A few years ago I received a lovely, if curious, gift from my secret Santa. I had not yet heard about the German pickle ornament tradition. My friend shared that the pickle is the last ornament put on the tree on Christmas Eve. Parents hide it deep in the branches, and the first child to find the pickle on Christmas morning gets an extra present from Santa Claus. Seems like a great way to stave off little kids eager to open every present at once. I couldn't believe that I'd never encountered such a fun ritual. Poor me, deprived child! I have some German roots, why had I never heard of it?
Die Weihnachtsgurke, as it's also known, may actually be a German-American tradition, as it seems most people in Germany have never heard of it. So where then, could this tradition have begun?
We turned up a few possible origins for this legend. The first is propagated by the good people in Berrien Springs, Michigan, the self-proclaimed "Christmas Pickle Capital" of the world, complete with a festival and Grand Dillmeister. Their story claims Medieval origins, and traces two Spanish boys who were on their way home from boarding school. When they stopped to stay at an Inn, the mean Inn keeper stuffed them into a pickle barrel. When St. Nicholas passed by, he touched the barrel with his staff and set them free.
The second legend has American roots. A Bavarian-born soldier who fought in the Civil War was captured and imprisoned in Georgia. Dying, he begged for one last thing: a pickle. The guard took pity and gave him his last wish. The pickle gave the soldier the physical and emotional strength to live and eventually return to his family.
Here at Ohdeedoh, we're trying to put the mystery to rest. Does it actually date to the Middle Ages, did it start with a soldier, or was it a "tradition" brought to America via Germany in an effort to sell more glass ornaments? Did you grow up with a pickle on your tree? Do you do this with your children? Poll your German friends. Do they know anything about the pickle ornament legend, or is it just a myth?
Find the ornament above at the Shelburne Country Store.
Dirty Little Secrets of Tidy Families
Hillary & Michael's Refined Roost
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Nomade Express Slee...
My Staple Summer Cocktail Recipe: Campari & IPA Spritzer
Recipe: Ham, Cheddar & Chive Egg Bakes
Absolutely real! When my Dad was younger, his family always did the pickle game. Although growing up, we didn't pass this on, our tree has always been littered with different pickles. When decorating the tree last night, we hung about 5 different pickles! Such a fun game. Also, there are some really amazing pickles out there.... I'm going to blog about it at ourbklyn.com this week!
Our family did the pickle ornament - and now I have one hidden in my tree! I can't give you any ideas to the roots of it. My grandpa was German, but my grandparents didn't do the pickle - just my mom. I honestly think I remember her receiving it as a gift and it had the instructions included with it. I am interested to see if anyone knows how this started as well!
I am German and I have never ever heard of something called "Die Weihnachtsgurke". Actually, we sometimes call a joke 'Gurke' ...
Yeah we did the pickle ornament when we were kids. Still do it now even though we're all older and a lot stronger. It's a big thing at our house, lol. No mercy for the girls or slower people.
We still do the pickle ornament, and I come from German roots. No idea about the origin, though.
We got one as a gift a few years ago from some friends of my husband's family. We hid it the year after, but forgot all about it. Then we broke it the following year while unpacking ornaments, and never replaced it. It sounds like a fun idea, but I guess wasn't destined to become a tradition in our house.
Neither of us is a bit German, but my husband did grow up near Berrien Springs.
Yeah, lots of recent German immigrant roots in my family and no hint of this pickle thing.
I do have several though, because I love pickles. Who knew?
Legend or no- this is a fun tradition. My brother and I loved searching for the pickle and I'm looking forward to sharing the tradition with my daughter. (Although my mom, in the interest of fairness, always had the winner choose first from two pretty similar small prizes)
I'm German but never met the tradition of playing that game, though it sounds like fun to me. What indicates to me that it might be an American creation is the part where the children unwrap the parcels on Christmas morning. In Germany we do that on Christmas Eve. As a matter of fact in the eastern parts of Germany the area where traditional christmas ornaments are crafted (Lauscha) lies closeby to the areas where pickles are grown in summer (e.g. Spreewald). Maybe there is a traditional background that plays in when former German emigrants were kind of homesick an hung these ornaments on the tree.
My Grandmother and her family were from the Swabia area of Germany (she grew up there during WWII and moved to the US after marrying my American grandfather in the 50's), and we celebrated traditional German Christmas, opening presents on Christmas Eve and I had never heard of the pickle ornament until I saw it in a store one year. My vote is not real. She told me the only things they had on their tree were straw ornaments and tiny candles (which seems like such a bad combination!).
I'm German-American and neither of my parents have ever heard of this. How strange. But probably regional, just as there are regional traditions in America. Strange!
almk, that's hilarious. My grandmother also did real candles on the tree. Yikes. Every year I argue with my husband about when to open presents. I haven't been winning, but I miss Christmas Eve!
I grew up in Hessia and Baden-Württemberg, two separate German states, and never had I heard of this until a friend in Arizona gifted me with a pickle ornament two years ago. I strongly suspect that it's something that came into being on this side of the Atlantic. The main difference that I recall is that we didn't even get a tree until Christmas Eve, and it was decorated in a hush while I was whisked of elsewhere .. and yes, there were real candles. (Still are!)
I used to live in SW Michigan and all of the gift shops along the lakeshore carry some kind of pickle ornament. I just thought the Christmas pickle tradition was a Michigan/Wisconsin German thing.
i have no idea what the origins are, but my mom used to do this for me and my sister. i have fond memories of this tradition and plan to pass it on to my (future) kids too!
My family is Norwegian, but we have done the pickle game every year as long as I can remember. Now that my sisters and I are all grown up, we each have pickles on our own tree, but we still play the game every Christmas morning. And as the youngest, I'm always accused of cheating.
I am of German roots, but I didn't come to learn of the tradition until my adulthood. I believe I read about it online or found one in a store. We now have a pickle ornament, and plan to make it a tradition with our son to try to find it...not sure if it will be associated with a gift or not. If we ever have another child make the prize would be a bit of marzipan or something. :)
Who cares the Christmas pickle is fun!
We didn't know about this until my husband got a pickle ornament at his work's white elephant Christmas party today. Sounds like a fun tradition! Oh and we are both a little German, my grandmother is a Luckenbach, in TX.
I do have a friend who hosted a German exchange student a few years ago and she is the one who introduced my friend to the pickle tradition, so at least one family in Germany does it.