It is the best time to visit Germany, I would say. I have seen Christmas celebration in USA, but it was nothing like Germany. You can find the whole country taking a unique Christmas vibe in early November. Christmas markets are setup in the popular spots of the city. There are Christmas lights everywhere.
Christmas Markets Experience
I would like to share my experience about the Christmas market organized in Berlin by the name Gendarmenmarkt. It is a popular one although there are so many markets in the whole city of Berlin. The experience of every market is almost the same though with minor variations. There was a line at the gate as it was a weekend. At the entry , the security guys asked us to show our vaccination certificate along with the identity proof due to covid regulations. Near the entry were the ballerinas (female ballet dancers) performing on the stage decorated with beautiful lights There is an entertainment event each day. There was quite a crowd cheering them up.
Then there were a lot of art exhibitions where there are handmade products. You can find the wooden-carved things, jewelry, vintage hats and coats, decoration stuff, cutlery etc. You can get them customized for you. But we did not buy anything as we are currently spending on only the most necessary stuff. We just shifted here in October, and it’s been only three months for us.
Christmas Wine
At the center, there is usually a popular wine shop famous for the “Gluhwein”. People of Germany usually drink this at Christmas. Gluhwein is red wine along with various spices and raisins. People who do not drink alcohol can taste another drink named as Kinderpunsch. It is also spiced and good for the winters here. We loved how it tastes. You should not skip this if you are visiting any market.
Christmas Market Food
I know you will mostly find sausages around in the market. But if you are a vegetarian and you are wondering if you should try the food here or not. Then do not worry, there are a lot of options for you also. There is no doubt that a major percentage of the food items are non-veg but if you carefully look then you can find some. We tried below veg items and they tastes delicious.
- Candied Roasted Almonds
- Customized Waffles(Strawberry/Nutella/Cinnamon)
- Hungarian Langos – Try the vegetarian ones or Rahm(Cream) + Käse(Cheese)
- Banana Nutella Crepes
Cost
The market mentioned above is the only market in Berlin that charges a fee which is pretty minimal ,1 Euro but it is for charity. All the other ones do not charge any fee.
Christmas Discounts for shopping
You will find huge discounts on almost everything in Germany at this time of the year. There were big discounts in electronics store like Saturn, MediaMarkt. We bought a HP screen, keyboard and a mouse for our home office.
There are huge discounts in the outlets as well this time of year. Almost 20% discount was quite common in clothing. Though we did not buy much as again buying only necessary things this time was the priority.
Also, the popular malls by the name Galleria in Europe offer huge discounts on cosmetics, makeup, bags, perfumes, shoes etc. We bought two perfumes as gifts for our family in Germany.
Celebration at Home in General
Christmas celebration started from this area of Europe and it is now celebrated in the whole world. People start decorating their houses in early December. You can find the fairy lights hanging in the windows while walking on the streets at night. Companies here offer here a two-week vacation for celebrating the festival. Although 25 and 26 December are official public holidays.
You will find people selling Christmas trees in the open spaces on the streets. These are sold in millions this time. It is a popular tradition to bring one at home and decorate it. Then people start stocking food to prepare for the special dinners. As you will find that the grocery stores decrease their opening hours. This is also the time when people buy gifts for family and friends. There is an exchange of gifts between the neighbors and the colleagues . So a lot of time is spent in buying the gifts, wrapping them and placing them near the tree to be opened on the Christmas Eve. It is a special thing for children here as they create their wish list this time.
How we Indians celebrated Christmas
We are a Punjabi family from India so there is no tradition of celebrating this festival as of such. But we believe in embracing the culture where we live. We went to our brother in Frankfort, and they have a beautiful apartment with garden area.We grilled a lot of food together like potato, cheese and chicken. Also baked pizza in the oven. Then we exchanged gifts and a lot of chatting keeping the Punjabi music on. It was the best celebration of Christmas so far.
Silvester(New Year’s Eve in Germany)
New Year is celebrated here like in the other parts of the world. People like to celebrate the 10 seconds countdown together with their friends or family. This get-together is done either at the home or in the club. While at home, the party starts with a big dinner, then followed by the fireworks outside. Then there are clubs where special Silvester menu is served and the DJ of course followed by the countdown. But if you are partying in the clubs this time, you can miss the vibe of the fireworks.
Although in cities, there is an open get-together with the countdown organized at the popular spots. Like in Berlin, there is a party organized every year at the Brandenburg gate with live music and DJ. Here is the link https://www.berlin.de/en/events/3303144-2842498-new-years-eve-party-brandenburg-gate.en.html
But due to covid, it was only premiered at TV with no guests allowed. But we went for a walk near the area and there was quite a crowd there with DJ lights all around. There were fireworks in the sky along with the countdown. The vibe was great. The fireworks started from 6 pm in the evening on 31st December and went till 3 am in the night. It was like celebrating Diwali in India.
Also checkout the below related articles about celebrating Karwachauth and Halloween in USA.
https://www.theexplorerdiary.com/how-to-celebrate-karwa-chauth-in-usa/
https://www.theexplorerdiary.com/celebrate-halloween-in-usa-as-an-indian/
