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Hammacher Schlemmer Holiday Decorations

BEST CHRISTMAS MARKETS IN GERMANY
Geschenck shoppen till you droppen at Weinachtsmarkt

Non-stop holiday shopping in Berlin! City fathers passed a law allowing stores to stay open around-the-clock six days a week. Not since the 1890's have Germans enjoyed such 1st-world western freedoms! Most Christmas traditions have tended to pass the other way. St. Nikolaus, the Christmas Tree, mulled cider, gingerbread and nutcrackers in Hessian Uniform. In Los Angeles the holiday is celebrated with a wilting dried-out parking lot spruce in 80 degree heat. German winters are long cold and gloomy, so the celebration of brightly lit town squares with the spirit of the holiday glistening everywhere is a welcome respite. The Christmas Market is one of the most spectacular of German traditions. Most cities have them in one form or another, but for a wintertime travel treat pay a visit to some of the largest and best.

NUREMBURG

Nuremburg's (or Nürnburg) Christmas Market is possible the most famous and this medieval walled city·s celebration of the holiday has caused it to be called Germany's Christmas capital. Nuremberg's medieval Christmas market is held in the city's old quarter. In the city square under the watchful eyes of 800 year old carved gothic figurines of the The Schoner Burnnen, or Beautiful Fountain, sample the Lebkuchen (Gingerbread), a speciality of the region. Gingerbread originated with the monks of Franconia who used to bake pepper cake and honey cake in the Middle Ages, the origin of the familiar modern gingerbread. The Christmas Market is traditionally opened by the Christmas Angel, replicated in the Nuremberg's Gold Foil Angels to purchase and send home. And don't forget to enjoy the city's famous Nürnburger sausage.

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STUTTGART

Stuttgart’s Christmas Market is one of the oldest. The streets are filled with the sweet aromas of cinnamon and vanilla. Over 200 holiday booths surround the skating rink set up in the in the middle of the city under the starry winter sky. Small wooden houses beautifully decorated with angelic figurines, fir branches and Christmas balls, and the "fairy-tale land" on Schlossplatz against the backdrop of the Old Castle and the baroque grounds of the New Palace (see Museums of Stuttgart). Mulled wine and punch in unique design cups, grilled local sausages and baked apples are all available from a collection of wooden stalls around the skating rink which is open during New Years Eve.

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MUNICH

Munich's Marienplatz burns with the glow of holiday lights with booths serving up food and drink as well as the every present winter hot steaming chestnuts. Munich has other specialized fairs and markets for gift shopping, including Germany's largest manger crafts market. The Kripperlmarkt displays handmade nativity figures by local artisans from the lantern for the manger to feed for the ox and donkey, from beaming cherubs to the gifts of the Magi. The Schwabinger Weihnachtsmarkt is an art festival with over 100 competitive artists' stalls. The Tollwood winter festival is held on the Theresienwiese, where music, theatre and dance performances are held in the tents left over from Oktoberfest takes the festival square two months earlier.

BERLIN

There are several Christmas Markets held all around Berlin, with the biggest at the Gendarmen Markt square between the Concert House (Knozerthaus) and the German Cathedral (Deutscher Dom) when the stone monumental statuary from 17th and 18th Century Berlin become surrounded by glowing Christmas decorations and festooned with ribbons, crowded by Nativity dispalays, food and sweet aromas. A few block away at the AlexanderPlatz near the rail station finds a Ferris Wheel among the shopping booths.

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There are over 2,500 Christmas Markets in Germany and some of the other great festivals are held in Hamburg, Aachen, Dusseldorf, Cologne, Rothenburg, Dresden, to name a few. © Bargain Travel Europe

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SEE ALSO:

CASTLE RHEINSTEIN

NUREMBURG TOY MUSEUM

WORLD OF STEIFF

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