My family is from Germany and I’ve spent many Christmases there, so this wasn’t my first Christmas Market. And for that matter there are better Christmas Markets than the ones in Frankfurt, in my opinion, though the Frankfurt Christmas Market is one of the largest. That being said, there’s just generally something damn awesome about the way Germany “does” the holidays.
Christmas is so commercialized here in the US that I’m not convinced people actually spend more time with their families around the holidays, as everyone is busy and seems to be spending their time shopping for gifts, going to parties, etc. And while that’s largely also the case in Germany, there’s something beautiful about seeing families spend time outside at the Christmas Markets actually taking in the holiday “spirit.”
It certainly helped that this was probably the most pleasant December ever to be outside, as it was ~50 degrees for the entire time I was there. I don’t remember ever being in Frankfurt in December with such pleasant weather. At the same time I was almost sad that it wasn’t colder and snowing, as that adds even further to the atmosphere.
Here’s a video about Frankfurt’s Christmas Markets (though I can’t help but feel like it’s narrated similarly to one of those sex ed videos they play in 9th grade):
The Christmas Markets are “open” almost all day, though are busiest in the evenings. Typically each “stand” has one specialty, so you’d get glühwein from one stand, crepes from another, cookies from another, pretzels from another, sausages from another, etc.
Being the introvert that I am, I quite enjoyed walking around the markets during the day when they were still fairly empty. And since it meant I could drink glühwein and eat pretzels without being social, I found it even more enjoyable. 😉
Here are some pictures from the markets:
Frankfurt Christmas Market by day
Frankfurt Christmas Market by day
Frankfurt Christmas Market by day
Frankfurt Christmas Market by day
Frankfurt Christmas Market by day
Frankfurt Christmas Market by day
Frankfurt Christmas Market by day
Frankfurt Christmas Market by night
Frankfurt Christmas Market by night
Frankfurt Christmas Market by night
Frankfurt Christmas Market by night
Frankfurt Christmas Market by night
Frankfurt Christmas Market by night
Frankfurt Christmas Market by night
Frankfurt Christmas Market by night
Frankfurt Christmas Market by night
Anyway, if you haven’t yet experienced Christmas Markets in Europe, add it to your bucket list!
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