I have been back to work now for a week after a two week holiday. We spent a very enjoyable week in the Austrian Tyrol and then some equally enjoyable days with the family in the West Midlands.
Our week in Austria was based in the village of Fieberbrunn. On our first morning there we had a walk round the village led by the Hotel owner who had lived there all his life. He explained some of the customs and what life was like in a Tyrolean village. I had noticed that written with chalk above the doors of many of the houses( and on our hotel) was the following, 20 C+M+B 08. Thankfully he explained this as he described some of their Advent and Christmas customs. The letters have 2 meanings. They are the initial letters of the traditional names given to the magi - Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar. They also abbreviate the Latin words - Christus mansionem benedicat( may Christ bless this house). At Epiphany 3 boys dressed as the wise men accompany the local priest as they visit the houses of the village and where they are received with a gift( usually now money which is given to an international charity) the letters, numbers and crosses are chalked above the door(the numbers indicating the year). Austria is very much a Roman Catholic nation and this custom is seen by the villagers as an important one. The people will leave this chalk writing on the doorpost throughout the whole year and would never think of wiping it clean. Looking for information on the internet it would seem that this custom originated in Germany or Poland.
