BEST BIG CHRISTMAS MARKETS IN GERMANY
Geschenck shoppen till you droppen at Weihnachtsmarkt
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. 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) with the stone monumental
statuary from 17th and 18th Century. Berlin becomes 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 (see Germany's Medieval Christmas Markets). © Bargain
Travel Europe
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best travel and hotel deals in Germany
at TripAdvisor
These articles are copyrighted and the sole property of Bargain Travel Europe and WLPV, LLC. and may not be copied or reprinted without permission.
SEE ALSO:
CHRISTMAS MARKET IN HEIDELBERG
CHRISTMAS MARKETS – FRANKFURT RHINE-MAIN
NUREMBURG
TOY MUSEUM
WORLD
OF STEIFF
CASTLE
RHEINSTEIN
