History of Advent Calendars: Christmas through the ages!

Last Updated on 27th November 2023 by Sophie Nadeau

This post may contain affiliate links. Please check out my privacy policy and disclosure for more information.

Perhaps you’ve been playing ‘Jingle Bells’ on repeat ever since Halloween or maybe you’ve already purchased a Christmas tree. You’ve also likely eaten a little piece of chocolate this morning. A tiny morsel straight from behind the door of your advent calendar. After all, it is the start of advent. Well, did you ever wonder where it had come from? Here’s a quick history of advent calendars.

What is Advent?

In traditional Christianity, Advent is the lead up to Christmas and has been celebrated since as early as 300 CE. In the beginning, it was used by Christians as a period of preparation to get baptised. The word ‘advent’ comes from the latin meaning ‘to come’. In the Church, Advent starts a little earlier than your advent calendar: it starts on the Sunday that is closest to November 30th (feast day of St Andrew the Apostle).

As we all know, modern day Advent Calendars start on the 1st of December, meaning that it’s very likely that your advent calendar won’t match up with the Christian Advent! This means that advent can be anywhere between the 27th November and 3rd December! Christian advent is marked in the Churchh using Advent candles.

History of Advent Calendars: the very beginning…

Although people still celebrate Advent through using candles, many more use calendars; whether they be filled with chocolates, makeup or just pictures! Just like many other modern day Christmas traditions, such as that of the Christmas tree, many things we use to celebrate the holiday too derive from Germany.

The history of advent calendars began sometime in the 1800s, German Lutherans began to mark out the days leading up to Christmas. They would note each day by burning a candle, or perhaps even more simply, by marking a wall with chalk.

Though this tradition doesn’t sound in any way similar to that of the advent calendar, the important thing to note is that this tradition was one of the first times there was a true countdown to Christmas on a day by day basis.

Soon enough, each day was marked with hanging a devotional image each day, similar to the paper image advent calendars many are familiar with today. The first known example of a handmade, wooden, Advent calendar dates back to 1851.

Over time, this tradition morphed over time and the earliest advent calendars as we know them today first appeared at the beginning of the 20th Century in Germany. During the 1930s, some printers started adding short bible verses together with their paper illustrated calendars. 

Below: a German advent calendar from 1903- one of the first ever Advent Calendars. 

The town that turns its town hall into a giant advent calendar!

As advent calendars probably originated in Germany, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that traditions have gone far beyond a few pictures in the region. In fact, there’s one town that has turned its entire town hall into a giant advent calendar!

The town hall of Gengenbach in South-West Germany conveniently has 24 windows and is at the very heart of a world-famous Christmas market. Each day of advent, at precisely 6PM, a new window is revealed to curious onlookers and frantic shoppers. Other towns in Europe also have their own real life advent calendars, such as that of Turkcheim in Eastern France.

Memorable advent calendars

Though the tradition of Advent calendars dates back over a hundred and fifty years, it’s clear to see that they are much diversified from their origins. From the most expensive advent calendar in the world to the largest advent calendar in the world, here are some of the most unique advent calendars in the world.

The most expensive advent calendar

The most expensive advent calendar ever sold came it at a pricey cost of 

Where can I find advent calendars online?

Admittedly, the best advent calendars are online because you can’t cheat and peek behind the window or eat your chocolate early!

There’s also great if you don’t want to fork out a relatively hefty sum for a small amount of chocolate! Each of the organisations, companies and groups below provide a small snippet information, game, video etc each day on their sites in the run up to Christmas.

Liverpool Museum

Admittedly my favourite advent calendar this year comes from Liverpool Museum. The interactive calendar has a little door that you can click on each day. You’ll get a small article about the object that you’ve discovered behind the door.

If you try to rush ahead with the opening of the doors, a little message pops up saying: “Don’t rush ahead, it won’t make Christmas come any quicker!” Cute. Find the online advent calendar here.

Santa Games

Santa Games is full of Christmas related games. Each day reveals a new game that you can play! So far, there’s been a ‘spot the difference’ in the Elf’s costume game. Just a word of warning: turn the volume down unless you want to hear heavily synthesised versions of Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer on repeat… Find the online advent calendar here.

Why Christmas

Each day, a little bit more of the history of different Christmas traditions and why we celebrate them is revealed. Definitely one for history lovers! Find the online advent calendar here.