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History of the Christmas Advent Calendar The origins of the Advent calendar come from German Lutherans who, at least as early as the beginning of the 19th century, would count down the 24 days until Christmas.... religious families made a chalk line on the door for every day in December until Christmas Eve. The first known Advent Calendar, which was made by hand, is from the year 1851. Other early styles were the Advent clock or the Advent candle - a candle for each of the 24 days until Christmas, like today's Advent wreath. So in religious families, little pictures were hung up on the wall - one for each day in December. Another tradition was to paint chalk strokes on the door, one per day until Christmas Eve. In 1902, a Christian Bookshop in Hamburg published a Christmas Clock which was very similar to the one published in 1922 by the St. Johannis printing company. (Dominik Wunderlin, lic.phil. Switzerland). The Austrian (NÖ) Landesmuseum is giving the year 1903 as the year of the first printed Advent Calendar. In 1904, an Advent Calendar was inserted in the newspaper "Neues Tagblatt Stuttgart" as a gift for their readers. In contrast to the above, Esther Gajek says that the first printed calendar was made in 1908 by a Swabian parishioner, Gerhard Lang (born 1881 in Maulbronn, Germany -died in 1974). When he was a child, his mother made him an Advent Calendar with 24 "Wibbele" (little candies) which were attached to a cardboard sheet. Later, Lang was a participator of the printing office Reichhold & Lang. He produced little colored pictures which could be affixed on a cardboard at every day in December. This was the first printed Advent Calendar, although without windows to open, published in 1908. This Calendar was named "Christmas-Calendar" or "Munich Christmas-Calendar". At the beginning of the 1920's, Lang produced the first Advent Calendars with little doors to open. At this time as well, the Sankt Johannis Printing Company started producing religious Advent Calendars, with Bible Verses instead of pictures behind the doors. The Advent Calendar started a triumphal way around the globe. But Lang had to close his company in the thirties. Until that time he had produced about 30 different designs. World War II terminated the success of this German tradition. The cardboard was rationed and it was forbidden to produce Calendars with pictures. The first calendars after the war were printed by Richard Sellmer in 1946. Advent Calendars filled with chocolate were first available in 1958. |  | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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