For Czech-American families · The Golden Piglet Find your family’s village

Christmas Eve in Bohemia

Christmas Eve around Plzeň (Plzeňsko)

On Christmas Eve the village shepherd went from house to house blowing his horn under the windows, was given a koleda — sometimes a small vánočka — and thanked the farmer and his wife with a fixed wish: “Vinšuju vám šťastné a veselé svátky, abyste je ve zdraví strávili s menšími hříchy a s větší radostí…” — I wish you happy, merry holidays, spent in health, with fewer sins and more joy.

More Christmas Eves nearby

Sources

  1. M. Kozák, Český lid V (1896), p. 135