What makes gift-giving so valuable?

What's nicer: getting a gift or giving one? Probably both. Just think how you feel when, for example, you find a surprise in your mailbox or office during Advent that says: «From your Secret Santa». You probably don't even care what's in the package, but you do care that someone thought of you. It's the same the other way around. It is nice to make someone feel that they mean something to you.

The ancient Romans wished good luck in the New Year with symbolic gifts. Melanesians gave valuable shells as gifts to maintain relations with distant islands and to cement their own social status. Among North American chiefs, it was customary to hold a potlatch on very special occasions and cement it with valuable gifts. What about us? We learned as children how happy gifts make. Whether out of friendship, love, or appreciation.

Year after year, we rack our brains for what to put under the Christmas tree for our loved ones. Because gift-giving is not easy. In the past, people might give each other things that they needed in everyday life. But that's over. Today, you want to be creative and spoil the person receiving the gift. Therefore, it is best to ask ourselves who the recipients of the gifts are, what they might like and what hobbies, if any, they have. Above all, let's try not to think about OUR taste, but about that of the other.

Good question. Because apart from the gifts of the astrologers from the Orient to the baby Jesus lying in the manger, there is nothing in the Christmas story about giving presents. This is closely associated with Santa Claus, who brings gifts to the children on December 6. It was not until the reformer Martin Luther that the Christ Child came into the picture, who places his gifts under the Christmas tree at Christmas. And adults? They've only been giving each other presents since the 20th century. Today, gift-giving is a popular Christmas tradition. But it's a beautiful and immensely important one, because it has to do with warmth and affection.

Secret Santa is becoming increasingly popular. It is a pre-Christmas custom among work colleagues, schoolmates, and family members. A draw is held to determine who gets what for whom. The person who draws his or her own name can take a second lot and again throw his or her own name in among the remaining lots. The gifts should not only be loving, but also original and even funny. In addition, the gift is usually secretly slipped to the recipient. The recipient can then guess who the gift might be from. It is up to the participants to decide if they want to solve the riddle. But either way, Secret Santa is a lot of fun!