Fröhliche Weihnachten! (German for Merry Christmas). Nothing beats being home with your family for the holidays, but strolling through European Christmas markets is pretty close. Something like 18 months ago, I booked our entire family on a Uniworld Christmas Market River Cruise along the Rhine River. Our adventure started in Cologne, Germany and ended in Basel, Switzerland. Our family of 8 (both sons and spouses and our two granddaughters) were joined with an additional 11 people from our extended Framily (Friends who you choose to be part of your Family) for this adventure.
Jason had arranged a bus to take the group from his house in Mainz to Cologne, so on the morning of the first day we loaded aboard and headed to the Ship!
In the 14th century, the custom arose of allowing craftsmen such as toy makers, basket weavers and confectioners to set up stalls under the name “Saint Nicholas market” to sell the little things that children received as Christmas gifts. There were also stands selling roasted chestnuts, nuts and almonds. A Saint Nicholas market in Munich was first mentioned in a document in 1310. In 1384, King Wenceslas granted the town of Bautzen the right to hold a free meat market on Saturdays from St. Michael’s Day (29 September) until Christmas.
Over time, the tradition of Christmas Markets spread throughout the German-speaking world. The first document reporting a Christmas market is dated 1434 during the reign of Frederick II of Saxony, mentioning a Striezelmarkt, which took place in Dresden on the Monday before Christmas. Later, the Reformation continued the tradition by renaming it Christkindlmarkt (“Christ Child market”) to combat the cult of saints. The Strasbourg Christmas market dates from 1570, that of Nuremberg from 1628.
Since around the first half of the 20th century, markets have become an integral element of pre-Christmas customs. A revival took place in the mid-1990s. Many cities in Europe have established their own Christmas market with chalets and sometimes attractions (ephemeral ice rink, Ferris wheel, etc.), thus offering a more commercial market.
Our home, transport and dining facility was the S.S. Antoinette—a 443 foot ship, part of the Uniworld River Cruise fleet. With elegant decorations, including a beautiful chandelier that once hung in New York’s Famous Tavern on the Green, the S.S. Antoinette was a wonderful home for our week of adventure along the Rhine River.
Once on board, and settled into our cabins, we went ashore for a walking tour of the City and had our first visit to the Cologne Christmas Market. Along the way, to the Market, we were treated to some local history sweet treats and got some perspective of how the city started and how it has survived for so many years.
When it comes to traditional holiday markets, Germany leads the way in decorations, baked goods, and grand festivities that range from live concerts and ice-skating rinks to the crowning of the Christmas angel. Of course, the shopping is half the fun the other half being all the sweet glühwein (mulled wine—white or red) we had to taste in each and every market as special commemorative cups were provided!
Cologne Cathedral is the city’s most photographed landmark, most visited site and biggest draw, so it only seems natural that it would also be home to one of the city’s most beautiful markets. Located on Roncalliplatz (Roncalli square) directly next to the cathedral, the market includes a stage with live entertainment and sits beneath a canopy of fairy lights.
The markets are made up of small stalls—each with its own specialty—some with finely crafted items—Nativity scenes, olive wood spoons and bowls or hand-crafted ornaments, scarves and other warm clothing. Crafter stalls also displayed an abundance of small wooden figures and toys.
Of course, there are scarfs, slippers and lots and lots of other things to view and enjoy. Almost at each end of every row of stalls was a stall selling mulled wines—glühwein and small plates of fried foods. It seems each Christmas Market has a different design for the glühwein mug, so you could really get smashed collecting all of them (ok, it is possible to buy the mug without the glühwein, but what’s the fun in that?).
Once back to the ship, we had dinner as a group and relaxed. Several of our party went back into the Market to enjoy the market with all the lights. This was our first port of call, with several more to visit and more Christmas Markets to enjoy.
This article was originally published on David’s travel blog, Lover of Wine! You can read more about David’s adventures there.
