It’s that time of year again, but this time it’s different…
The Christmas markets (Weihnachtsmarkts) in Germany is something I feel one should experience in their lifetime. The smell of freshly grilled bratwurst, roasted almonds and chestnuts, spiced wine, and of course the shopping are enough to make you want them to stay all year round.
Unlike the United States, Germany does not have as many malls. Many of the stores here line the streets with apartments accompanying them above. There are two malls here in Jena: the Neue Mitte and the Goethe Gallerie. As nice as they are for shopping for things like clothes and shoes, everyday items are normally found elsewhere.
But the Christmas markets are so much different from the malls. Every second stand or so is a food stand; be that sweets, food or drink (the roasted almonds and the bratwurst are my favorite!). The little shops are all made of wood and remind me of little cabins you could find along a lake in Northern Minnesota. There are rides that the little kids can go on, accompanied by lots of little kids begging their parents to let them get some tokens so they can go on those rides.
Going to the Christmas markets during the day is nice since they are not so crowded, but at night all the rides light up and the square is filled, packed with people as the market comes alive. There is usually some type of musical group signing and caroling in the square during the daytime and sometimes at night as well, or the brass group from Jena will play out of windows above the square at night.
The difficult part about the Christmas market is attempting to actually buy something. One has to get past the large crowd of people and then attempt to understand the strong German accents from the state of Thüringen that the shop owners have. But if you can get past all of that and get the goodies you wanted to buy, all is good. ☺ Happy Shopping!
December 20th, 2007 at 4:02 pm
Hello Heather,
My name is Jason Santa Ana-White, and I am a senior in high school. My mom went to Concordia College, and she got the e-mail about the blog. Since I had just returned from a trip of my own to Germany, she thought I might be interested in this, and I am. I went to a small town called Horb, located near the black forest. I was there for a month, doing an internship with a company located there. I think your trip looks very interesting, and I’ll be sure to keep checking it out. In case you’re interested, the link to my own blog about my trip to Horb is at:
http://HTIntern.blogspot.com
Have fun there. I certainly did.