Like most Christmas traditions, advent calendars have German origins. They date back to the  19th century, when German Protestants began to count down the days until Christmas, marking with chalk the painted windows and doors on the walls, lighting a candle and placing straw in the manger on Christmas Day. The first known handmade wooden advent calendar dates back to 1851, and chocolate calendars date back to 1950. The name Advent comes from adventus, and means in Latin “arrival”.

From 2022  we make a Family Calendar at home, in which every day until Christmas we remind ourselves with one of the beautiful places we have visited during the year by opening a window from our paper Christmas tree and projecting photos of the respective destination on the electronic photo frame. It is wonderful on Christmas day to be grateful for all beautiful memories, new places and learnt things, wishing that in the new year they will be even more and pleasant!