Christmas in the Czech Republic (Czechia)

Advent, Barborka and Mikuláš

Advent wreaths with four candles mark the Sundays before Christmas. On 4 December, St Barbara's Day (Barborka), a cherry branch is cut and put in water; if it blossoms by Christmas Eve, it is said to foretell a wedding within the year.

On the evening of 5 December, the eve of St Nicholas Day, Mikuláš walks the streets in bishop's robes with an angel (anděl) and a devil (čert). Those who recite a poem or sing a song receive sweets and fruit from the angel, while the devil rattles his chains and threatens to carry off the naughty. On 13 December, St Lucy's Day, women dressed in white as Lucie traditionally visited homes in some regions.

Christmas markets fill Prague's Old Town Square and Wenceslas Square through Advent, with similar markets in Brno, Olomouc and other towns. In the final days before Christmas, live carp are sold from large tubs in the streets.

Štědrý den: the Czech Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve is the heart of Czech Christmas. Traditionally the family fasts during the day; anyone who lasts until dinner is promised a glimpse of the golden piglet (zlaté prasátko) on the wall. The carp bought earlier is often kept alive in the bathtub until the 24th, and some families release it into a river instead of eating it.

Dinner is served in the early evening, starting with fish soup followed by fried carp and potato salad. Some households lay an extra place for an unexpected guest. After the meal a small bell rings: Ježíšek has visited, and everyone gathers around the tree to open presents. Many then go to midnight Mass (půlnoční mše), where Jakub Jan Ryba's Czech Christmas Mass of 1796, known by its opening words "Hej, mistře", is a favourite.

25 December, Boží hod vánoční, is a family day with a roast lunch, often duck, goose or turkey, and 26 December, St Stephen's Day (Štěpán), is a further public holiday traditionally linked with carol singing.

Czech Christmas Eve customs and superstitions

Many old Štědrý den customs foretell the coming year, and several are still played at the table today.

Traditional Czech Christmas food

Carp became the classic Christmas Eve fish because the Catholic Christmas Eve was meatless and carp was raised in large fishponds in South Bohemia, especially around Třeboň. Weeks before Christmas, households bake many kinds of cukroví, small Christmas biscuits such as vanilla crescents (vanilkové rohlíčky), alongside the braided sweet loaf vánočka.

Christmas in Czechoslovakia (1918–1992)

From 1918 until the end of 1992, Czechs and Slovaks shared one state, Czechoslovakia, and most of the customs on this page were common to both: Mikuláš with his angel and devil, a meatless Christmas Eve supper with carp, gifts from the Baby Jesus and midnight Mass. Under communist rule from 1948 to 1989, religious celebration was discouraged and the authorities promoted Děda Mráz (Grandfather Frost), the Soviet New Year figure, as a secular gift-bringer, but Ježíšek and the Christmas Eve table survived in family life.

Since Czechoslovakia peacefully split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia on 1 January 1993, both countries have kept these shared traditions, with regional differences in the Christmas Eve meal. See Christmas in Slovakia for the Slovak table of oblátky with honey and kapustnica.

Christmas in the Czech Republic: frequently asked questions

Christmas in nearby countries