History of the Christmas Markets in Europe
December is the season of Christmas markets in Europe – from France, Austria, Germany, Poland, the Baltic States, and Finland, you can spend wonderful moments at unique Christmas markets in cities large and small. You're probably wondering where it all began? So listen to my story...
We are going to the Dresden's Altmarkt, where the first pre-Christmas market took place in 1434. It was nothing like the one we have today. After long days of fasting on Christmas Eve, the residents of the medieval city could finally buy meat for a Christmas roast. Over time, sweets appeared at the market, and Striezel is simply a strudel. It was in Dresden that the first yeast dough with dried fruit and dried fruit, dusted with powdered sugar, was created. Baked in oblong pans, the strudels were intended to resemble the Baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes.
During this year's opening, four confectioners brought Dresden Christstollen (the name is used today) on a long wooden board, measuring 2,025 meters long. Mayor Dirk Hilbert made the first cut and tasted the delicacy. After his favorable review, the strudels were cut into smaller portions, and the city mayor also turned on the Christmas tree illuminations. A 22-meter fir tree from nearby Altfranken towers over the market square. It is illuminated by 260,000 lights, and the wires are over 2 kilometers long.
The symbolic portal of the fair is a wooden fir tree. It is almost 7 meters high and over 13 meters long, and was crafted by carpenters from the Ore Mountains. It has entered the Guinness Book of Records as the largest of its kind in the world. It is decorated with 10 lanterns resembling large candles. A platform is attached to the fir tree, said to be a giant wooden structure, from which one can gaze upon 225 square meters of a cratic replica of the so-called Schwibbogen – an arched chandelier.
Before the last shift before Christmas, miners from the Ore Mountains hung burning lamps under the semicircular ceiling at the mine exit to reach the exit more quickly. Candles for the daylight, which no one saw in winter, symbolized the miners' longing. They went to work when it was still dark, and after a day underground, they returned home when the sun had set. Later, their wives began placing arcade candlesticks in the windows to make it easier for their tired husbands to get home.
Another record-breaking structure at the Striezalmarkt is the Step Pyramid. This structure, also made of wood, is almost 15 meters high and has unparalleled moving figures. It's the world's three kings. Six floors are decorated with hunters, angels, Santa Claus, a chimney sweep, a nutcracker, soldiers from various eras, and musicians at the top. Each floor rotates like a carousel. The origins of the pyramids are ambiguous. Miners from the Ore Mountains began decorating the treadmill used to transport ore with wooden figurines. Pyramids of candles, in turn, were erected in churches.
Around 1830, cheap paraffin was discovered, and refinements to the mechanism began. The floors, filled with figurines, began to rotate. Warm air from burning candles moved a winged fan at the top, which in turn turned a shaft. The fair also features an exhibition hall of Ore Mountains folk art, where you can see real craftsmen at work. Woodturning and woodcarving seem child's play in their hands. There is also a pavilion where children can create Pflaumentoffel. This figure, made of dried plums, resembles a chimney sweep. It was modeled on children from poor families who supported their parents financially by sweeping the chimneys of tenement houses in Dresden. In the early 19th century, children began selling handmade figurines before the holidays.
Later, it became commonplace to believe that the plum figures brought good luck, and they were sold throughout eastern Germany.
If you want to visit at least one of the Christmas markets but probably the better option is visit at some of them look at our offer of Tour along the Christmas Markets in Central Europe
Even if this year is too late for you consider it for the next year and contact us in advance, please.
GFP Travel Team
