24th of December

Czech Christmas

by Tereza


In my home country, the Czech Republic, Christmas Eve is no fun. It’s a deadly serious thing! It‘s because the Czech Christmas dinner is connected with a great number of different customs, rules and superstitions. If you don’t follow them, you or another family member die. Not immediately. But during the coming year. Which also can spoil the good mood at the table.

Here are some of the rules:

• The table should be set for an even number of guests. An odd number brings bad luck or death in the family.
• No one should sit with their back to the door. If you do, you will die in the coming year.
• After Christmas dinner, every person is given an apple which they cut in half. The apple is cut through the middle, not lengthwise. If the seeds appear in a star shape, it means that health and happiness is predicted for the coming year. But if it’s shaped like a four-pointed cross that means that you get sick in the coming year. Or even…guess what the other option is.
• No one should ever get up from the Christmas table before dinner is finished. If you do…I think by now you have understood the pattern.
• Even after the dinner is finished, the problem remains: the first person to leave the table after dinner will be the first one to die in the coming year. Mostly, the less popular member of the family has to sacrifice himself and leave first. No, jokes aside, there is a better solution: everyone should get up from the table at the same time. (This was always quite a stressful moment for me when I was a child).

So when you will be sitting at the Christmas table this year and enjoying the dinner please remember the poor Czechs being busy to survive. But aside of that, Czechs have good food, the Christmas tree and presents too like all normal Europeans.


The Wisamar team wishes you a Merry Christmas!