There are more Christmas Markets across the world than ever before, but have you ever stopped to wonder where they originated from?
Christmas Markets light up many of the most famous towns and cities in the world during the festive season, and they bring delight to most who visit them. In recent years more and more markets have opened across the world in the run up to Christmas, but looking into the history of these markets is arguably just as interesting as taking a stroll through one.
The storied history of the Christmas Market actually goes all the way back to the late middle ages. Back then, small towns and villages in Germany and Austria used to have winter markets which lasted for a couple of days in the run up to each Christmas. While these markets didn’t last for quite as long as those you might see today and they weren’t quite as extravagant, they did bring a great source of enjoyment to villagers, and they were anxiously awaited each year.
They specialised in selling both local delicacies and traditional products, and many markets back then only allowed traders from the local market to take part in them –helping to establish the regional theme that’s still present in Christmas markets today.
Word quickly spread of their existence, and by around 1570 you could find a Christmas market as far away as Strasbourg in France. By around about the 17th Century, most visitors to the markets did so to pick up Christmas presents for their loved ones, cementing their association with the religious festival, and most markets featured a nativity scene.
The UK only caught on to the tradition a little later, with the Lincoln Christmas Market being the first on these shores in 1982. It didn’t take too long for word to spread though, and you can now experience markets in most of the UK’s major cities. Even the festival in Lincoln has become more popular than its original organisers could have hoped – it’s home to well over 300 stalls these days, quite an improvement on the 14 that were present for its first year!
Most Christmas markets today strive to maintain the authentic nature of the original Christkindlmarkt (as they were known in parts of southern Germany and Austria) by offering hot mulled wine, Eierpunsch and traditional Christmas cookies like Lebkuchen and Magenbrot, however admittedly some more modern incarnations do stray a little. As you’d expect, the most authentic experiences can still be enjoyed near the original sites, and hotels near Berlin’s authentic markets usually do a roaring trade over the festive season.
The tradition of Christmas markets has surely spread further than the local villagers who used to host them in the Middle Ages could have possibly imagined, and nowadays people enjoy a break to one of its many markets no matter where they’re visiting in the run up to Christmas.
While some might complain that the original idea of them has been lost in some of the world’s biggest cities, the truth is that any city holding them is really honouring the initial markets themselves. No matter where you are in the world, if you’re passing by one this Christmas then pop in and enjoy some Eierpunsch (if you’re old enough!) to celebrate the memory of markets gone by.
