Christmas Markets

One of my favorite experiences when studying abroad was being able to visit all of the Christmas markets in Germany. Christmas markets basically do not exist in the United States. Even Boston, a more historic city in the US, had its first Christmas market in 2016. As Christmas is my favorite holiday, I had been looking forward to the Christmas markets for many months. In this post I will be discussing my experiences at various Christmas markets in Germany and throughout Europe.

In no particular order

1.     Burg Hohenzollern

This market was probably my favorite Christmas market that I visited. It was extremely magical as it was on top of Burg Hohenzollern, a castle that is on top of a mountain. When I was there, it was lightly snowing the whole day and it was one of the experiences this year that felt most fairy tale like. Due to the nature of being in a castle, I honestly felt as though I was attending a Christmas market at Hogwarts.

2. Strasbourg, France

La Capitale d’Noel (the Capital of Christmas) as it is nicknamed was another Christmas market I visited, this time in the beautiful French city of Strasbourg. As it was a different country, it had a different feel than the German Christmas Markets. The French version of Glühwein that was sold had a different taste than any German versions I had, not to mention the wares that were being sold were less wooden and included many finely made clothes. This was the first Christmas market I visited, during the last weekend of November and I was absolutely ecstatic to get into the Christmas season.

3.     Stuttgart

Stuttgart was a city that I had not visited much before I went to the Christmas market. Its Christmas market was smaller than I expected, but it had so many beautiful wooden wares that were handcrafted.

4. Ludwigsburg

The Ludwigsburg Christmas market took place right outside of Schloss Ludwigsburg, a beautiful baroque castle right outside of Stuttgart. This Christmas Market seemed huge and had so many wonderful gifts that could be bought. I found a wonderful, very warm scarf that I wore the entire winter at this Christmas market. Its location made it seem very elegant and beautiful.

5. Heidelberg

It was wonderful to be able to see the Christmas market in Heidelberg, a city that is very near and dear to my heart. This was a Christmas market that I feel really took advantage of its location and had so many smaller stalls scattered throughout the city, rather than having stalls in one single main location.

6. The Hague, Netherlands

The Christmas Market in The Hague was unlike any I had experienced before. Right from the beginning it was advertised as being fancier than the rest, as it was the Royal Dutch Christmas Market. So many of the goods that were being sold there were rather fancy and included more name brand companies, rather than smaller local shops who were selling homemade wares. There was even a stall for Yankee Candle, an American country!

7. Esslingen

The Esslingen Christmas Market was another pretty unique one. Esslingen is a city that’s a very short train ride away from Tübingen. Part of this Christmas market was also a medieval market. While, of course, it was not authentic, the medieval aspect of this market brought a unique spin that seemed to fit in perfectly among the backdrop of the centuries old houses that line the streets of most German buildings. It was somewhat quirky at times, but it made for a fun excursion after class one day.

8. Dordrecht

This Christmas Market was my first experience with Christmas markets in the Netherlands. It had a very different feel than the German markets, yet it was, at the same time, very similar. The market was along various canals and was near the port. It had a slightly more American aspect of it, exemplified by the many stereotypically American Christmas songs that were sung by local carolers (Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, etc.). It was a stark contrast from the very traditional German Christmas Markets.

9. Lake Como

After New Years I was visiting Italy and I went to Lake Como. I was extremely surprised to find that the Christmas Market still was up and running. I was extremely excited to see what this Christmas Market had in store for me, as it was Italian, not Germanic in origin (in the Christmas Market in Strasbourg was strongly influenced by its past German history). The food was quite different at the Christmas Market and they did not have Glühwein and its location among a beautiful lake added another beautiful atmospheric aspect to the market.

10. Tübingen Chocolate Market

I unfortunately was away during the Tübingen Christmas market, but I got to visit the Chocolate Market that took place in Tübingen earlier during the month of December. The entire time I was at the Chocolate Market, I was reminded of an old commercial from some chocolate company that had a woman ask “Do you dream in chocolate?” I never quite understood that sentiment until I went to the Chocolate Market and saw so many dozens of different ways to prepare chocolate, including some ways that were surprising. It was also stunningly beautiful.

In Conclusion

Christmas in Germany is absolutely wonderful and extremely picturesque. It was mind-blowing how unique and how beautiful each Christmas market was. I loved being able to be in Germany for these markets, even though much of the time I was absolutely freezing due to being outside. I feel like the Christmas markets are a very easy window into some of the many cultural differences between Americans and Germans (also other Europeans). When planning future visits to Europe, I will definitely consider coming during December, just to see the Christmas Markets.