Travel: German Christmas Markets

As November came to a close and Christmas fast approaching, the Christmas markets all across Europe opened for business.  The markets in Germany (called the Weihnachtsmarkt in German) are a pretty big deal:  most, if not all, major towns and cities will have their streets packed with rows and rows of stalls and kiosks selling all kinds of wares and food.  There are markets available in France, Belgium, Poland, and various other countries as well; I had the good pleasure of seeing the Strasbourg market in France several years ago.  Regardless, the German ones have always had me coming back for more.

The welcome sign to the Ruedesheim Christmas market.

On this trip, I stuck with the few markets I knew the best.  First of all, there's the International Christmas market in Rüdesheim.  This town is a pretty nice place along the Rhine river, situated directly across from the sprawl of Bingen.  The entire Rhine river area is a gorgeous place, with acres of vineyards covering the green hills, and with all its distinctive towns and villages lining the shores of the wide, smooth river.  Just driving along the river roads will treat you with some magnificent views of numerous ruined castles, while the towns offer some unique options for shopping, dinning, and wine-tasting.  Rüdesheim specifically caters more for tourists, offering a few more amenities that international visitors may appreciate.  Their Christmas market gathers up vendors representing different nations, including goods from Finland, Mongolia, Italy, and more.  You can expect to find a modest array of foods, including sausages, meats, breads, chocolate, nuts, and more.  Some of the goods sold include such things as ornaments, trinkets, clothing, and rugs.  Comparatively, it's not as big or impressive of a market as you'd find in much bigger cities (or possibly in more popular smaller towns like Rothenburg).  It's best enjoyed for its atmosphere, and on nice days, its views of the river and surrounding hills.

Fake reindeer watching over us...

This cute locomotive-shaped stall sells chestnuts roasting on an open fire.

The Christmas bus is in town!

As I wandered around and took various pictures, I stopped for a drink of amaretto.  Funny thing is, I always thought amaretto was a coffee flavor rather than a stand-alone drink, so you can imagine my surprise when the stuff gently burned my throat and warmed my stomach, with the smooth and potent allure of alcohol.  It was strong, but I loved it! If nothing else, the various Christmas markets are never in short supply of warm drinks.  Not only are coffees available, but there's also a wonderful winter's drink called Glühwein (a spiced wine, or mulled wine, that's served hot; it's strong, but also somewhat sweet and it warms you up real good).  Most of these drinks are served in mugs, and upon purchase you'd pay a deposit (or a pfand) for the mug; if you want, you could keep the mug for yourself, or return it to get your money back.

Amaretto, partially consumed.  It kinda looks like a beer now, doesn't it?

Rüdesheim probably represents the low point of this trip.  Afterward, I went through the city of Wiesbaden.  It's a pretty big city, but most of its downtown amenities can be seen within a sizable walking distance.  The city has a number of nice parks and some really gorgeous buildings (along with plenty of clean modern buildings).  Within the city center is a large red cathedral (the Marktkirsche) with an expansive plaza, and here you'll find a sizable assembly of market stalls.  On top of the usual array of ornaments, trinkets, and food, I also beheld a wealth of nutcrackers, glowing paper stars, glowing lamps, candles (some of which were made of beeswax), wooden figurines, and much more.  They also had a few rides and a puppet show for the kids.  In the middle of the city (a little further away from the market), there was a Ferris wheel with some cool glowing lights all over it.  At night, strings of lights will come on, with glowing flower patterns glowing over everybody's heads.

One of those rotating Christmas pyramid thingies, near the Wiesbaden Marktkirsche.

Candles galore.

A wall of masks.

Puppet theater, entertaining audiences of all ages for centuries.

Lastly, I got to visit the market of Mainz, just across the river from Wiesbaden.  Mainz offers some unique sights of its own, with its citadel, museums, oodles of statues, churches, and river-side views all packed together.  Walking across the bridge to the area of Mainz-Kastel not only offers a decent view of the river, but also leads to some very ornate graffiti art all along the walls in the tunnels beneath the bridge.  As far as the market goes, it offers a lot of the same as what's been listed above, in addition to some great leather materials, metal signs, and more food.  Lighted displays in this city are pretty decent as well.  It's all centralized around the Mainz dom (cathedral), which is a pretty awesome building in itself.

The Mainz dom, with the Christmas pyramid in front of it.

Lamps...so much color, it's awe-inspiring...

Glowing paper stars; just a few of jillions that I must have seen on this trip.  And all of them are awesome.

I spent four nights at the Mainz Hilton, visiting all these places and occasionally relaxing around the local area.  The Hilton is certainly a nice hotel that offered a comfortable stay and a good breakfast buffet.  I ate out just a few times; restaurants in Germany do offer some great food at times.  For the most part, however, I was content to stick with the occasional market food.  There are always stalls selling bratwursts, pizzas, hot meat sandwiches, and more.

Kartofelpuffen (potato pancakes, sorta), is another fine market delicacy that can be enjoyed here.  Served with apple sauce (although a strawberry sauce was made available as well).

That's basically the extent of my trip.  By the end of it, the markets were starting to fill up more and more; in the evenings and weekends, it can be very aggravating to worm your way through wall-to-wall people.  Ultimately, most markets sell the same variety of goods anyway, so after a few days, I was content.  I came home with a bag full of candied nuts (probably my favorite thing from these markets), some gifts for others, and a wealth of pictures.  I can't be certain as to whether or not I'll have the opportunity to go back to these markets again; having seen, bought, and devoured everything I wanted to, I can walk away from it feeling gratified with the memories and the photographs of these wonderful marketplaces.

Nutcrackers, wondering where their nuts are at.

I certainly recommend visiting a Christmas market to any traveler.  The ones posted here are certainly worthwhile looking at.  The market in Rothenburg (a nice walled town made famous for its well-preserved medieval architecture and astronomical clock) should be a must-see.  I remember the market in Trier being good as well.  I've never been to the Stuttgart market, but from what I've heard of it, it was "just okay." You probably can't go wrong with markets in the bigger cities (Berlin, Munich, Dresden, Köln, etc).  Also, the market in Strasbourg, France, is decent.  All these markets usually open up at the end of November and run throughout December.

Standard market scene at the Mainz Christmas market.

Fröhliche Weihnachten!