Magazine content is available exclusively for TIME subscribers.INTERNATIONAL: Christmas
"The Christmas celebration in Germanic lands is not an invention of the Christian Church but of our forefathers. The day of the Winter Solstice was holy to our ancestors and the period around the Winter Solstice was filled with the fairyland magic of the Nordic soul. In this period gifts were exchanged without an indecent hind-thought of getting a reward from Heaven in return. The Nordic man did not think of a reward for decent deeds. For us therefore, even the Christian Christmas remains a festival of Germanic love, Germanic ways and...
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