On the last workday before Christmas, miners in the Ore Mountains celebrated the Mettenschicht. For the miner, this event marked the beginning of the Christmas season—earlier than for any other inhabitants of the region.

We owe the preservation of the origins of this ancient mining custom to Julius Bernhard von Fromberg, the Bergmeister (mining master) of Annaberg. In 1852, von Fromberg described how, "in times past, it was considered a praiseworthy custom for workers to give gifts to the Steiger [foreman], while the latter, in turn, bestowed some form of treat upon them."

Sometime during the 17th century, Ore Mountain miners added a miners' service—the Bergmette—to this original, celebratory aspect of the "last shift before Christmas," thereby creating the Mettenschicht.

The Bergmette—during which the foreman took the place of the preacher—was followed by a ceremony honoring the foreman and the presentation of gifts to him. Afterward came the social part of the event: a communal miners' feast, which, until sometime after 1850, was often hosted by the foremen themselves.