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Berlin at Christmas time is a winter wonderland for Santa’s elves. There are >80 Christmas markets spread throughout the city. Like Christmas cookies, these markets vary in size, color, shape and flavor but there’s assuredly a favorite for everyone. The largest of these markets have nearly 2 Million visitors during the yuletide season. Christmas markets in Germany are not only immensely popular with Germans, but with other Europeans and visitors from nearly every country in the world.
Christmas markets in Berlin have been documented for nearly 600 years. Records from the early 1500’s indicate that the first markets were divided by the type of products being sold by vendors: one market was known for selling sweets, another market for selling fish. Today, the largest markets have as many as 400 vendors selling everything from specialty German holiday desserts to only-made-at-Christmas sausages. Others offer homemade crafts ranging from jewelry to clothing, and every conceivable type of Christmas ornament.
Yesterday, Wine-Knows visited their first Christmas market, Gendarmenmarkt, located in the epicenter of Berlin on a historic square flanked by the Berlin Concert Hall and two spectacular churches. Floodlit at night, this square hosts one of the most captivating markets in the city. A huge stage dominated the square where various artists provided yuletide entertainment heard as we strolled throughout the market. There was a plethora of goldsmiths with unique jewelry items, artists representing all mediums from sculpture to painting, and even glass-blowers. There was also a wine bar where strollers could opt for a glass of Champagne. (Personally I preferred the hot mulled wine, a classic at every Christmas market in Germany.)
The Gendarmenmarkt is one of the top Christmas markets for foodies. Alongside the made-only-at Christmas culinary specialties such as the labor intensive stollen, this market offered huge heated tents for inside dining that were fully decked out for the holidays. We saw sausages in every shape and size, many being grilled over wood fires. No turkeys were in sight….roast goose is Germany’s preferred Christmas meat. Side dishes included flavor-chocked red cabbage and traditional potato pancakes with a dollop of applesauce. For dessert there were endless possibilities, the most popular of which was some form of gingerbread such as the Santa-shaped gingerbread cookies.
In contrast, today’s market was a medieval Christmas market in front of Berlin’s mammoth city hall (Rote Rathus). There were organ grinders and performers in period costumes…all against the magnificent backdrop of an Old Berlin setting in a scene from another century. One of the most visited Christmas markets in Berlin, this one has a 150 foot tall Ferris wheel with mindboggling views of the city stretching all the way from the Brandenberg Gate to the suburbs, and a gargantuan ice-skating rink. The market was packed with children as this yuletide extravaganza has a petting zoo, historic carousel rides, as well as a child’s train through a fairy-tale forest. We arrived just in time to see Santa in his sleigh flying high over the market.
Tomorrow, we’ll be leaving Berlin and moving on to Germany's oldest Christmas market in Dresden. Nuremberg and Heidelberg will follow . The we'll end the tour at the grand-daddy of all Christmas markets, Strasbourg, France. Along the route, there will be wine tasting as well as important cultural visits such as the Court of the Nuremberg trials.
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