Stuttgart Christmas Markets

Merry Christmas (a little late) and Happy New Year! One of my favorite things about being in Europe at Christmas time is the wonderful Christmas markets. Last year, I visited all the ones in Paris and Zurich, so I was excited to see what Stuttgart had to offer this year. Germany has some of the best Christmas markets in Europe and Stuttgart definitely did not disappoint.

Ornament ferris wheel ride

The biggest one is downtown at Schlossplatz, the main square in the city. It was absolutely enormous - by the time I had gone through the entire market (which has about 280 vendors!), I had no idea where in the city I was. It took me about 4 hours to go through the whole thing! Besides all of the food and gifts you could buy, there was also ice skating and rides for kids.

Christmas Market at Schlossplatz

In addition to the traditional Glühwein (mulled wine), heiße Maroni (roasted chestnuts), and Bratwurst, there was also one place selling whole fish! They had a big fire pit with whole mackerel on sticks roasting over top:

Roasting mackerel

I wasn't sure what I would get if I ordered one, so I asked for one small fish. They whipped a stick out from the rack, slid off the fish, and wrapped it up (whole!) in a big piece of paper, all in about 10 seconds. I wasn't quite sure what to do with it, but I noticed a big counter where other people were standing and eating. I unwrapped my fish and found it was slit down the belly and deboned. They had little wooden forks in a cup near by, so I grabbed one and set to work. It was delicious - nice and hot with crispy skin. Highly recommended!

Every other stall, it seemed, was selling the famous German Lebkuchenherzen (gingerbread hearts), which can be found at any German celebration or fair:

Lebkuchenherzen

They all say things like "I love you" and "I think only of you" (although one of the ones in this picture says "Diva") and have a ribbon attached so you can wear it around your neck. I saw many, many teenage girls wearing these big hearts! Here is a recipe to make your own. :)

There were also several stalls distributed around the market selling Erzgebirge wooden ornaments and figurines. They're probably most famous for their nutcrackers and wooden candle holders, but they make all sorts of classic German wooden Christmas gifts.

Erzgebirge stall

Most of the stalls, unfortunately, have factory-made gifts that can be found at all the Christmas markets I've been to in Europe. But, because of the size of this one, there were many more vendors selling unique, handmade crafts like ornaments, little German houses, woolen hats, gloves, and socks, and many other things. One place had these interesting storage containers:

Miniature chest of drawers

Many of the larger stalls had animated figures on the top that were singing or ringing bells (you'll just have to imagine it in this picture):

A little bit out of the way of the main Christmas market was a smaller Finnish market, which I liked a lot. On the way over there, I got to pass the Old Castle courtyard, all decked out for Christmas:

Courtyard at the Old Castle

At the Finnish market, there were two huge tents with a fire inside and places to eat. In addition to Glühwein, you could also buy smoked salmon as a snack. There were several wooden smoking structures with huge pieces of salmon hanging inside to get smoked.

Tents for eating in at the Finnish market

Fresh salmon cooking outside!

There were only a few vendors selling gifts, but all of them were beautiful and handmade, and the little huts they were in were very cute!

Little gift huts at the Finnish Market

The other Christmas market everyone told me I had to go to was the Medieval Market in Esslingen, a little ways outside of Stuttgart. When I arrived in Esslingen, I felt like I had stepped back several hundreds of years in time, even though I wasn't even at the market yet. Here are some pictures from the walk to the market from the train station:

Don't worry, that's not a real person up there

I also saw Santa! But he was being pulled by little ponies, not reindeer.

Santa in Esslingen

The Christmas Market had two parts - a regular Christmas market like the one in Stuttgart and the Medieval Market, which featured food, gifts, and games from the Middle Ages, as well as costumed performers and vendors. Here is the entrance to the Medieval Market:

"Middle Age Market"

There was lots of interesting food here, including bread on a stick and a whole pig roasting on a spit! I got some roasted pulled pork and sauerkraut at the pig-on-a-spit place. It was a HUGE portion and delicious, for only 6€! Medieval prices?

Bread on a stick waiting to be baked

Whole roasted pig!

All of the vendors wore medieval garb and there were performers that traveled around the market. Every so often, a parade of sorts would come through with a woman on huge stilts dressed like a sorceress (or something), a man blowing a huge long horn that reminded me a little of a digeridoo, and other performers. There were SO many people at the market that it was nearly impossible to take a picture of anything, but especially the performers in this parade. I did get a good one of the sorceress when she passed not even 3 feet in front of where I was standing:

Medieval sorceress (or queen?)

They also had medieval games you could play and buy, like at this vendor:

Medieval games

They had games of chance, archery, and this game (below) where you had to throw a ball and try to break the eggs sitting in the logs. If you broke an egg, you got a prize.

Break an egg, win a prize!

You could also make medieval crafts, like dyeing your own candles:

Candle dyeing

Many vendors were selling medieval clothing and weapons:

Beautiful velvet cape

 They also had a few rides for kids, like this hand-crank ferris wheel:

Here are a few more pictures to give you a sense of the market and how ridiculously crowded it was. Next time I won't go on a Saturday afternoon!

Medieval Market

Main Christmas Market at Esslingen

Medieval drumset!

There was a big board with what looked to me like a list of performances taking place at the market (there was a little stage with a medieval drum set!), but it was written in chalk and half-erased (and in German), so I couldn't read it very well. It looked like something was taking place an hour after I was ready to leave, but it was too cold and crowded for me to want to stick around for another hour, especially since I didn't know what I would be sticking around for. But if you're in the Stuttgart area at Christmas next year, be sure not to miss the Medieval Market at Esslingen. It's truly unique and you won't see anything like it anywhere else.

I hope everyone reading this had a wonderful Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Eid al-Adha, or whatever you celebrate in December. Best wishes and much happiness for 2013!!