This post may have affiliate links. If you click one of these links and make a purchase, we will be paid a commission at no additional cost to you.
I absolutely love German Christmas decorations!! The German pyramids and smokers are totally awesome and I have some of each. My middle son has been fascinated with Nutcrackers for years.
Here are some Traditional German Christmas decorations that are beautiful!
German Christmas Pyramid
There are a couple of different styles of the German Pyramid.
There are single-tier German Pyramids:
And there are also multi-tiered Christmas pyramids. I see the 3-tiered most often. The multi-tiered Christmas pyramids tend to be a lot higher in price.
If you don’t know how these German Christmas pyramids work, the short answer is there are candle holders around the base. The candle holders hold either tea light candles or what they call German Christmas candles or pyramid candles.
You light the candles and after they warm up, the warm air makes the paddles at the top swirl. Many times the section in the middle rotates as well.
It is really cool and probably my kid’s favorite decoration that we have.
We keep one in the middle of our kitchen table during the holiday season and light it up in the evening. You can see more of these on Amazon here.
German Nutcracker
There are so many different nutcrackers! It would be so easy to create a collection of them.
The German Nutcracker is probably the most well known German Christmas decoration.
Nutcrackers come in all sorts of different styles and price points.
Every year one of my little ones tries to crack a nut with one. Since it’s a nutcracker, it should be able to crack nuts, right?
German Smoker
I love the German smokers.
Last year when my Mom asked what I wanted for my birthday (birthday is in November), I replied “A German Smoker”. It was quite funny, she thought I literally meant a German person who was a smoker.
I ended up finding a German smoker that is amazing at a German market locally. I had previously been drooling over ones on Amazon and eBay.
There are so many German smokers with different hobbies. I’ve seen one for baking, fishing, policeman and more.
You can truly find one that matches your personality and your personal hobbies. The other thing with the German smokers is that I’ve found eBay has a great selection of them. It seems like many of them become discontinued and so there is a larger variety on eBay compared to Amazon – at least when I’ve looked.
The German smoker uses incense cones. The Knox brand incense cones work great!
Traditional German Pickle Ornament
OK, so I haven’t actually hung one of these on my tree before, but I do have friends who have one they hang every year.
If you don’t know the story behind the German pickle it is said to be an old German tradition and it is good luck to hang one on your tree. But you don’t just hang it on your tree in plain sight – you need to hide it and it should be the last ornament put on the tree.
On Christmas morning, when your kiddo’s wake up and come running to the tree to open presents, instead they will search for the hidden pickle and whichever child finds the pickle first gets an extra gift from St. Nick.
Well, it doesn’t appear to actually be an old German tradition or even newish German tradition. I had a German grandfather and he never mentioned anything about a pickle ornament and there never was one on my Grandparents tree.
I did find this article that talks about the Christmas traditions in Germany and how presents are typically opened on Christmas Eve, St. Nick comes on the 5th or 6th of December and a few other holes in this being an “old” German tradition. But it could be a fun tradition to add to your family.
German Christmas Tree Ornaments
I grew up with a few German Christmas ornaments on our tree. They were wooden and super cute.
My brother was given one by my German great Grandmother that looked very similar to the white one above.
German ornaments are perfect for your tree or as a gift.
German Candle Arch
These are so beautiful! Look at the intricate designs.
I’m not sure if you can see all the many different cool pieces of it, but feel free to click on the picture to Amazon and then zoom in on it. It has people in there, plus a mini Christmas pyramid, the houses look amazing too.
I will be drooling over the candle arches for years to come, but maybe someday I will save up for one. They aren’t cheap, but you can see why when looking at them and realizing how much work goes into making all those details.
German Music Boxes
Just like all the other German decorations for Christmas, the music boxes are no exception – they are beautiful and have exceptional detail.
There are also a variety of different styles of German music boxes. It’s like each artist imparts a piece of his or her own personality into it.
Where do you buy German Christmas decor?
You can order online through German companies. I’ve looked into this several times. It was always more money than I was able to afford. I think the quality is most likely higher from the ones that come directly from Germany.
Online and in person I’ve had luck on eBay, Amazon and actually at some of the discount stores – in particular, Tuesday Morning and at TJ Maxx. With Tuesday Morning, you need to look in their stores a week or two before Halloween and if they don’t have any in yet, then check the first week of November. You can also call them and see if they have gotten any German Christmas decorations in yet.
This German Christmas Pyramid is very similar to the ones that you will find at the discount stores.
Another great place to go is to a German Market or German holiday bazaar-type event.
Last year, the kids and I went to a local German Holiday event. There wasn’t a huge amount of variety in what they had.
There was only one vendor selling German smokers, nutcrackers, and pyramids. This vendor only had one or two of each style they had brought with them. I did manage to buy an amazing German smoker. He is still packed away with our Christmas ornaments, but I’ll make sure to get a pic of him when he is unpacked.
If you liked seeing all the different German Christmas Decorations, I’d love for you to PIN IT!
Other Christmas posts you might enjoy:
Christmas Decorations for Your Fireplace Mantel
100+ Amazing Present Ideas for 3 & 4-Year-Olds
Christmas Gifts on a Budget – Best Ways to Save Money on Christmas
Leave a Reply