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September 2018 |
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Christmas crackers: Leipzig shows its creative streak
Yes, it's that time of year again, and the countdown has begun. Leipzig has a full range of Christmas market options, from its wonderful set piece in Markplatz (left), with a giant spruce tree, and adjacent Augustusplatz, with a giant ferris wheel, but the city's alternative reputation shines through in the former gas meter factory at WERK 2 in the neighbourhood of Connewitz. This is a place to get away from the hustle of the classic market and discover
one-of-a-kind treasures, from niche to trendy, from embroidered to printed, along with vegan delicacies. Meanwhile the city's performance superstars the Opera, the Gewandhaus and the St Thomas Boys Choir will be putting on a fully festive calendar of concerts and oratorios, which includes the Wizard of Oz, sung in German! And back in the main market, there's a popular Scandinavian streak, with salmon and fruity Glögi – a mulled wine made from berries – drawing visitors to a selection of Scandi stalls.
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Christmas crackers: Munich's eccentric Tollwood festival
The Theresienwiese, better known as the venue for Oktoberfest, hosts a different kind of market during the Christmas season. Sure, Tollwood's selection of marquees host the usual craft stalls, but here we're talking Nepali clothes, Moroccan pottery and vintage postcards. Instead of glühwein, there's hot absinthe, and there's barely a sausage in sight in the food tent, but Ethiopian and Thai cuisine, Berber food from North Africa, and burritos from Mexico instead. And rather than celebrating winter chill, there's a huge 'Deep in the Forest' tent filled with trees, recreating summer. There are food lectures, cycling displays, bands, jazz, circus shows and a children's tent, too.
Quite a contrast to the traditional Christmas market on Marienplatz.
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Christmas crackers: buy a bit of Bauhaus in Weimar
‘Buy a piece of Bauhaus’ is the motto of a special kind of Christmas Market at the Weimar Bauhaus University. Students and graduates of the university offer individual, self-made Bauhaus-inspired pieces that cannot be found anywhere else. A great chance to find your own exclusive piece of Bauhaus that nobody else has, and particularly relevant this year, with 2019 being the 100th anniversary of the revolutionary design movement. For this special market, however, you have to be in Weimar on Saturday 8th December. Otherwise, the traditional Weimar Christmas market starts on 27th November and runs all the way through until 5th January 2019.
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Picture credits
Masthead left to right, T top, B bottom: Black Forest gone blue, Achim Mende. Brandenburger Hof hotel. Schloss Lübbenau (T). Bundesliga, GNTB (B). Ski lift at Fichtelberg, Oberwiesenthal Tourism (T). Martin Luther (B). Chilled gnome, DZT (T). Rügen cliffs, GNTB (B). Cherry cake, pa (B). Berlin S-Bahn
Main pictures: Leipzig tourism; Tollwood swing, Andrew Eames; Weimar skating, Maik Schuck Weimar GmbH
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