This is my new favorite word. It’s a German word that is untranslatable into English, but I will try to define it. It’s a feeling of being cozy and contented and comfortable. It also refers to pleasantness, cheerfulness, geniality, and friendliness. Gemütlichkeit is that wonderful feeling of warmth and welcome. Let me try to describe some gemütlichkeit scenarios for you.
I am sitting in a plush chair, feet tucked to my side, fuzzy blanket over my lap, a fire roaring in the fireplace. Candles are in the window, snow is falling on the other side of the glass, a cup of coffee with peppermint mocha creamer is in my pottery mug, and a George MacDonald novel is on my lap. That stirs all kinds of gemütlichkeit feelings up in me.
Or how about this one? My family is all home for the holidays. We are sitting around the living room, laughing and talking, sharing stories, sipping eggnog, with soft music playing in the background. The voices crescendo at times, then die away to satisfied sighs. Each person feels a part. We are connected and comfortable and content. Gemütlichkeit!
Or friends have just walked in the front door. Hugs and greetings were given generously. Cookies were exchanged. Their noses were drawn to the kitchen where the smell of cinnamon and cloves and cider invited them to pour themselves a mug of wassail. Some then sat around the table for a game of Scum or Dutch Blitz. Others relaxed on the overstuffed living room furniture and began conversations about life. Life’s pressures are relieved. Life’s pleasures are embraced. Peace is felt.
For me, the feelings of gemütlichkeit are found most often in my own home, by myself or with the people I love the most. I also feel it when I go to my mother’s home, where care is always given to simple decorations, homemade meals, and open conversations. There have been a few other homes where I have felt this unpretentious atmosphere of simplicity and joy and kindness and genuine love. You can feel it. You can sense it. And it is contagious, spreading from heart to heart. My desire is for my home to always be a place where this spirit of gemütlichkeit is felt.
When I picture gemütlichkeit scenes, I have difficulty conceptualizing them in other seasons besides winter, though I could perhaps visualize a fall scene with a roaring bonfire and a starry sky. I suspect this is why winter is my favorite season. And it’s how I imagine heaven. Perhaps gemütlichkeit settings are a taste of heaven on earth.
What is gemütlichkeit to you?
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