The international office at BSEL took the exchange students on a trip to the Leipzig Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas market). Christmas markets are very important in Germany and are held during the four weeks of Advent. Advent starts on the fourth Sunday before Christmas. It is observed by western churches as the season of preparation and waiting for the celebration of the Nativity Scene of Jesus at Christmas. Also popular in Germany, is an Advents calendar. An advents calendar is a calendar only of December and only counts for the 25 days of Christmas. The calendar is a box with 25 small outlined squares on the cover and the squares are meant to be opened. So each day until Christmas, you are supposed to open the square corresponding to the days date, and behind the square is a piece of chocolate or some other form of candy. The largest Advents calendar is presented every winter in Leipzig. The picture above is of the Leipzig Christmas market. The whole market is comprised of these small houses and each house sells different items. The houses sell typical Christmas market food or handmade items such as Christmas decorations. Typical Christmas market foods include sausages, lebkuchen (gingerbread), and Glühwein. Glühwein is the most popular Christmas drink, it is a hot mulled wine and you can choose from red or white wine as well as flavors such as cherry or raspberry. Not all Christmas markets are the same, some are small and others are rather large. The one in Leipzig was a decent size with only the little houses, but in Berlin on Alexanderplatz there is a huge market. The market not only consists of the small Christmas houses, but also has a large amusement park. Also, in big cities, such as Berlin, there is more than one Christmas market. There is usually one Christmas market near every Rathaus (town hall). Most of them are small and the big ones are located near center city.
My friends and I had a great time at the Leipzig Christmas market. We had a tour of the city and then walked around the market. There was a lot of snow on the ground and the temperature was in the negatives, after walking around I couldn’t feel my toes or fingers anymore. But luckily the hot Glühwein came to the rescue. Afterwards, we looked at some of the knickknacks being sold and then went to one of the oldest coffee houses to enjoy some hot chocolate and to eat delicious cake!