South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
MARKET MAGIC
From Nuremberg to Chicago, the best of these Christmas pop-ups thrive on their authenticity
Nuremberg’s Christkindlesmarkt ranks as the oldest and most consistently authentic Christmas market in Germany. It served as the model for Chicago’s market, which in turn has set the standard for similar markets proliferating across the U.S.
NUREMBERG, Germany — Last month, seemingly overnight, wood-framed huts with candy cane-striped awnings sprouted in tidy lines across the cobblestone plaza of this Bavarian city.
A cool breeze carried ginger, cinnamon and the smoky top notes of frying sausages past booths cascading with Christmas ornaments of glass stars, tiny wood angels and miniature toy trains.
As it has for many years, the four-century-old Nuremberg Christkindlesmarkt, opened with a call from the Christkind. This “Christ Child” is always a local, young woman dressed in angelic garb, with a head full of long, blond curls topped by a golden crown.
“You men and women, who once yourselves were children, be them again today,” she proclaimed, in German, from a Gothic cathedral balcony to thousands of merrymakers packing the dark plaza. Suddenly, twinkling lights turned on, outlining the buildings framing the square, stars strung overhead and row after row of shopping stalls. The little village was officially open. If precedent holds, more than 2 million people will jostle through the alleys of cookies, toys, spiced nuts and twirling angels this holiday season.
It’s a scene reminiscent of Chicago’s Christkindlmarket, and that’s by design. Just as Nuremberg’s ranks as the oldest and most consistently authentic Christmas market in Germany, Chicago’s Christkindlmarket — modeled after the German original — has set the standard for markets proliferating across the U.S.
Old World-style Christmas markets are popping up from Atlanta to San Francisco, many of them hoping to replicate the success of Chicago’s market, which first opened in 1996. It has since spawned outposts in the Wrigleyville neighborhood and further north, in Milwaukee.
But what’s to differentiate a real Christkindlmarket from a flea market dusted with fake snow?
Plenty. And the differences go far beyond gingerbread versus fried dough.
Christkindlmarket DNA starts with local German sponsors and carries through to the setting, the food, the goods and the activities. In America, the German groups that get it right work hard to keep their markets on the mark. That’s no small task. With a million people crowding into Daley Plaza in the Loop for the six weeks of Christkindlmarket, the German American Chamber of Commerce of the Midwest, which launched and operates the market, has to fend off pressure to expand the market to include all who’d love to get in on the fun and cash flow.
Diluting the market into just another candy cane lane defeats the purpose, said Leila Schmidt, an assistant manager with German American Events, the division of the chamber that oversees the annual market, running through Dec. 24.
“The authenticity of the market is one of our most treasured aspects,” Schmidt said. “We are really proud at having been one of the very first markets outside of Europe and we’re still the most traditional market outside of Europe.”
An outdoor event in winter in downtown Chicago sounded like a losing proposition from the get-go, but the setting is part of the allure. Markets situated in sprawling parking lots, for example, can’t make up in convenience what they lose in charm.
“It’s a magical village in between the skyscrapers,” Schmidt said. At night, Christkindlmarket creates its own snow globe effect with sprays of light reflecting in the glass skyscrapers.
Chicago’s version is a far cry from Mifflinburg Christkindl Market, which has been operating for 31 years in this tiny town in Pennsylvania north of Harrisburg, but both are captivating in their own way.
“The charm is that you’re in town, there are old houses and churches and it’s part of the scene,” said Mifflinburg Christkindl Market President Matt Wagner. “That’s really important. You have concerts in the churches and the stores downtown are part of it.”
About 60% of the vendors at this year’s Chicago Christkindlmarket are from Germany or Eastern Europe. The rest are from the U.S., especially the Chicago area.
In Nuremberg, which has been putting on its Christkindlesmarkt since the 1600s, about 80% of the space is devoted to
“handmade, artisan craftwork,” said Markus Lang, a manager at this year’s event. For many vendors, the market is their main gig. They spend the offseason producing their goods.
For one German company, Christmas markets have become a springboard for growth. Käthe Wohlfahrt, a Christmas ornament and decoration manufacturer based in Rothenburg, has become a coveted anchor for several U.S. Christmas markets. From its thumb-sized angels to 2-foot-long wooden arches defining tiny landscapes populated with houses, nativities and the occasional Santa, Käthe Wohlfahrt offers a cross-section of its tens of thousands of decorations in its U.S. stores, just as it does in Europe. This year, the Atlanta Christkindl Market landed its own Käthe Wohlfahrt shop.
Food, of course, is a key ingredient to a good Christmas market. Chicago’s market has an onsite commercial kitchen to supply endless amounts of bratwurst and glühwein (hot spiced wine) to hungry visitors as they stroll the alleys of booths.
In Nuremberg, elisenlebkuchen gingerbread is a market staple, a unique treat made with ground nuts instead of flour and studded with tiny bits of dried fruit. Markets in Münster, Stuttgart and other German cities put their own stamp on their respective menus with specialty beer,
unique pretzels and rye bread fashioned into little people clutching sausage sticks.
Nuremberg officials leave nothing to chance when it comes to its famous edible offerings. The length, weight and other characteristics of its eponymous finger-like sausages are defined by law. Market officials monitor booths and vendors to make sure their recipes for spiced wine, holiday beer and lebkuchen cookies comply with tradition.
In Nuremberg, evergreen decorations must be natural, not artificial. Same goes for the vendors: The only plastic items allowed are toys made by Playmobil, which gets an exception because it’s headquartered on the outskirts of Nuremberg.
Not that the mother of all markets is trapped by its own traditions. A few years ago, Nuremberg added a section where its “sister cities” can showcase and sell their holiday food, goods and traditions. New companies and entrepreneurial students have turns in the market spotlight at popup booths. This year’s Nuremberg Christkind has a parent with Indian heritage, infusing the role with racial diversity for the first time.
Even the most tradition-bound Christmas markets evolve a bit each year to include new neighbors.