The History of The Advent Calendar What is Advent? Advent starts with St Andrews Feast on the nearest Sunday to 30th November and lasts for 4 weeks, the period for Christians to prepare for Christmas. The word Advent means "coming into place" or "the coming of Christ". Early Advent Traditions. The origins of the Advent Calendar reach back as far as the early 19th century, when children were encouraged to count down to Holy Night (Christmas Eve). In Bavaria, Germany 24 chalk marks were drawn on a door and starting from 1st December children would rub off a marking each day. Others would put notches in candles and burn a section each evening, or stick 24 small pictures or bible verses to the wall. The First Advent Calendars. In the mid 19th Century Gerhard Lang's Mother stuck 24 bits of candy to a piece of card, and it is from this that Lang created the first printed Advent Calendar. He produced it in 1908 at his printers  Reichold & Lang in Munich, it was a printed piece of card to which 24 pictures were stuck on througout December. It was the early 20th century that saw the first Advent Calendars with little doors or windows, and soon other printers were producing Advents with more religious themes. Thanks to World War II the German tradition was put on hold as cardboard was rationed and calendars were not allowed to be produced with pictures. In 1946 however the Advent Calendar was back, and the tradition spread to Europe and North America where even the President was fond of the tradition. Advent Calendars Today. Today Advent Calendars of all shapes and sizes are available including chocolate, wooden, fabric, raditional, and  some have extended the  season by adding more windows to reach to New Year.  But the long tradition of opening an Advent Calrndar made from card with a picture window still exists and children all over the world enjoy the count down to Christmas each year.