THE CHRISTMAS MARKET TACK FEST
Am I the only one getting a bit weary of the whole Christmas markets phenomenon? Years ago it was something of a novelty for people in this part of the world to take a trip to Germany or Austria and sample some of the local festive flavour in the run-up to Christmas.
I remember going to Vienna many years ago, in early December, and being enthralled by the lovely, atmospheric market in front of the city’s Rathaus. (There are a number of Christmas markets in Vienna).
This was, after all, the first city in the world to host one of these markets in the month of December, way back in the 13th century.
At the Rathaus, meanwhile, in the 21st century, you’ll find the trees bedecked with balloons, each tree themed in a certain way, and all the little wooden sheds are set up, selling ‘crafts’, wooden decorations, sweets and all sorts of stuff that you don’t really want.
It was a new experience when I visited back then, and I loved it at the time. But would I go again? No. Would I go to see the markets in another city – Dusseldorf, say?
No, I wouldn’t, because when I have happened upon some of these markets in other places in December, I haven’t given them much of a glance because, to be honest, when you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all.
The Christmas market used to be a novelty. Now it’s an epidemic. We even have them in Dublin and Manchester and all sorts of places that have absolutely no tradition whatsoever when it comes to the institution that is the December market.
Apart from the fact that they all look the same, and that they all sell gluhwein (that ghastly warm wine), there is also the actual produce itself to consider.
How many smelly soaps do you need to buy – and cart home from abroad – before you realise that you don’t actually want, or need, them? Soap is soap is soap, after all – and what’s Christmassy about soap anyway?
Meanwhile, for every beau- tifully crafted decoration or wooden, hand-made child’s toy (that the recipient back in Ireland will probably turn their nose up at anyway), there will be all the usual tack that you see for sale all year round in every weekly market in every town in Europe. You know the kind of thing – cheap jewellery, sugar-laden confectionery, dust-gathering ornaments...
Germany is the king of the countries when it comes to the Christmas market phenomenon. The one in Nuremberg is apparently the best and biggest in the land. Cologne, meanwhile, a bit like Vienna, boasts a plethora of markets around the city, including the only gay and les- bian-themed Christmas market in Europe which, with the city’s six other markets, opens tomorrow and runs through until Christmas Eve.
It strikes me that the explosion of Christmas markets has only resulted in creating less seasonal ‘magic’, rather than more, as was the original intention.
So go to Berlin or Prague or Krakow or Vienna, by all means – especially at this time of year when the crisp weather can enhance the whole experience. But don’t go merely for the markets. Throwing up a few dozen garden sheds and ladling out cheap warm wine does not a seasonal memory make. They’re all the same. And you can buy the same sort of useless tack at home.