Traditions

Ore Mountains and Christmas, that also stands for contemplation and a blaze of light. In accordance with the miner's yearning for light, white fairy lights are shining on market places, light angels and miner figures as well as Schwibbögen are illuminating the windows. Especially touching are the mountain and miner's parades that take place every year in historic habits in the strongholds of former mining as Annaberg-Buchholz, Brand-Erbisdorf, Thum, Geyer, Marienberg, Ehrenfriedersdorf and Schneeberg. Also the historic "Mettenschicht", the last shift of the miner on Christmas Eve, revives the miner's yearning for light as the cradle of Christmas.

The highlight of Christmas in the Ore Mountains is the traditional banquet "Neinerlaa", the traditional "Christmas Eve Dish" of the miners' families. The "Neunerlei" traditionally consists of nine different dishes. They represent memories and wishes, as for health, money or love. The dishes are defined, yet the order varies regionally. Thus, there are: Lentils or peas, bratwurst, sauerkraut, herring or fish bites with apple salad, potato salad, sausages, grout or millet porridge, rose hip soup, roast pork with dumplings, Semmelmilch (a desert made of milk and bread rolls) with chopped nuts, bread and salt, prunes. Restaurants as the "Neinerlaa" or the mountain inn Pöhliberg in Annaberg-Buchholz offer this traditional menu.