An Old-Time Moravian Christmas Tradition

The household putz set up by Chuck Baker. Photo credit: Martha Bayless.

One of America’s most popular Christmas customs comes from the Moravians. This tradition is the Christmas village, a miniature village of houses and figures. Among Moravians it still takes its original form, that of an elaborate Nativity scene called a putz.

The putz takes its name from a German word meaning “to put, to set out, to decorate,” related to the words put and putter. The practice of setting up elaborate Nativity scenes had become a popular tradition by the late Middle Ages. At a time when illustrated books were too expensive for anyone but the rich, Nativity scenes were one of the few ways that ordinary people could “see” the scene of Jesus in the manger. Medieval religion also emphasized emotion and encouraged people to imagine themselves in Biblical scenes, so Nativity scenes helped viewers feel the reality of the scene: the shepherds kneeling in homage, the loving mother watching over her child, the innocence of the tiny baby in the manger.

The details of Nativity scenes stemmed from people’s approaches to the realities of the scene. In previous eras of history, people had little idea that ancient times were very different from their own time, so Nativity scenes typically looked like a scene from contemporary everyday life. And because they were regarded as a part of everyday life, the Nativity scene came to be embellished them with every kind of character — not only the shepherds, but the shepherds’ dogs (who were sometimes seen stealing treats), chickens, townspeople, people in taverns arguing with each other, and all kinds of elaborate scenarios. These scenarios became more and more extravagant in many parts of Europe in the 1700s and 1800s. There is a museum of these figures — called “santons,” meaning “holy figures” — in Les-Baux-de-Provence in the south of France, called the Musée des Santons, showcasing the fine craftsmanship and artistry of these elaborate Christmas scenes. Another famous example is owned by the Art Institute in Chicago: this is an extravagant Italian Nativity scene with more than two hundred terracotta figures dating from the mid-1700s on. It includes a boisterous tavern scene, merchants, dogs, and a host of townspeople forming the backdrop to the creche.

The Moravians were among the most enthusiastic crafters of Nativity scenes. And when the Moravians came to America in the 1700s and 1800s, they brought their particular putz Nativity tradition with them. In the early days one room would be closed off from the children and dedicated to the putz, carefully constructed by the adults, who would reveal the putz with a flourish on Christmas Eve. In later decades the children might help in the decorating, gathering moss for the green lawns of the putz and helping arrange the figures. A putz remained more elaborate than a Christmas creche: the creche was the scene in the stable, but the putz retained the European tradition of including many other features. Sometimes the putz would depict other events leading to Christ’s birth, such as the Annunciation, when the angels visited Mary. Or the putz might have a whole town around the stable, even cities and other countries, taking up a whole wall or even a whole room. And in accordance with the belief that the birth of Jesus is timeless, the village scene might be modern. With the growth of the model train industry, toy trains might be added to the picture. The Wise Men and their camels would be located elsewhere in the house and would make their way (with the help of parents) across to the Nativity scene over the course of the twelve days of Christmas, finally arriving on Epiphany. The local Moravian church would also have a putz, of course, but each house would also have their own, and people would do the rounds of the houses to admire each other’s putzes; this was known as putzing. One famous creator of putzes, Jenny Trein, in the Moravian town of Nazareth, Pennsylvania, created 63 putzes over the years; these became so elaborate that it took 40 minutes to view the entire putz.

The tradition of setting up a Christmas village, with its enchanting little houses and townspeople, was so appealing that it soon became divorced from the creche manger scene and became an American tradition of its own. Meanwhile the tradition of setting out a creche remains strong as well. The largest collection of creche scenes in the Americas is not far from Hope — the University of Dayton has a Crèche Museum with over 3500 creche figures.

The Moravians gave rise to several other beloved Christmas traditions, including the candlelight Christmas Eve service and the tradition of putting a lighted candle in each window. But the putz tradition that started off the Christmas village tradition is perhaps the most widespread Moravian contribution to American Christmas traditions.

The Hope Moravian church still maintains its putz. One of the last makers of the household putz in Hope was the late Chuck Baker, who also carried on the Moravian tradition of setting up an Easter putz. Since Chuck’s passing, the last family in Hope to maintain a household putz (as opposed to just a creche scene) might be my own family. But perhaps your family still has a putz as well? Or perhaps this is the year to start one?

Additional resources:
The Art Institute Chicago Nativity [Neopolitan Creche]
The Jennie Trein putz at the Glencairn Museum
University of Dayton Creche collection
Musée des Santons in Les-Baux-de-Provence, France
Musée du Santon in Marseille, France