8" x 12" Old World Advent Calendars on paper with festive silver glitter accents.

HISTORY OF THE ADVENT CALENDAR

Advent Calendar Origins Advent calendars typically don’t follow the full 4 week period of Advent. Instead, they begin on December 1 and mark the 24 days leading up to Christmas. Today, most Advent calendars include paper doors that open to reveal an image, Bible verse, or piece of chocolate. The tradition dates to the mid-19th century, when German Protestants made chalk marks on doors or lit candles to count the days leading up to Christmas.

The First Printed Advent Calendars Gerhard Lang is widely considered the producer of the first printed Advent calendar in the early 1900s.

Around the same time, a German newspaper included an Advent calendar insert as a gift to its readers. Lang’s calendar was inspired by one that his mother had made for him and featured 24 colored pictures that attached to a piece of cardboard. Lang modified his calendars to include the little doors that are a staple of most Advent calendars today and they became a commercial success in Germany. Production stopped due to a cardboard shortage during World War II, but resumed soon after, with Richard Sellmer emerging as the leading producer of finely crafted Advent calendars.

Alpen Schatz is proud to present a fine selection of Richard Sellmer's German classic Advent calendars, depicting both religious and non-religious scenes for the holiday season.