Christmas Market , Munich
December 3, 2002

During the Munich Christkindlesmarkt, Marienplatz is taken over by wooden stalls full of Christmas goods -- ornaments, gifts, nativity scenes, and of course lots and lots of food. There's a huge tree in front of the Rathaus, and up on the first floor balcony musical groups perform in the cold.

The ornaments are fascinating to look at. Many stalls sell German glass ornaments, and some are hand-painted. Another popular and traditional type of ornament here is made of pewter.

You'll also find stalls selling Glühwein (mulled wine), Lebkuchen (gingerbread), Apfelkücherl (baked apples), Stollen (is there an English equivalent?), and an abundance of Wurst.

This is a huge tourist event -- not as big as Oktoberfest, naturally, but you can't help but notice the high percentage of English speakers at this market.

Besides the main Christmas market, there are several smaller ones around Munich. Here in Schwabing (where I live), we have one at Münchner Freiheit that takes a more artistic approach. There are a few pictures from that market at the bottom of this page.

You may also want to look at my pictures from the markets in Augsburg and Nürnberg.

The Rathaus, the tree, the stalls in Marienplatz.

A large nativity scene carved from wood.

Enjoying the market.

A crowd gathers to listen to the musicians performing on the Rathaus balcony.

Along with this choir, there was a horn group and a vocal quartet; they all took turns performing.

A Jagdhorn group. These horns are traditional hunting horns, with no keys or valves.

Rathaus. Tree.

Painted glass ornaments (the blue and white ones on the left). Very similar to the one Laura gave me last year from Ursel's in Middletown.

Stall after stall is filled with Christmas goodies. It is quite overwhelming. This stall has a lot of the pewter ornaments hanging from the blue bars.

Nutcrackers and other Christmas decorations.

I bought some pewter at this stall. They had a nice selection.

Almost every stall has bright, bright lights that make everything shine, and warm you up as you look at the goods.

This is part of the Münchner Freiheit market. It has more art than kitsch, with prices to match. (Apparently it is a juried art market.)

Percentage-wise, there's just as much Glühwein here as there is in Marienplatz.

A huge arch made of recycling bins strung together and lit from within. This market is a little more funky than the one downtown, as you can probably tell.

See my pictures from the Augsburg and Nürnberg markets.

Visit the official sites for the Munich and Schwabing markets.

 

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