GERMANY: One of the world's best known Christmas markets opens in southern German city of Nuremberg

Record ID: 777699

  • Title: GERMANY: One of the world's best known Christmas markets opens in southern German city of Nuremberg
  • Date: 4th December 2007
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF WOODEN FIGURES OF MARY, JOSEPH AND THE THREE WISE MEN IN A MANGER JOSEPH FIGURE MARY FIGURE BABY JESUS FIGURE
  • Embargoed: 19th December 2007 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Germany
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVABGZUDL56BGUKUH2ZJOEBM4CIL
  • Story Text: Nuremberg's Christmas market, one of the most famous in Europe, has officially opened on Friday evening (November 30) as the Christ child appeared outside the Frauenkirche (church of Our Lady), accompanied by an orchestra playing Christmas carols.
    On the eve of the first weekend of Advent, marking the start of the Christmas season, some 180 decorated stalls invited visitors to enjoy the Christmas spirit as vendors sold traditional gifts such as wooden toys, sweets and cakes.
    The smell of mulled wine, or Gluehwein (pron.: gloo-vine) and the famous Nuremberg bratwursts (German sausages) filled the air in the town's main square, the Hauptmarkt, as several thousand Christmas shoppers strolled through the alley of stalls, both young and old, from all over the world.

    "It's so full you can barely get to the stalls to get something to eat and drink, never mind to look at the Christmas decorations. I'm not going to buy anything because it is no fun like that," Wilhelm Haug said.
    "I think it has also got more expensive."
    Other people weren't going to let a few extra euros for a mulled wine dampen their Christmas spirit:
    "You have a bit more money to spend before Christmas because of getting paid Christmas money. Then you can enjoy the Christmas markets even if they have become a bit more expensive," said Klaus Borowka as he wandered through the stalls once the Christ child had declared the market open.
    Traditionally, the Christ child recites a poem to open the winter wonderland. The role is played by a young woman between 16 and 18 years old.
    She must be a native of Nuremberg and is chosen biannually by the readers of a local newspaper. Her speech is delivered from an open gallery at the top of Frauenkirche, facing the market square.
    This year's christ child is 16-year-old Rebekka Volland who had her first appearance in this popular role. The Nuremberg "Christkindlesmarkt"on Christmas Eve, December 24, when Germans traditionally celebrate Christmas.
    The first historical mention of the market was in 1628, and by 1737 all of the trades practised in the Bavarian city were represented at the annual market.
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