Christmas Markets in Köln

We just got back from a weekend trip to Cologne/Köln in the North Westphalia area of Germany. The purpose of our trip was to drink lots of glühwein (hot spiced mulled wine) and shop until Thing 2’s stroller could hold no more packages. Mission accomplished and then some!

We started out our journey on December 6th, St. Nicholas Day. Needless to say our kids were very excited especially after they found that St. Nicholas had left him a small gift in their boots that morning. Thing 2 had no idea why she received a stuffed animal, but she enjoyed it anyway. After breakfast, we headed to the airport to catch our flight. Our friends and their daughter, (the girl Thing 1 holds hands with and gives flowers to) joined us.

We flew with German Wings this time. All I can say is that I highly recommend using them while flying within Europe. They saw that we had a toddler and took their time to orient us to their baby policies and where the changing tables were, etc. This airline is like the Southwest Airlines of Germany. No one is assigned a seat so it is a free for all. Luckily, most people hate sitting next to children so we had 2 rows to ourselves. On my children’s behalf they both behaved appropriately, eating, napping or watching their DVD’s. The only thing about German Wings is that there is no beverage or snack provided for free. But, you can purchase snacks and beverages on board if you wish. The way I see it airline food is not very tasty and with kids, I always bring my own snacks along. No loss there.

Lastly, another reason for loving Germany – their honesty. For the second time in 15 months we left our beloved DVD player on the plane. We were unable to contact the airline over the weekend. I thought it was a loss, but it was actually left at the airport lost and found intact. Thing 1 was delighted to be reunited with it. Back in 2000, I left my purse with passport at a restaurant near Ramstein. I came back for it the next day and it was there untouched with all my things in it. The Germans have yet to disappoint me.

We arrived in Köln around 2pm. After collecting our bags, we headed to our hotel, the Dorint Sofitel Köln. Fantastic! A descent sized room, clean hotel, private bath and right in front of the metro. We arrived to find a cookie making/decorating activity in the lobby complete with a chocolate fountain and a visit from St. Nick. After checking in and settling in, we met up with our friends.

We were starving by that time and decided to have dinner before heading to the markets. We ate at a restaurant at the hotel. Mistake #1! We had soup, sandwiches and beverages to the tune of 90 Euro!!! Gasp! The service was great, but the food was nothing special.

After dinner, we headed to the Cologne Cathedral (Kölner Dom) Christmas Market through the mist of light rain, the red light district with it’s sex shops (appropriately named “Hohe” Strasse if you pronounce it in English), and the shopping district. Along the way we noted some magnificent window displays some of which were animated. The kids loved those. Not to worry – there were none of these in the red light district!

We got to the market just in time to browse a bit and drink some glühwein. These markets are located in every major city in Germany and now in many European capitals (Vienna has a beautiful market in front of their Rathausplatz as does Prague). Every year wooden stalls come up during November to house the many vendors that will be selling their goods. Every year they develop a design for a ceramic mug in which the glühwein will be served. Each market has a different mug so the goal is to go to each market and collect these mugs by drinking more wine or hot chocolate for the kids (with Bailey’s for the grown ups). The Cat and I collected some back in 2000 when we visited his parents in Germany and we now have half a cupboard filled with these. The wine is hot which helps since it was pretty cold out there. Google glühwein for several home recipes if you want to try it.

So, what do they sell? Just about everything. Many times goods are focused on the country or region you are in. In Germany, every market will have the following for sale:

ORNAMENTS – Not just any ornament – these are usually hand painted with attention to detail. They are works of art. The most remarkable one I saw was by Mr. Zhou from China. He and his students hand paint the ornaments from the inside out. Meaning, he inserts and thin brush into the center of the ornament and paints the scene or figures from the inside. Truly remarkable!

PYRAMIDS – These date back to medieval times before Christmas trees. It is a carousel with several levels depicting Christmas motifs, such as angels or manger scenes, or secular ones like mountain-folk, forests, and other scenes from the everyday life of people in the Ore Mountains where it originated. The spinning motion of the pyramids is traditionally achieved with the help of candles whose rising heat spins a propeller above.

BAVARIAN HOUSES – Very cute! You put scented oil in the chimney and a tealight inside. Lighting the house and releasing the aroma. My collection is now at 10.

BEER STEINS – Each of these is decorated with different scenes and the name of a German region or attraction. I traded in the shot glasses of my youth for these when we started traveling to Germany in 2000.

NUTCRACKERS – You will find them in all shapes and sizes here.

SMOKERS - Wood carved figures that come in many types. You will find Santas, snowmen, skiing figures, gnomes and even a NYC Firefighter. Why are these unique? Because you place incense within the cavity of the figure and light it. Smoke (incense) then comes out of the figure’s mouth as if it were smoking. The only smoke I care to inhale.

LINENS – Handcrafted in Germany, some in China, these are beautiful linens used for decorating your tables during the holidays. They are quite ornate.

SWEETS AND OTHER FOOD - Gingerbread, truffles, and all kinds of sweets, bratwurst, crepes, champignons (mushrooms – French style), other cuisine – Yummy! Speaks for itself…

Other vendors sold jewelry, candle holders (interesting designs), musical instruments and music (Thing 2's and my favorite), wooden toys, German wines, art, wool hats/mittens/slippers/socks and just about anything you can think of. You can see pictures of some of these items at http://www.christkindl-markt.com/index.php.

They have some amusements for kids as well as live nativity scenes or carved nativity scenes. It is a tradition in Europe to visit churches especially on Christmas Eve, since each has created their own “crib” or nativity scene centered around different themes.

There are six Christmas markets scattered through Cologne: The Cathedral Markt, Alter Markt, HeuMarkt, Rudolfplatz (with a fairy tale theme), Medieval Markt, and one held on a cruise ship on the Rhine. We made it to 5 of them in about 3 days. My favorite was the Cathedral Markt and the Rudolfplatz Markt. The Medieval one, while it sounds interesting, did not sell many useful items although the entertainment (archery, medieval music and dancing) was fun.

The kids had their moments, but for the most part they behaved well. Thing1 and I shopped for a gift for his dad and some of his teachers. We gave him an allowance to buy something for himself. Luckily, he understood that he would not receive any more money. He saved his money until the last day after seeing the local LEGO Store. He bought a small LEGO set and a kaleidoscope at one of the markets. Thing 2 was content as long as she was out of her stroller and someone gave her chocolate. We had to hide the stuff from her because she would just go nuts. She rode her dad’s shoulders a lot and enjoyed that.

Köln is one of the cities located directly on the Rhine and it is the stop of many Rhine cruises. We unfortunately did not have much time for that this time around although it is on our to do list. We were able to go to the Lindt Chocolate Museum (or factory as the kids called it). That was great fun for all (especially Thing 2 who continued trying to get one of the workers to dip more waffles for her in the chocolate fountain – she was a mess by the time we left). We got to see actual chocolate being made including those hollow Santa Claus statues and Snow Men.

Josh had been here previously so, while Thing 2 napped, we went into the Cologne Cathedral/ Kölner Dom so that I could check out the Cathedral Treasury. This Cathedral is famous because it is thought to hold the relics (remains, body parts and/or personal belongings) of the Magi or Three Kings in addition to the Staff of St. Peter and a chain link from the chains that once bound St. Peter. They also have pieces that are thought to be parts the Cross of the crucifixtion. I snapped pictures of just about everything until I got caught and was told I couldn’t take pictures. Too late! The Cathedral itself was magnificent, but they keep the lights dimmed so it was difficult to get a truly worthwhile picture.

If you ever decide to take the family or yourself on a Christmas vacation, Germany is definitely worth visiting. Many of the traditions that we observe today in the United States originate from this area (i.e. advent calendars, Silent Night, German-American Thomas Nast’s modern image of Santa Claus, most famously, the Christmas tree tradition which began in Strasbourg in Alsace (then in Germany, today in France). If you go early enough (around Thanksgiving), you will find the most unique Christmas gifts (by American standards of course). I highly recommend it.