Christmas Eve/Advent ends (24 December)
Throughout Germany, Christmas Eve, or Weihnachten, tends to be the pinnacle of the entire Christmas season. As the end of the Advent season, this day would traditionally be the first major feast of the holiday after a period of fasting. Today, families still might eat very little throughout the day to honour the original Advent fast before feasting in the evening. This is also the time when parents throughout Germany and Austria set up and decorate their Christmas Trees. As this is done, children are forbidden to be in the room and are usually out with their grandparents for the day — they eagerly await returning, however, as it's believed that 'Christkind' (Christ Child or Baby Jesus) comes to place gifts under the tree. Upon their return, families exchange gifts, sing carols and eat the largest meal of the Christmastime holiday.