'Tis the season for Lebkuchen and Glühwein

A week ago I got back from a long weekend in Nuremberg, Bavaria.  Even though it was already the Second Sunday of Advent, the trip down south for the Christkindlesmarkt (the Christmas Market in Nuremberg) marked the beginning of my Christmas season.

Christmas is a big deal in Germany.  They make up for the lack of "Black Friday," cheesy Christmas lights as far as the eye can see and 24/7 Christmas music radio stations by the extreme excess of full-fat, full-sugar and full-flavor foods everywhere.  Christmas, of course, is so wonderful because it provides everyone the excuse (which I don't actually need) to eat whatever sweet we want whenever.  Germany provides this vice in the form of the famous and lovely Christmas Markets, or Weihnachstmärkte.

The Christmas Markets in Germany started in the Middle Ages as a way for the village people to stock up on winter supplies.  Just like the Freimarkt in Bremen, over the next 400 years a lot can change:  Now we have stall upon stall selling everything imaginable--from candied almonds (remember, the same from Freimarkt?), bratwursts (who's surprised there?), leather goods, handmade wooden cutting boards to stuffed animals.  And please don't forget the main attraction at the Christmas Markets:  Glühwein.  Glühwein is mulled wein that often has extra fruit juice added.  It is served warm and, as a part of the Christmas Market tradition, in sweetly decorated mugs that for only 2.50 Euros, you can keep.  Every year the pattern of the mug changes and it has grown into some what of a collector's item.

Almost every single city of considerable size (which is many) has a Christmas Market, Bremen included, naturally (with 600,000 people, Bremen is the 10th largest city in Germany).  My first Christmas Market, though, was in Nuremberg, one of the oldest in Germany and one of the most famous in the world.  On Thursday, the First of December, I traveled the six hours south to Nuremberg where most of my friends from the language school phase met me, Ginny, Morgan and Alex.  You might remember that these are the same people I went to Amsterdam with and also Oktoberfest...That alone guaranteed that I'd have a wonderful weekend.

One of the most famous Nuremberg Christkindelsmarkt specialities is the lebkuchen, which is essentially the more popular, more likable older sister of gingerbread....i.e. absolutely incredible.  Nuremberg's lebkuchen is called "Elisen" lebkuchen and is famous because of it's low flour content and high nut content.  Bitting into a large, round, chocolate-covered piece of lebkuchen is a little like biting into a nice, dense piece of carrot cake, but with more nuts and far more Christmas-y flavors.  The ingredients include, in addition to the beloved sugar, are such things as almonds, hazelnuts, orange, lemon and other citrus peels, something with apricots,  honey and other spices.  I actually encourage everyone to read a little more about lebkuchen because it really is a very special German dessert and something I suggest to anyone who travels to Germany in the winter months.  Here is where I bought some handmade lebkuchen (the website can also be in English) http://fraunholz-lebkuchen.de/.  

Our days at the Christkindelsmarkt were spent going around trying various fruit/cake inventions, drinking a mug of Glühwein here and there and looking at all the sweet little trinkets to buy.  The Markt is in the Innenstadt, within the old walls of Nuremberg.  Nuremberg has an impressively large area within the walls, containing many beautiful, old, brown-stone buildings and even older timber houses, such as the Albrecht Dürer house.  Albrecht Dürer is perhaps Germany's most famous painters and he resided in Nuremberg for 20 years in the early 1500s.  His house is one of the oldest and longest-standing examples of half-timber houses in Germany and was miraculously unscathed throughout the war, despite the high percentage of destruction in Nuremberg.  Shadowed by the towering walls of the city and Middle Ages castle, the small square near the Albrect Durer house is completely enchanting and lends a small glance into what Nuremberg may have looked all those centuries ago.

Speaking of World War II destruction, though...Nuremberg was a very important city for Nazi rallies and the Nazi Party.  About ten minutes outside of the city walls lies the Documentation Center, which is a museum built into the side of the forever-unfinished arena originally constructed for Nazi rallies.  On Saturday afternoon we visited the Documentation Center in order to learn about the rise of the Nazi power, to which Nuremberg played an important role.  Along with the unfinished-arena, several other Nazi buildings once stood and were used for now infamous rallies and propaganda from that nefarious era.  It came to me as no surprised that this museum was completely fascinating and one could spend several hours within listening to all the different audio clips, watching the propaganda films and reading the plaques following the rise of the Nazi Party.  The highlight of Nazi architecture through the location of the museum was also very interesting--Everything about Nazi buildings were massive:  Towering, narrow arches, deep and wide staircases, oversized statues and stark, strong stone.  You may know some pictures from this era of the rallies, and another feature was always the enormous red, white and black flags as well as huge, baskets of fire on top of the pillars.  Everything produced by the Nazi Party sent a overwhelming message of domination and this powerful technique is highlighted effectively at the Documentation Center.  I highly recommend this museum for anyone thinking of visiting Nuremberg.  Nuremberg was also, of course, the site of the Nazi Tribunals after the War.  I did not visit the court house because it is still in use, but there is a museum there documenting that part of Nuremberg's long and dynamic history.

German cities with their architecture, people and history fascinate me--Only 70 years ago Nuremberg was a central point for the Nazi's rise to power, but now it is better known for its history stretching back in the 1200s as an important merchant town and its 400 year old Christmas Market.  Traveling around Germany, though, is often like that.  Bremen's own Christmas Market takes place directly under the watch of the almost 800-year-old Town Hall (Rathaus).  I find the history mixed with modernity in Germany (and much of Europe) endlessly interesting and exciting.  Even though the Christmas Markets are now powered by electricity and have every possible modern convenience, it is still easy to picture what it may have been like a few hundred years ago when these markets were used for winter preparation instead of consuming as much fat and chocolate as possible.

My weekend in Nuremberg with good friends who completely empathize with all the emotions that happen while abroad was completely refreshing.  Seeing those people, mixed with the infectious cheerfulness of Christmas sights and smells, was more than enough to make up for no Thanksgiving AND to pull me into the Advent time with a happy, full and relaxed heart.