon us, and along with television adverts advising us not to drink and drive, hangovers from office parties and late-night shopping, another regular feature rears its reliable head – the condemnation of commercial Christmas.

This time, the nags against Christmas free-market fun come from Germany, which in its current over-taxed and economically sclerotic state, could use all the commercial fizz going, I would have thought. But no, a German priest wants his patch to be declared a “Santa-free zone”.

Like the late Ayn Rand, a devout atheist, I always think that one of the very great things about Christmas – which after all started off as a midwinter pagan festival to give us all a good excuse to eat and drink excessively – is its commercial character. The glitz and colour of this time of the year provides much of its “point”.

So come on Santa. Sprinkle a bit of Christmas happiness over our a glum Teuton neighbours. Right now, they need it.

Charles Hueter

December 9, 2002 at 10:26 pm

One of the common complaints I hear about Christmas is that it has no substance, no soul: “it’s all about the money.”

I don’t know about elsewhere, but nearly every American I’ve known long enough has related to me their own family’s traditions during the days and hours preceeding and proceeding after the 25th of December. Are there fireplace “socks” where smallish goodies are placed? Is there a family topknot for the tree? Is there even a tree? How is the gift exchange done? All these things build into the fabric of a family’s individuality and personality.

People like getting gifts. People also like holidays where they get the days off from work. Some people even like spending time with their families. *eek* All of this is aided and encouraged by the market forces of capitalism.

You’re spot-on about how badly the much-reviled commercialism of X-mas is needed in Germany.

Dave Farrell

December 10, 2002 at 8:59 am

Well, I fear that Britain has now outdone this paltry German effort. The following report from Deutsche-Presse Agentur :

Father Christmas isn’t to be trusted and must always have another adult present, according to new guidelines of Britain’s Rotary Club which no longer allow children to sit on Santa’s lap, reported the BBC Tuesday.
Besides a handshake, there is to be no contact between the red-suited Santa and children. The enclosed grotto, common in Great Britain and the U.S., in which Father Christmas often sits to receive children, is likewise taboo.
The Rotary Club said the guidelines are in line with a government code of conduct to protect children against sexual abuse.

Oh, and just don’t mention the war (this from the Daily Mail):

THE German ambassador has accused British schools of whipping up xenophobia by devoting too much class time to Hitler.
Thomas Matussek claimed yesterday that history lessons in this country are too narrow because they concentrate on Germany’s Nazi past.
He called for an overhaul of the curriculum to include study of ‘modern German democracy’.
But curriculum chiefs insisted that history lessons cover a ‘broad sweep of periods and localities’.
Mr Matussek spoke out following an attack on two German schoolboys by a gang of youths in London.
He said: ‘I want to see a more modern history curriculum in schools.
‘I was very much surprised when I learned that at A-level one of the three most chosen subjects was the Nazis.
‘I think it is very important that people know as much as possible about the Nazi period and the Holocaust.
‘But what is equally important is the history of Germany in the past 45 years and the success story of modern German democracy.
‘This is necessary to convey to young people that the Germans have learned their lesson and that they have changed.’