German traditions abound at Yuletide season. Sweets and candy are a big part of Christmas in Germany. Candy canes date back to the 17th century in Cologne ( Ger. Köln ) and quickly gain popularity.
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An ancient city, Cologne is founded in the first century CE on the banks of the lower Rhine. It's famous for Eau de Cologne, a citrus type perfume created in 1709, and the huge Cathedral.
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The largest Gothic church in northern Europe, and Germany's most visited site, Cologne Cathedral is a World Heritage Site since 1996.Over three hundred years before, the church choir master and a local candy maker come up with a sweet idea.
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On Christmas Eve at the Cologne Cathedral, Mass is held with ceremony. Children get bored and noisy. In 1607 the choir master asks the candy maker to create some sweets to help keep kids quiet.
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To associate them with Christmas and the nativity, the candy maker bends the striped sticks at top to resemble shepherds' crooks. Candy canes are also given to participants in nativity pageants, and the custom remains today.
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Good children traditionally get candy canes on St. Nicholas Day, the fifth or sixth of December. The saint and a helper, who varies depending on region, visit households to find out if the children have been naughty or nice.
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Santa's helper is typically a pagan entity such as Knecht Ruprecht, or Belsnickel in the Rhineland-Palatinate and Pennsylvania German regions. He might be the goat-legged horned Krampus from alpine regions, or Zwarte Piet (Black Pete, now known as Sooty Pete.)
Naughty kids are threatened with whipping or worse. Some helpers bring a bundle of birch switches. If they're good, kids get nuts, chocolate, fruit such as oranges, and candy canes which represent the crosier or staff of St. Nick.