For poets, priests, and politicians--and especially ordinary Germans--in
the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the image of the loving nuclear
family gathered around the Christmas tree symbolized the unity of the
nation at large. German Christmas was supposedly organic, a product of
the winter solstice rituals of pagan "Teutonic" tribes, the celebration
of the birth of Jesus, and the age-old customs that defined German
character. Yet, as Joe Perry argues, Germans also used these annual
celebrations to contest the deepest values that held the German
community together: faith, family, and love, certainly, but also civic
responsibility, material prosperity, and national belonging.
This richly illustrated volume explores the invention, evolution, and
politicization of Germany's favorite national holiday. According to
Perry, Christmas played a crucial role in public politics, as revealed
in the militarization of "War Christmas" during World War I and World
War II, the Nazification of Christmas by the Third Reich, and the
political manipulation of Christmas during the Cold War. Perry offers a
close analysis of the impact of consumer culture on popular celebration
and the conflicts created as religious, commercial, and political
authorities sought to control the holiday's meaning. By unpacking the
intimate links between domestic celebration, popular piety, consumer
desires, and political ideology, Perry concludes that family festivity
was central in the making and remaking of public national identities.
