Bridget Davey Images | Striezelmarkt in Dresden

Christmas Markets, a really German custom and I like it. Not simply because I’m German, no I simply love the lights, the music, the scent of mulled wine, truffles and sweets. There may be nothing higher to get in to the Christmas Spirit, then to walk over one in every of these markets. And the Germans simply know learn how to do it proper. So yearly, I’m heading again for per week and getting in to the swing of Christmas, visiting the Weihnachtsmarkt, consuming Gluehwein and consuming a Roster or Bratwurst. Singing Weihnachtslieder like “Oh du Froehliche” and “Oh du schoene Weihnachtszeit” with family and friends and plenty of laughter.

Sure that is what Christmas is all about 🙂 

The Dresdner Striezelmark is one in every of Germany’s oldest documented Christmas markets and likewise one in every of it is best. Based in 1434, it celebrated its 580th anniversary in 2014. 

The market was first talked about in 1434, below Friedrich II, a King of Saxony, when it was held the Monday earlier than Christmas on the Altmarkt sq.. Initially, the a one-day market was right here to supply the residents of Dresden with the meat for the Christmas meal after the pre-Christmas interval of fasting.

Over the centuries the Striezelmarkt has developed into an enormous occasion with 250 stands, taking over a big a part of Dresden metropolis centre and lasting all through the Creation interval till Christmas Eve. In the present day the Striezelmarkt attracts 3 million guests a 12 months from everywhere in the world.

The phrase Striezelmarkt comes from Strüzel or Stroczel, which was the identify of a sort of cake bought on the market, now well-known as Stollen or Christstollen, a lightweight ethereal fruitcake. The true Dresden Stollen, nevertheless, is produced within the metropolis and distinguished by a particular seal depicting the town’s well-known king, August the Sturdy. 

In the present day probably the most well-known options of Dresden Striezelmarkt are the world’s largest usable Christmas arch with a breadth of 13.5 metres and a top of greater than 5 metres and the 14-metre excessive Erzgebirge Christmas pyramid. 

Well-known is the Pflaumentoffel, a chimney sweep’s boy
Other than the well-known Stollen, different specialities originate from Dresden and had been initially bought on the Striezelmarkt. Made from prunes, these little figures are actually decorations, though they are often eaten after Christmas. 

 The one with the purple hair is me, testing Mulled Wine 🙂 Extremely advisable. 

Pulsnitzer Pfefferkuchen 
Pfefferkuchen actually means “pepper cake”: the phrase “pepper” was used to imply any new international spice. The gingerbread bought on the Striezelmarkt comes from Pulsnitz, a city about 50 km from Dresden; it was first talked about as a speciality from Pulsnitz in a decree issued in 1558 permitting bakers to supply it there. Pfefferkuchen are often stuffed with marmalade or jam and lined with chocolate. Not like gingerbread from different international locations, the dough doesn’t often include any fats, or certainly ginger, however as a substitute nutmeg, cinnamon, floor cloves and allspice, that are added after the dough has been left as much as 6 months to mature. 

Glühwein or Mulled Wine
One very well-loved custom on a chilly December evening in Dresden is consuming steaming mugs of mulled wine on the Striezelmarkt. The new purple wine spiced with cloves and cinnamon is served in specifically embellished mugs.