What do you eat on christmas eve in Germany?

My mom grew up on potatoe salad and Würstchen, which didn't work for our family later on. We've had everything from Schwenker (a specialty from Saarland, mostly eaten in Summer, but why not?), to Rollbraten, to pork filet in a cream sauce(mom's specialty, sooo good). On the first day of Christmas, we usually went to my mom's side of the family, where grandma made some sort of roast/meat baked in sauce. Second day of Christmas, maybe Rouladen, Rollbraten if we didnt have it yet.

Sides are kinda traditional, for example Rouladen are usually eaten with Kartoffelklöße(potato dumpling), often Eier-Bandnudeln(wide noodles, more expensive than the regular noodles, often from a local farmer who keeps chicken), or Herzoginkartoffeln(mashed potatoes shaped into a certain shape, then baked). We often have salad(Feldsalat), Rotkohl, Brokkoli, in recent years roasted Kohlrabi and Karotten(very tasty and doesn't require any work except for cutting and addinf some spices).

Dessert is usually ice cream or cake, no specific type since my grandma stopped making Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte.

We also do Raclette and Fondue in my family, but not on Christmas. We reserve these dishes for New Year's Eve, as you have a lot of time to kill that day. No church, presents, etc to take up time.

/r/germany Thread