<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/d415595a-016a-493c-b973-d5f296c115b1/DB159BFE-C9AC-42AA-9950-620EC7113D9F/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/22/HOA9TS8A0.DTL" href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/22/HOA9TS8A0.DTL" style="font-size: 11px;">www.sfgate.com</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/22/HOA9TS8A0.DTL"><H1>Rooted in pagan celebrations, German Christmas has many rituals</H1></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/22/HOA9TS8A0.DTL"><P>When I tell my friends that in the German style, we don't decorate our Christmas tree until Dec. 24, they pity me a bit. "What's the point?" one of them asked, assuming that this custom indicated a lack of holiday spirit. Nothing could be further from the truth. Christmas is by far the most popular German holiday and has been celebrated since the 16th century. </P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/22/HOA9TS8A0.DTL"><P>This quintessentially Christian holiday has pagan roots. Centuries ago, Germanic tribes celebrated the winter solstice by lighting fires and candles and bringing evergreens into their homes to symbolize the returning light and the coming of spring. </P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/22/HOA9TS8A0.DTL"><P>Adults have the job of building anticipation by putting up decorations, baking cookies, lighting candles, singing carols and, yes, shopping for gifts that remain hidden until the evening celebration. Various celebratory markers help to pass the time until the big day arrives. </P></blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/DB159BFE-C9AC-42AA-9950-620EC7113D9F/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content8.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>

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