Even more magic: Nuremberg and Christkindlesmarkt

Here we are in Nuremberg! Just yesterday I told you about Dresden and how wonderful it was — well, here it’s even better! 🙂 We like everything: the city, the Christmas market and the special market dedicated to kids. So far, the thing we like least in Germany is the Internet connection, which is not always as easy as it might seem. That’s why you have to forgive us if we post our entries a bit later than planned. But this time it worked and we’re on-line! 🙂 Come and visit fascinating Nuremberg during Christmas time…

The city is located about 300 km of highways from Dresden, so the journey is quite convenient. Before leaving we bought a small snack on Neumarkt near Frauenkirche and then it was time to go! This small snack turned out to be quite a filling little thing: a large piece of bread with chunks of hot cheese and bacon inside. In its “full option” version it was additionally covered with cream. Well, there’s nothing better than a light snack before a journey, don’t you think? 🙂 But to be honest “light” is not the kind of food you should expect to find in Germany. On the other hand, you can’t always be on a diet 🙂 For the journey itself, and in order to somehow manage in the rain and grey, dull sky we also bought the famous Dresden stollen, a yeast cake I wrote about recently. Just as our guide told us, the cake turned out to be quite heavy, covered with a thick layer of sugar. We ate our piece that cost 7.5 euro during all our way and even on the first day in Nuremberg 🙂

There are two places in the Christmas Nuremberg that you cannot miss:

– the main market, Christkindlesmarket located on Hauptmarkt (the main square)

– kids’ market (Kinderweihnacht) — you should visit it even if you’re travelling without children

I think we liked Christkindlesmarkt even more than Striezelmarkt in Dresden.

Maybe it was the case of its surroundings but we thought it was just really romantic. Such a perfect place for a pre-Christmas date! The market is open from late November till Christmas Eve. So if you don’t manage this year, remember to take your beloved for a date there in 2014. Success guarantee! 🙂

The city of Nuremberg has had its markets since mid-16th century. At the beginning they offered all kinds of dried fruit and spices needed for Christmas cakes and pastries: raisins, dates, cloves. With time sellers started offering ginger bread and then all the rest of delicacies 🙂

We’ve decided to have some mulled wine (gluhwein) and  fruchtebrot, moist ginger bread full of dried fruits (delicious!). While eating and drinking we are surrounded by nice scents of spices, mulled wine, ginger bread, grilled sausages… Yummy! What a place to walk around!

For me, the most amazing thing were beautiful dollhouses perfectly illustrating “real life”, even with a turkey just being taken out from the oven! Unfortunately at the moment we don’t have any small girl we could buy such a house for 🙂 This time I didn’t manage to buy any zwetschgenmannle, figures made of dried fruits (prune man), but I hope I’ll be more lucky in Liepzig or Berlin. The figures and snowmen made of prunes or dried figs, some of which are really original, come in all sorts of sizes and shapes — some say there are about 350 different models available! Their price depends on the size (9-22 cm) and the smallest cost about 3-4 euro. They are a perfect gift for friends or colleagues.

Maks was running around happy on the kids’ market located just steps away from the main square. He couldn’t resist a huge installation of  a mountain railroad, and then got on the train for kids and on the carousel. I, for a change, was amazed by beautiful decorations on the roofs of the “kids” stalls — teddy bears, Santas, dolls, angels. Wonderful!

There is also a hero of the Christmas market in Nuremberg: Christkind, which stands for ‘baby Jesus’. Surprisingly enough it’s not a male baby but a beautiful, blond hair girl wearing a golden crown and a cape. Each year Christkind gives the opening speech at the beginning of the Christmas market — always on Friday, before the 1st week of Advent, at 5.30 pm.

Candidates for this honorary title take part in a complicated contest and  have to meet some very strict criteria: be between 16 and 19 and minimum 1.6 m tall, born in Nuremberg and — due to the fact that the speech is given from the matroneum in the Church of Our Lady — not suffer from the fear of heights or dizziness. Christkind is chosen by the city’s inhabitants for 2 years 🙂 Anybody wants to try? 

Christkind’s responsibilities include meetings with children during Christkindlesmarkt and the kids’ market. She appears there each Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday around 2.30 pm and I have to tell you that all children (maybe apart from Maks, who was much more interested in the train than in the lady in gold) were fascinated with her and run around her like crazy! And of course everybody wanted to take a ride on the carousel with this Nuremberg Angel. Apart from all these nice activities, Christkind has also some more serious responsibilities such as 150 hours of charity work in hospitals, nursing homes, kindergartens and during a visit to the Nuremberg Children Clinic.

Together with the Christkindlesmarkt and the kids’ market there is another fair in Nuremberg — the Christmas Market of Sister Cities. There, you will find stalls from different cities of the world. We came across Spanish Cordoba, Cuban Santiago, American Atlanta and our Polish Kraków 🙂 This market is located on Rathausplatz, just next to Hauptmarkt. It’s also worth seeing even though it is quite small and not so spectacular. But who knows, maybe you’ll find something to buy for a present just there? 🙂

What to eat in Germany and on Christmas markets? Well, this is an issue that requires a separate post, but in Nuremberg you definitely have to try small, grilled pork sausages! These are usually served in a variety of ways:

– in a restaurant: with potato salad or sauerkraut, less often with a pretzel. You can choose a portion of 6,8, 10 or 12 pieces and prices range from 7 to 12 euro, depending on the number of sausages and extras. In some places the dish is served on a cute plate in the shape of a heart 🙂 We had then in Bratwurst Roslein and we can recommend the place!

–  as a take-away: served in a roll which has 3 to 4 sausages inside and some mustard – if you like it. This costs about 2,5-3 euro and can be found in numerous food stalls all over the market

What is so special about them? The fact that their recipe, size and ingredients were established back in 1497! Moreover, a perfect Nuremberg sausage should weigh 23 grams and be made within the city boundaries.

Are there any hungry and thirsty people out there willing to visit the Christmas markets? Good – they will be waiting for you for the next 2 weeks! Who wants to join us in Liepzig or Berlin? For those who are still not convinced two last pictures… Don’t hesitate, just come and visit! 🙂

* this post was written in cooperation with the German National Tourist Board (DZT)