Christkindl Spiel. Christmas singing folk custom in the villages populated by ethnic germans in the bakony- balaton uplands
Christkindl Spiel
Christmas singing folk custom in the villages populated by ethnic germans in the bakony- balaton uplands
Christkindl has been a popular Christmas singing custom since the time of the Reformation. For the first time in Hungary, it appeared in the German-inhabited settlements of the Bakony-Balaton Uplands in the 18th century.
Children between the ages of 8 and 15 walk around the village from morning to midnight on 24 December, dressed in the appropriate attire, with a headdress or ornate ‘párta’ on their heads. They knock on every house to bring the good news with their play: Little Jesus was born.
Their rhyming and singing play in German is accompanied by ringing bells. The verses, songs and other texts are learnt and performed by the groups in the variation that has survived in the settlement according to local traditions.
The responsible institution for the professional coordinating of the UNESCO Convention in Hungary:
Directorate of Intangible Cultural Heritage, Hungarian Open Air Museum
