Grown up but how I remember my Childhood German Christmas traditions & customs

Our Christmas in Germany started on Dec. 1st. My Parents set aside special evening for baking spiced cakes and cookies, and we as Children got to make crafted Decorations.

We hung our advent wreaths of Holly with four red candles over the Dining room table.
We lit one candle each Sunday and the last one on Christmas Eve.

My Brother and I counted the days until Christmas using an Advent calendar, a calendar with 24 little windows. We opened one window each day to find a Christmas picture inside.

We left letters on the windowsills for the Christkind, a winged figure dressed in a white dress and a golden crown She was the one bringing the Gifts on Christmas eve.
Our letters had to look the best and we decorated the plain white pages with drawings and sparkle.

On December 6. is Nikolaustag, St. Claus day. In the evening of the 6^th my brother and I put a boot outside in the hope that we were good enough throughout the year so Santa would fill our Boots with candy, nuts and fruits.

In our home a room was locked up before Christmas and on Christmas Eve my Brother and I went to bed but were woken up at midnight by our parents and taken down to the locked room. The door opened and we for the first time got to see the tree all lit up, with presents
left by the Christkind.

I kept some of the traditions alive for my born in the USA children.