Christmas in Switzerland a peak experience
donkey. When Samichlaus knocks on the door, frightened but excited kids answer. Samichlaus consults his big book of sins — co-authored by village parents — and does some lighthearted moralizing. Schmutzli stands by as a menacing enforcer, his sack handy so he can take away around the table for a meal that exemplifies good living in the Alps.
For the Swiss, a communal pot of melted-cheese fondue is purely a winter specialty, served with a sprightly Swiss white wine called Fendant. With bellies full, we light our torches and zip down the mountain with our tree back into Gimmelwald.
The tree is decorated with real candles, kept upright by dangling ornamental counterbalances, attached and lit with long tapers. Gimmelwald’s pine houses, with open beams, seem ready to go up in flames, but locals are confident. While the candles burn, presents are opened. The tree stays up until after Christmas, as candles are lit all over again on New Year’s Eve — for good luck.
A classic Christmas dinner comes with boiled ham, cheesy scalloped potatoes, walnut cake and finely decorated gingerbread cookies. If the family is religious, they’ll often have a Bible that has been in the family for generations.
Tonight in Switzerland, the grandfather completes the celebration by reading the Gospel story: “And while they were there, she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room in the inn. And suddenly there was a multitude of angels proclaiming: ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth peace and goodwill to all people.’ ” Hearing the timeless tale that has brought together so many cultures for so many centuries, I’m struck by the beauty of this remarkably Swiss celebration.