Christmas markets

In Germany, there are estimated 1500-3000 Christmas markets. But how did such a nice festival come about? This custom came at the beginning of the 14th century. By allowing sugar bakers, basket makers, and toy makers to sell their goods in small stalls during the Advent season on the marketplace. In 1296, the Viennese merchants received the privilege of holding a "December market" to supply the population of Vienna by Duke Albrecht I of Austria. In 1310, a St. Nicolas market in Munich was first mentioned in a document. In 1384, King Wenzel granted the city of Bautzen the right to hold a free meat market on Saturdays from the St. Michael`s Day (29th September) to Christmas. Thereafter, this type of market spread over the whole German-speaking area. Since the 20th century, this has been an integral part of pre-Christmas customs. But today, Christmas markets often start already at the end of November and not in December. In small communities, the Christmas market takes place for only a week or a couple of days and is usually held by clubs. Nowadays you can see a lot of sweets on a Christmas market: Gingerbread, cotton candy, roasted almonds and chestnuts. But there are also jewelry for the feast to buy, for example. Christmas tree balls, cribs, tinsel, Erzgebirgische Schwibbögen and the Christmas trees themselves. When you go to a Christmas market, the parents usually say: Today I want to drink a mulled wine (hot red wine with spices) or a Feuerzangenbowle. These drinks are very typical of our German Christmas markets.

Johannes