Having been a regular (or was) at Stammtisch for some considerable time at our local Gasthaus, in our adopted village in the foothills of the Eifel Mountains in the Rhineland-Palatinate, I was familiar with Gemütlichkeit. It's really an untranslatable word, meaning - sort of - a "feeling of comfort." But so much more than that. It evokes sights, scents and companions, a warm hearth on a cold winter's night, good food and conversation - a large cup of Jacobs Krönung kaffee and/or a large stein of Kölsch (Zwei, bitte! 
), the warm light of candles on the table, a large innkeeper's hearty laugh and slap on the back, a comfy chair that is yours for the evening (and indeed, at Stammtisch, yours for as long as you're a welcome part of the "tribe" and choose to belong). Gemütlichkeit.
The scents I remember - a more-than-hundred-year-old well-worn oak table, hewn from the local forest, and thoroughly permeated over that century-plus with pub smells, fire smells, drink smells. Roast chestnuts, nutmeg, and hot, aromatic coffee, maybe with a dash of Asbach. Nuremberg Lebkuchen, and the rich, deep, dark, fragrant delicious chocolate of a hot Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte. Gemütlichkeit. The feeling, and the soap. Fröhliche Weihnachten!
), the warm light of candles on the table, a large innkeeper's hearty laugh and slap on the back, a comfy chair that is yours for the evening (and indeed, at Stammtisch, yours for as long as you're a welcome part of the "tribe" and choose to belong). Gemütlichkeit. The scents I remember - a more-than-hundred-year-old well-worn oak table, hewn from the local forest, and thoroughly permeated over that century-plus with pub smells, fire smells, drink smells. Roast chestnuts, nutmeg, and hot, aromatic coffee, maybe with a dash of Asbach. Nuremberg Lebkuchen, and the rich, deep, dark, fragrant delicious chocolate of a hot Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte. Gemütlichkeit. The feeling, and the soap. Fröhliche Weihnachten!
