The Christmas market burned down this week, a bad omen to be sure. It wasn’t the only market in the city – not even the biggest one – but according to a recent survey of 23,600 visitors to 130 Christmas markets in Germany and Austria, it was the most popular in the entire country. Preliminary findings suggest improper use of electrical equipment, which is ironic, because this particular market was designed as one from the Middle Ages. Merchants dressed as if they were about to perform in the school Christmas pageant, and alcoholic drinks with names like Grog (grog) and Met (mead) were served in clayware mugs, which, for a deposit of 3 euros, made a nice souvenir. The stands featured handmade foods and goods – a welcomed contrast to the made-in-sweatshop offerings of the bigger markets – and oil lamps and candles were the only sources of illumination. The event was held in the cozy confines of the royal stables next to the Residenzschloß in the Old Town (Olde Towne?), so it was better to go during the week, when there weren’t so many people jams. Like the majority of those surveyed, I looked forward to that market more than any other. Now it’s not certain if we can look forward to next year at all. At least I got my clay mug to remember it by.
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| Souvenir from Germany’s most popular Christmas market |
This entry was posted on Saturday, December 22nd, 2007 at 12:57 and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
sad to hear about the burning of the medieval dresden christmas market. we were there on the 1st oF December and it was charming and interesting and a welcome change to the modern tat that dominates Christmas now. M
I too was at the Dresden Historical Christmas market on December 1st and was sad to hear of its destruction by fire. I fully agree with Martin’s comments.
His Dad
my visiting mother had her heart set on getting to that market, and we ended up leaving it until last, only to arrive on the very morning it burned to find a sign saying there had been a fire and the market would be closed. bad timing, eh? i guess i’ll have to take your word for it that it was the christmas market of dresden christmas markets.