Finnish-language Christmas tradition originates from Seminaarinmäki
The primary school system brought along school Christmas parties at the end of the autumn semester, for which gifted Seminary students wrote new Christmas poems and carols (Pajamo, 1976). The Christmas parties were attended by the Teacher Training School pupils and Seminary students together. The first venue for these parties was the Seminary's assembly hall , located in in the Seminarium building.
After graduation, the teachers took the Christmas celebrations tradition with them to different parts of Finland. The Christmas celebrations became a joint semester-ending event for the whole school and village and also a model for the celebration culture of other, later established Teacher Seminaries.
The teachers of the Jyväskylä Teacher Seminary brought influences from their study trips to Central Europe into the Christmas celebrations. Christmas traditions, decorations, as well as decorated Christmas trees gradually made their way from the Christmas celebrations in primary schools to the Christmas festivities in Finnish homes.
The next Finnish-language Seminary started in Sortavala in 1880. Jyväskylä Teacher Seminary created various key practices for primary school education and teacher training, which were transferred to other Seminaries. A noteworthy point for the celebration traditions of primary schools is that after Jyväskylä and Sortavala, the next Teacher Seminary for male and female students was not established until the mid-20th century. Jyväskylä Teacher Seminary students included many distinguished female and male poets and composers whose relationship to Finnish-language Christmas developed particularly during their studies.
