There is hammering and sawing: these are the harbingers of the Christmas markets. Many stalls are already there. The early starters traditionally include the cities in the Ruhr area, in Essen-Steele it has been “Christmas” since November 3rd.
Düsseldorf (dpa/lnw) – About a month and a half before Christmas Eve, the city of Duisburg will open its large Christmas market next Thursday (10 November). The booths are already in place in many cities in North Rhine-Westphalia. Most markets, including Dortmund, start on November 17th or shortly thereafter. Some organizers traditionally wait for the Sunday of the Dead on November 20th and only then open the stage for mulled wine, bratwurst and Christmas music. This is how it is handled in Munster. The market directly at the Cologne Cathedral does not open until November 21st.
Traditionally, the cities in the Ruhr area are among the early starters in the Christmas season. The international Christmas market in Essen starts on November 12th, the market at the Centro in Oberhausen the day before in the evening. Both Christmas markets are particularly popular with visitors from the Netherlands. In the Steele district of Essen, a stall show even started on November 3rd. Steele is one of the first markets to start in NRW and nationwide, said the local organizer Léon Finger.
Albert Ritter, the chairman of the working group of showmen’s associations in North Rhine-Westphalia, regrets the confusion of dates. “I would have liked to have managed to get a uniform, early opening before Totensonntag,” says the showman from Essen, who is also President of the German Showmen’s Association. He would like a discussion about it.
Showman President Ritter refers to the homely atmosphere created by the markets in the business centers: “We bring emotion, the scent of almonds, and children’s laughter to the cities”. The stores are also set up to save energy. The mulled wine comes out of the tap and no longer simmers in the open kettle. The main item, the bratwurst, sizzles on the charcoal grill.
The Christmas market in Düsseldorf has been extended since 2017. The booths will remain open here until December 30th. “We have had very good experiences with the extension,” says a spokeswoman for Düsseldorf Tourism. Because many visitors would come to the city after the holidays to enjoy the atmosphere. In Dortmund, Duisburg and Essen-Steele, the market also lasts until December 30th.
According to the Showmen’s Association, there are around 3,000 Christmas markets nationwide. In 2017, 160 million visitors were counted across Germany.
