The Belsnickel — wearing furs, smeared in soot and waving a bundle of birch switches — visited children in the schoolhouse during Christmas on the Farm in Kutztown on Saturday, Dec. 7.
Held on the historic Sharadin Farmstead at the Pennsylvania German Cultural Heritage Center, the free family-friendly event celebrated the holiday season and Pennsylvania German Christmas traditions.
“Christmas on the Farm is a celebration of the folk-cultural customs and regional practices of the Pennsylvania Dutch during the holiday season,” Patrick J. Donmoyer, director of the Heritage Center, said in a statement.
Donmoyer estimates that this year’s event drew about 750 people, who were able to taste holiday foods cooked on the hearth in the farmhouse and on the woodstove in the summer kitchen, explore the folk art decorations produced by local craftspeople to celebrate the season, listen to live music, make corn husk angel ornaments and wax-dipped folk art paper stars, take a hayride through the farm acreage, and meet the grouchy but legendary holiday visitor known as the Belsnickel.
“We hope that visitors gain knowledge and appreciation for the regionally-specific cultural practices unique to this area, and hopefully reflect on their own holiday traditions and experiences,” said Donmoyer. “The Pennsylvania Dutch traditions are one part of the cultural diversity of the region, and provide visitors with an opportunity to share and enjoy a regional experience.”
The traditions experienced at this event include folk art, holiday decorations, foodways, music, crafts, and seasonal customs such as the Belsnickel.
“The Belsnickel is a legendary figure who visits local farms in advance of Christmas to ensure good behavior,” Donmoyer explained. “He’s grouchy and carries birch switches, but generally gives candy to those who were good throughout the year.”
Donmoyer said that the Belsnickel is a very old custom that dates back to the time of transatlantic immigration when German-speaking immigrants from the Rhineland brought this tradition to Pennsylvania.
“Our hope is that local people and visitors to the region will feel inspired by the event to reflect on their own cultural practices in the home and community, and to continue these practices as part of the diversity of the region,” he said.
Highlights included live music, traditional crafts, folklife demonstrations, open-hearth cooking, and potbellied pigs from Puddin’ Heartland 1st of Auburn.
In the barnyard, Berks County folk musicians Mike and Linda Hertzog, Dave Kline and Keith Brintzenhoff performed traditional music.
In historic log cabins on the farmstead, the Reading-Berks Chapter of the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen artisans provided folklife demonstrations in woodworking, tin smithing and blacksmithing, to name a few.
In the Sharadin farmhouse kitchen, Becky Manley cooked traditional Pennsylvania Dutch food in an open hearth.
In the summer kitchen, Terry Berger baked ox tongue cookies in a wood stove offering attendees a taste of the traditional Pennsylvania Dutch treat.
Mattie’s Strudel House also offered a selection of strudels.
For more information, follow PGCHC on Facebook and Instagram, visit www.pagerman.org or call 610-683-1589.
Source: Berkshire mont
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