Laderach Advent Calendars: The Finest Swiss Chocolate Inside

[1] Läderach’s winter village (all photos are composites by The Nibble; original photography from Läderach).

[2] The Selection calendar. What’s waiting behind the doors? See the next photo.

[3] The chocolates inside the Selection.

[4] The Pralines Selection contains dark, milk, and white chocolates. What’s behind the doors? See the next photo.

[5] The chocolates inside the Pralines Selection

[6] For lovers of dark chocolate, the Advent Calendar Pralines Noir.

[7] The chocolates inside the box of Pralines Noir. Each chocolate is behind a numbered door.

That’s why for the past few years, we’ve turned to giving them to our family and friends at Thanksgiving dinner. We spend hours poring over websites to find the right calendar for each person.

This year, Läderach, one of our favorite chocolatiers, has made it easy for us. Not only does everyone we know love fine chocolate, but in addition to conventional formats, they have created a unique calendar configuration that forms a little village you can keep when the chocolate is gone.

Why are we addressing Advent calendars before the Halloween candy has been given out? Because the best ones sell out early.

Do you have to celebrate Christmas in order to receive an Advent calendar?

We opine that most chocolate lovers wouldn’t refuse a daily, delicious piece of chocolate for 24 days.

Below:

• Läderach Advent calendars.
• The history of the Advent calendar.
• The Advent calendar gets its name.
• Beyond candy: modern Advent calendars.
  
• About Läderach Chocolate Suisse.

 
 
1. LÄDERACH ADVENT CALENDARS

One of our favorite chocolatiers, the Swiss company Läderach makes five different Advent calendars:

• Advent Calendar House, milk and white chocolate.
• Advent Calendar Selection, milk, dark, and white chocolate.
• Advent Calendar Grand Selection, milk, dark, and white chocolate.
• Advent Calendar Pralines Selection, milk, dark, and white chocolate.
• Advent Calendar Pralines Noir, all dark chocolate.

Our favorite—because we fancy setting up our own little winter village on the kitchen windowsill—is Advent Calendar House.

The lucky recipients can save the village for next year’s holiday decorations, or enjoy it on a shelf all year long (photo below).
 

[8] Läderach’s winter village. It first appears as the tall center box, and opens up to chocolates in little houses.
 
 
2. THE HISTORY OF THE ADVENT CALENDAR

The evolution of what became Advent calendars unfolded across the 19th and early 20th centuries in Germany.

The idea of marking the days to Christmas began at the beginning of the 19th century, when German Lutherans made chalk marks on doors, lit candles, or hung religious pictures to count down the days to Christmas.

They began on the fourth Sunday before Christmas and continued each day through Christmas Eve.

The first-known commercial mention of what would later be known as an Advent calendar is from 1851, appearing in a children’s book by Elise Averdieck.

In 1902, the Reichhold & Lang printing company in Munich published a “Christmas clock” (Weihnachtsuhr), followed in 1903 by a calendar titled “Im Land des Christkinds” (In the Land of the Christ Child).

Gerhard Lang of Reichhold & Lang is widely credited with creating the first officially recognized, commercially printed calendar featuring small pictures behind doors.

In 1904, Lang was inspired by a Christmas calendar that his mother had made for him as a child: 24 cookies (some say candies) sewn onto the lid of a box. He was allowed to eat one of them every day during the Advent period. Other parents created their own handmade versions.

Remembering mom’s cookie countdown, Lang created a pilot calendar in 1904. He printed calendars with small colored pictures that children could attach to a cardboard backing—one picture per day. The first printed, commercially distributed calendar debuted in 1908 [source].

It was published under the title “Münchener Weihnachtskalender — Im Lande des Christkinds” (Munich Christmas Calendar — In the Land of the Christ-Child).

At the time, publishers and the public typically referred to these creations as Weihnachtskalender (Christmas calendar) or Christkindl-Kalender (Christ-child calendar).

The calendars were a commercial success and were made with both religious and non-religious themes.
 
 
The Little Doors Appear

The now-familiar format with little doors that open for the reveal was introduced by Lang in the 1920s.

• Religious calendars typically counted down each day with a prayer or spiritual imagery—nativity scenes, angels, and biblical verses behind each door.
• Secular versions for children had pieces of candy or tiny toys.

These first calendars-with-doors were called “Nicholas calendars” (Nikolauskalender), since they were given out on December 6th, St. Nicholas’ Day. They were 19-day calendars, ending on December 24th, Christmas Eve.

They stemmed from a European tradition where St. Nicholas distributed treats, small gifts, or educational prints to children on his feast day.

Over time, as commercial publishers sought to lengthen the holiday anticipation period, the timeline shifted backwards to encompass all of December, merging the concept with the broader Christian season of Advent.

Later, calendars were made that began on December 1st and were called “Christmas calendars.” These typically didn’t follow the full four-week period of Advent, because the date varies in any particular year (it can range from November 27th to December 3rd).

Instead, the calendars marked the 24 days leading up to Christmas, December 1st through December 24th.
 

[9] The inside of the Läderach Grand Selection Advent calendar. See all the doors fully opened in the next photo.

Advent, from the Latin word adventus, means “coming.” It’s a time of waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus, on Christmas Day.

The term Adventskalender (Advent calendar) began appearing gradually in the 1910s and 1920s as commercial publishers expanded their offerings and the product became popular throughout Germany and Central Europe.

Because in early 20th-century Germany, the word Advent retained strong, formal religious connotations associated with the church calendar, publishers initially preferred titles featuring Weihnachten (Christmas) or the Christkind (Christ child) to emphasize the holiday magic and festive countdown for children.

Standardization began in the 1920s, as Lang’s company (Reichhold & Lang) and other printing houses developed new variations—including the 1920s introduction of doors/windows (Türchen).

The name Adventskalender became the standard, everyday German word for the item.

After World War II, the tradition spread beyond Germany. In the 1950s, a man named Richard Sellmer began mass-producing Advent calendars and exporting them internationally, helping to popularize them worldwide.

The tradition was largely popularized in North America after national newspapers published a photograph of President Dwight D. Eisenhoweropening a calendar with his grandchildren, in 1953. The direct English translation—Advent calendar—became fixed worldwide.

The 1950s also saw the introduction of chocolate-filled calendars, which became hugely popular.

The fun of modern Advent calendars is opening each of the 24 closed windows/doors, that mark each day until Christmas. Young or old, opening the daily window brings anticipation and surprise.
 

[10] Details of the chocolates in the Läderach Grand Selection.
 
 
4. BEYOND CANDY: MODERN ADVENT CALENDARS

For most of its history, the Advent calendar was targeted to children. The surprises behind the window were a piece of candy, a charm, a mini toy, or a holiday-themed image (Santa, Rudolph).

Inspirational versions are still made. The calendars can be basic or very elaborate.

In recent years there’s been a trend to adult-appropriate Advent calendars, that focus on not just fine chocolate, but bottles of beer or wine, coffee and tea, hot sauce, and even beef jerky. 
 
We’ve also seen artisanal jams, gourmet cheese, and one for home cooks, presenting daily tins of artisan finishing salts, BBQ rubs, and global spices.

Beyond food, there are calendars for crafting, crystals and minerals, fishing lures, mystery puzzles, pet treats, seed bombs for gardening, skin care, and votives/tea candles. No doubt, there are yet others.

We love these non-candy ideas for kids:

• Archaeology and fossil digs: Kids chip away at a small block of plaster each day using miniature tools to unearth a real mineral, shark tooth, or dinosaur fossil piece.
• Birdwatching and wildlife kits: Includes items like DIY birdfeeder building blocks, seed cakes, animal tracking guides, and outdoor mission cards to complete in the backyard or local park.
• Book libraries: These look like oversized storybooks with 24 individual mini-pocket books inside. Children unwrap a new mini paperback every night for a bedtime story (popular themes include Disney classics, Marvel, Bluey, and Harry Potter).
• Chemistry and physics calendars: Featuring 24 days of hands-on experiments to perform a mini-science trick or reaction.
• Choose-your-own-adventure/puzzle books: Daily chapters or puzzle pages that unfold an ongoing holiday mystery or rescue mission that the child helps solve.
• Craft Kits: Instead of a finished plastic toy, each door holds the supplies for a specific craft project—such as felt sewing kits, shrink-plastic charms, wooden ornaments to paint, or bracelet-beading supplies.
• Grow-your-own indoor gardens: Designed for budding horticulturalists, these include small biodegradable pots, soil pellets, and 24 packets of easy-to-grow seeds (like microgreens, fast-sprouting flowers, or holiday herbs) to start indoors during the winter.
• Junior chef kits: A countdown that builds out a complete kid-safe baking set over 24 days—starting with measuring spoons and a whisk, moving on to mini spatulas, cookie cutters, and custom recipe cards for family holiday baking.
• Watercolor and drawing challenges: Featuring daily sketch prompts, mini watercolor pans, specialty brushes, and heavy-stock paper cards so kids can create their own holiday art gallery.

If none of these is what you’re looking for, just search online.
 

For decades, Läderach operated primarily as a B2B supplier, providing the shells and other high-quality chocolate products to pastry shops and hotels. In 1981, Läderach expanded to Dillenburg, Germany and began to export overseas. It wasn’t until 2004, following the acquisition of a retailer of premium chocolates, pralines, and confectionery—the Swiss confectionery chain Merkur Confiserie AG—that Merkur’s chain of retail chocolate boutiques enabled Läderach to become a global consumer brand, rebranded with the Läderach name.

Twenty years later, by 2024, Läderach employed some 2,000 people in 20 countries. The company has 220 boutiques, 100 of which are located in Europe; and as of early 2026, 40 to 45 boutiques across the U.S. It also sells online.
 

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