Ｃｈｒｉｓｔｍａｓ Ｍａｒｋｅｔｓ ｉｎ Ｇｅｒｍａｎｙ

Berlin stands out as a big crowd-puller in winter as other cities across Europe find fewer tourists. Berlin allures quite a few people stricken with wanderlust when Christmas approaches. Toward the end of November， Christmas markets mushroom in Berlin and will last till the eve of Christmas. A few days before these markets open， large wood boxes appear at squares and pedestrian streets across the city. The boxes contain components of Christmas trees， fairytale mannequins and knockdown cabins， ready to be unpacked and installed.

A Christmas market looks like a village. The most exciting moment for a Christmas market is when the lights are switched on after installation is done. As soon as all the lights shine fabulously， a miniature village materializes. You see Christmas trees festooned with colored lights and balls， small cabins with pointed roofs， and plastic figures from fairytales. Dripping in the air is the luxurious aroma of grilled sausage， baked almond， marshmallow and wine. The familiar melody of Christmas songs wafts. The festive ambience keeps the coldness of the winter at bay.

Borrowed Festival

According to some scholars， Christmas was something else centuries ago. It traces back to a festival the German tribes celebrated on the day of the winter solstice. In order to bring these people to Christianity， missionaries adopted the festival and converted it to Christmas which absorbed many ancient traditions such as evergreen trees worshiped by the tribe people living in forest. This is presumably how Christmas trees became a tradition. Previously a Christmas market was just a marketplace where people gathered to sell and buy winter commodities.

Christmas Pastry

German winter food is quite unique. I have never tasted anything like it in other European countries. A cookie called Lebkuchen or Pfefferkuchen distinguishes itself from other pastry， with spicy ingredients such as clove， fennel， star anise， ginger and cardamom. The cookie tastes somewhat bitter， but how it warms a person in subzero temperatures. The cookie is said to have originated in Egypt and became what it is in the days of the middle ages. The spices used for the cookie were imported from the east in ancient times and that is why German trade hubs such as Cologne and Ulm are famed with the tradition of making the best Lebkuchen in Germany.

Another famous German Christmas pastry is Stollen， which in my eyes looks like a pillow cake. The pastry is noted for a thick icing of white sugar， which is said to imitate the white swaddle in which Christ Child slept. It is made of flour， butter， sugar， dried fruits and spices， nothing of which tastes special. However， few people know the cake traces back to 1329， probably the oldest Christmas pastry. It used to serve as food for fast before Christmas. It is said that the cake was made without butter for a long while. With petition from aristocrats， the Pope issued what is known as a “butter letter” in 1491， which permitted butter and spices to be added as ingredients in Stollen. The cake is still a Christmas food for every German family today. Dresden， where Stollen originated， holds an annual festival at which thousands of people share an enormous pillow cake weighing several tons.

The most popular beverage at Christmas markets is Gluhwein. It is basically a red wine mixed spices. It is served hot. In some cases， it contains additional drops of rum， whisky， milk， and a slice of blood orange， which will make the beverage more delicious. It is a common sight at Christmas markets that visitors wearing thick hooded down jackets hold a warm Gluhwein in their hands and sipping slowly to fight off the penetrating chill. Seeing other people enjoy the beverage， people line up to buy themselves a cup.

Christmas Tree for Memorial Church

The memorial church in Berlin is a church without roof， which was blasted off during World War II. It is a site where a Christmas tree is erected every year. As soon as Christmas markets appear across Berlin， people call in to radios and televisions， offering a pine from their own gardens or reporting a pine they see somewhere in the neighborhood and believe appropriate for the church and Christmas. Sometimes people complain that the chosen tree was not the best. This year， the Berlin City government chose a huge pine which stood 24 meters in height and weighed 8 tons. It came from a small town 600 kilometers south of Berlin. Two cranes were used to erect the tree in front of the church. The Christmas tree this year won unanimous approval for its balanced shape， luxurious foliage and full color. In Germany， a Christmas tree has a unifying force that brings people together and recalls the ancient days when German tribes lived in forests and loved green trees.