During the advent period, hundred new merchants move to Hamburg’s main square in front of the Town Hall where a tree is set up and lit by 1000 candles─just in case you forgot what time of the year it is. Bakers from Aachen lay their printen cookies out beside gingerbread from Nuremberg, and Tyrolean woodcarvers set up their stalls next to those selling the finest handmade Christmas decorations that Erzgebirge region can come up with, and that’s their specialty. Christmas market shoppers come out in force to let their frosty exhalations mingle with the smell of cinnamon and roasting chestnuts as squares are lit up and warmed with the gold light of seasonal cheer and mulled wine.
Alongside these classic handcrafted gifts, to fill the more discerning Christmas list, there are also inexpensive mass produced gift ideas to keep kids with their pocket money and those with more limited liquidity, happy. Though what will really make kids happy is their first sight of Spielzeuggasse –Toy Alley. This is Hamburg’s biggest market, so do not skimp on the gluhwein or bratwurst either. Besides being the biggest, it has got a reputation for preferring art over commerce, which sets it slightly apart from the other big local markets.