Der Weihnachtsmarkt
Christmas has hit Berlin. And I'm not talking about how the stores have put out Christmas decorations; those have been out since Sept. No, I'm talking about der Weihnachtsmarkt, the Christmas Market!
Now that it gets dark here by 5pm and on cloudy days, at around 4:15-4:30pm, there is a definite mood change in the city. But here they are creative and know what things bring good moods back, namely lots of Christmas lights, a big fair with lots of kitschy rides right in the middle of town, and of course Christmas markets, all over.
Most German cities with one main downtown, i.e., a no-vehicle, pedestrian mall area, have one large Christmas market in the central spot. Berlin, however, doesn't have one downtown. In fact, if you want to even try to figure out a "central location," you'd have to think in terms of "East" and "West" Berlin, dating back to when the wall was up. In the days of the Berlin wall, East and West Berlin both had their own central districts, including shopping areas, universities, etc. Now that the wall has been down (up in 1961, down in 1989), and Berlin is one big city without a division, it almost has "double" of most everything.
Take my music school for example. My music school was the former East Berlin music conservatory. There is another one in Berlin, much older, that was the music conservatory in the West. The famous Humboldt University was also in the East. There are two main shopping districts, Friedrichstrasse as the East shopping mile, and Kufuerstendamm as the West shopping hotspot, including the location of the famous "KaDeWe" department store. KaDeWe stands for "Kaufhof des Westens," which translates to "Department store of the West." It is a fancy 8-story department store which has very trendy and expensive products, from clothes to food. The top floor is, in fact, all food, and is where you can find the most top quality culinary delicacies, including olive oils for 80 euros.
They have a bakery with the most kinds of bread known to man; they have showcases filled with the most delicious, albeit expensive, cakes and pastries possible, they have endless counters of truffles, and on and on. One of the coolest things to check out additionally is the fish section. As you walk through you can see the strangest looking, biggest fish (some still with dagger teeth), or fish heads, on ice in the showcases. It's funny to look at and of course I made my family check it out when they came to Berlin this summer to visit.
Anyway, getting back to the subject of Christmas markets and their location, Berlin has, like everything else, Christmas markets in the eastern and western halves of the city, today without a division, of course, and many scattered about in other places - 50 total. Tonight I went to the newly-opened Christmas market at Gendarmenmarkt, the location of the recordings I just finished making about its history. The famous, beautiful square includes the German and French Cathedral and Concert Hall. This Christmas market especially pretty because of the white tents for booths with stars on the top. http://www.gendarmenmarktberlin.de/
Normal Christmas markets include lots of huts where artists and craftpersons sell their wares, many, but not all, Christmassy; lots of stands that sell bratwursts and many other wursts, and many other food stands with Chrsitmas treats such as honey roasted nuts, chocolate or candy coated fruit, big gingerbread hearts with such phrases as "You're my little bear" written in frosting which you can hang from your neck; and of course the stands selling warm drinks, namely "Gluehwein."
Gluehwein is a big favorite of Germans. Unfortunately I cannot seem to get used to it. Although I love coffee, cappucino, and tea, I never did drink hot apple cider at home, and Gluewein, a hot spiced wine, doesn't do it for me either. I tried again last year after not liking it in my exchange year in Freiburg, but my tastebuds hadn't changed in that regard. For kids, there's a non-alcoholic alternative to the warm drink called "Kinderpunsch" (I think the name is self-explanatory), but I don't even like that. This year I want to try the other warm drink they sell: warm egg liquor punch.
We had fun looking around at the different booths of crafts, including a stand by a man selling hand-made "nose flutes." Nose flutes? Yes. They are his invention of little wooden boxes you put under your nose. By blowing air from your nose into the little whistle-like box, and moving your mouth to control the pitches, you can get the sound of a recorder with the flexibility of a slide whistle. The man could even play violin concertos on the thing, which impressed my friend who plays violin. But it was 19 euros, so I didn't buy one. After Tobias and I looked around we sat down and drank a hot cocoa and had a nice chat.
Thursday I will be able to enjoy Thanksgiving for sure. I was invited to the house of American missionaries who live in a suburb of Berlin. The American husband even comes from 2 hrs. from my hometown! They work with the youth out there, most of which are poor and don't have parents around much. Unfortunately I won't be able to stay the whole evening; I have to come back to Berlin for an oboe class that night. But it'll be so nice to enjoy a warm turkey meal and be around others who also want to celebrate the holiday of being thankful. Then, of course, since Thanksgiving will be over, I can also officially start to decorate my apartment with Christmas decorations, including the little plastic tree which is currently smashed under my bed. I love having a Christmas tree!
p.s. After hearing that only registered users could leave comments, I changed the setting so that now anyone can leave comments. I just hope I don't get more spam that way! But thanks, Dad, for letting me know it was blocking non-registered users.
Now that it gets dark here by 5pm and on cloudy days, at around 4:15-4:30pm, there is a definite mood change in the city. But here they are creative and know what things bring good moods back, namely lots of Christmas lights, a big fair with lots of kitschy rides right in the middle of town, and of course Christmas markets, all over.
Most German cities with one main downtown, i.e., a no-vehicle, pedestrian mall area, have one large Christmas market in the central spot. Berlin, however, doesn't have one downtown. In fact, if you want to even try to figure out a "central location," you'd have to think in terms of "East" and "West" Berlin, dating back to when the wall was up. In the days of the Berlin wall, East and West Berlin both had their own central districts, including shopping areas, universities, etc. Now that the wall has been down (up in 1961, down in 1989), and Berlin is one big city without a division, it almost has "double" of most everything.
Take my music school for example. My music school was the former East Berlin music conservatory. There is another one in Berlin, much older, that was the music conservatory in the West. The famous Humboldt University was also in the East. There are two main shopping districts, Friedrichstrasse as the East shopping mile, and Kufuerstendamm as the West shopping hotspot, including the location of the famous "KaDeWe" department store. KaDeWe stands for "Kaufhof des Westens," which translates to "Department store of the West." It is a fancy 8-story department store which has very trendy and expensive products, from clothes to food. The top floor is, in fact, all food, and is where you can find the most top quality culinary delicacies, including olive oils for 80 euros.
They have a bakery with the most kinds of bread known to man; they have showcases filled with the most delicious, albeit expensive, cakes and pastries possible, they have endless counters of truffles, and on and on. One of the coolest things to check out additionally is the fish section. As you walk through you can see the strangest looking, biggest fish (some still with dagger teeth), or fish heads, on ice in the showcases. It's funny to look at and of course I made my family check it out when they came to Berlin this summer to visit.
Anyway, getting back to the subject of Christmas markets and their location, Berlin has, like everything else, Christmas markets in the eastern and western halves of the city, today without a division, of course, and many scattered about in other places - 50 total. Tonight I went to the newly-opened Christmas market at Gendarmenmarkt, the location of the recordings I just finished making about its history. The famous, beautiful square includes the German and French Cathedral and Concert Hall. This Christmas market especially pretty because of the white tents for booths with stars on the top. http://www.gendarmenmarktberlin.de/
Normal Christmas markets include lots of huts where artists and craftpersons sell their wares, many, but not all, Christmassy; lots of stands that sell bratwursts and many other wursts, and many other food stands with Chrsitmas treats such as honey roasted nuts, chocolate or candy coated fruit, big gingerbread hearts with such phrases as "You're my little bear" written in frosting which you can hang from your neck; and of course the stands selling warm drinks, namely "Gluehwein."
Gluehwein is a big favorite of Germans. Unfortunately I cannot seem to get used to it. Although I love coffee, cappucino, and tea, I never did drink hot apple cider at home, and Gluewein, a hot spiced wine, doesn't do it for me either. I tried again last year after not liking it in my exchange year in Freiburg, but my tastebuds hadn't changed in that regard. For kids, there's a non-alcoholic alternative to the warm drink called "Kinderpunsch" (I think the name is self-explanatory), but I don't even like that. This year I want to try the other warm drink they sell: warm egg liquor punch.
We had fun looking around at the different booths of crafts, including a stand by a man selling hand-made "nose flutes." Nose flutes? Yes. They are his invention of little wooden boxes you put under your nose. By blowing air from your nose into the little whistle-like box, and moving your mouth to control the pitches, you can get the sound of a recorder with the flexibility of a slide whistle. The man could even play violin concertos on the thing, which impressed my friend who plays violin. But it was 19 euros, so I didn't buy one. After Tobias and I looked around we sat down and drank a hot cocoa and had a nice chat.
Thursday I will be able to enjoy Thanksgiving for sure. I was invited to the house of American missionaries who live in a suburb of Berlin. The American husband even comes from 2 hrs. from my hometown! They work with the youth out there, most of which are poor and don't have parents around much. Unfortunately I won't be able to stay the whole evening; I have to come back to Berlin for an oboe class that night. But it'll be so nice to enjoy a warm turkey meal and be around others who also want to celebrate the holiday of being thankful. Then, of course, since Thanksgiving will be over, I can also officially start to decorate my apartment with Christmas decorations, including the little plastic tree which is currently smashed under my bed. I love having a Christmas tree!
p.s. After hearing that only registered users could leave comments, I changed the setting so that now anyone can leave comments. I just hope I don't get more spam that way! But thanks, Dad, for letting me know it was blocking non-registered users.
posted by Heidi at 4:48 PM
2 Comments:
Hey pooch,
Have a Happy Thanksgiving. Randy and I are spending our day in Ames, then going to Maquoketa this weekend. Miss you tons,
The garland came out of the box and went on the front railing. Our squashed little tree wandered upstairs from where I thought it had been consigned.
It's blizzarding in Iowa, wild but beautiful. It's good to be inside by the fire....
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