Advent in Příbram during the First Republic

When the parish priest of Bohutín, Vrba, had a songbook of carols printed at his own expense, children from all over the area gathered in the church and looked forward to Christmas by learning to sing the songs. They wrote a little note to put in Santa's manger and were curious to see what he would bring them. This is what Advent looked like through the eyes of children. "Their wishes were incomparably more modest," thinks Věra Smolová. "I would say that ordinary families were happy if their child received one toy or some practical thing."

There was caroling. It was partly a social custom, but the children actually took something away from it. "It was seen as helping those who needed it the most. It wasn't right for middle-class children to go caroling around town to strangers." Much more widespread before Christmas than today was the charitable work of various support societies. But then the aim was to provide the needy with the real basic necessities of life. Shoes, clothes and food were distributed.

"During the First Republic, the social barriers were much greater than we can even imagine," Smolová thinks. "For example, the custom from the times of the Austro-Hungarian Empire persisted, when the miners lived in the poor Březové Hory or in the suburbs of Příbram, while the Bansko officials lived in Příbram." Poverty was visible even at first sight. For example, before the Second World War, many children in Příbram ran around barefoot for most of the year. People then projected ordinary wishes, such as shoes, onto their cribs.

Every farmer wished for a Christmas crib

The basis of every Pribramsko nativity scene was what people knew intimately or had only heard about. They knew that the Holy Family and the three kings were supposed to be part of the nativity scene, and there were also realities such as Svatá Hora or the Březohorské shafts and their miners. Sheep were also part of the nativity scenes, not only because of the shepherds who tended their flocks around Bethlehem. "Today we probably can't imagine it anymore, but sheep used to be everywhere around Příbram. They grazed the hills that were not used for agriculture. It was a strong domestic element that everyone knew."

The gifts that the shepherds brought to Santa Claus were things that people themselves wished to have. Often it was miners bringing meat or a Christmas tree. "Every miner wanted to have a fat, raisin-studded, almond-studded Christmas christmas." Musicians also headed to Bethlehem to see Santa Claus. "Music was a treat for the people. It was happiness when someone played for you. If you look at an old nativity scene, you'll see mostly people's desire for what they wanted but couldn't afford - venison, goose, foreign fruit, leather shoes instead of clogs."

And why did the crib-making in Příbram succeed so well? There was plenty of wood, it was an interesting income for people and the presence of the so-called metal farmers supported the tradition. "Often, even people who worked in the mines had their own fields. And they were very hard-working, after their shifts they were still tending their farms. The autumn and winter seasons were very good for this, there was not so much work in the fields, so they could devote themselves to Advent and Christmas." We have not answered the question completely, however, the roots of nativity scene carving have to be sought much further back. With the Jesuits and in the period after the Thirty Years' War.

Christmas in Příbram thanks to the Jesuits

The Jesuit Order took over the Holy Mountain in 1647. "There were no other cultural movers and shakers here at that time, so the Jesuits had amazing opportunities to educate people according to their principles. For example, they came to Pribram to teach the youth and to celebrate services. One of the things they focused on was Christmas." As early as the middle of the 17th century, they were preparing live nativity scenes. "They would go to worship the baby Jesus, it was a kind of theatrical play combined with singing."

In the 17th century, miners were by far not the most numerous class in Příbram, so the nativity scenes cannot be associated only with them. The tradition of Christmas plays and nativity scenes grew out of what the Jesuits did for the common people. "They divided the time we now think of as Christmas into the quiet and serious Advent as a period of expectation and looking forward, then the great joy of the moment of Jesus' birth, and then the joyous time of Christmas when it all faded away. People were close to this culture."

Archbishop Arnošt of Pardubice had a significant influence on the fact that Příbram was a centre of culture. And nothing changed even after the Hussite wars, when it remained faithful to the traditions of the under-fire party. "We don't even realise how long the tradition of Christmas in Příbram is. I really like how it has become more and more alive after 1989," Věra Smolová concludes our tour.

■ Václav Bešt'ák