Duisburg (dpa) – Some people rub their eyes in disbelief: 44 days before Christmas Eve, the city of Duisburg opened its large Christmas market in the city center on Thursday (10 November). For a Christmas market as spacious as the one in the city on the Rhine and Ruhr, this is before ever: one day before St. Martin or the start of the carnival period (11 November), 17 days before the first Advent (27 November ) and only one month and two weeks before Christmas Eve.
Of course, smaller markets such as the “City-X-Mas” on Frankfurt’s Opernplatz, the Winterwelt on Potsdamer Platz in Berlin or the Bayreuth Winterdorf were also opened in October. From 3 November a market has been running in the Steele district of Essen, from 4 November the Wandsbeker Winter Magic in Hamburg, as well as the market in Berlin-Lichtenberg.
After the failures of the Crown crisis, the Christmas markets are facing the energy crisis this year. Many have announced more or less efficient lighting and sometimes shorter opening hours. Overall, there is a tendency to no longer close the markets before Christmas Eve, but to keep them open between the years or even until January.
Early riser
In the Ruhr area, people like to be particularly early risers. Duisburg will be followed on 11 November by the Oberhausen Leisure and Shopping Center with “Christmas Market in the Mountains”, “Santa Claus Village” and “Wichtelmarkt”, and on 12 November the city of Essen in the city center with its 50th International Christmas Market. Other cities in North Rhine-Westphalia, such as Bochum, Dortmund and Düsseldorf, will kick off the stalemate magic on November 17, while Bonn will kick off on November 18.
Traditionally, Christmas markets in German-speaking countries usually only open after the Totensonntag, which falls on November 20, 2022.
For example, the popular markets of Frankfurt am Main, Berlin, Heidelberg, Lübeck, Bremen, Mannheim, Münster and the Munich Christkindlmarkt open on 21 November. The Christmas market in the Cologne Cathedral will not officially open until the 21st.
On November 22, the Erfurt Christmas market and the historic market in front of Hamburg’s city hall start. The Christmas markets in Stuttgart and Dresden start on November 23, in Mainz on November 24 and in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, as well as the famous Nuremberg Christmas market on November 25.
Frivolous on the Reeperbahn
The “Coolest Christmas Market in Hamburg” called Santa Pauli on the Reeperbahn will start with its frivolous huts on November 14th.
Churches, whose support among the population has been dwindling for years, are opposed to the extension of the Advent season and the hustle and bustle of the Christmas markets in the so-called month of mourning in November. But this hardly affects many municipalities anymore.
“In fact, we have never started like this year,” says Alexander Klomparend, Head of Communications at Duisburg Kontor GmbH. In view of the energy crisis after the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, people are happy that they have been using LED lights for some time. In addition, some measures have been taken.
“We do without the ice rink as a source of energy and adjust the timing of the lighting according to the twilight, in other words: do not turn on the lights only at 2 pm,” says Klomparend. “At 10 pm it is then constantly switched off.”
Duisburg sees this as a good compromise with a sense of proportion between doing without and celebrating. “Light is extremely important and Christmas markets create a fundamental sense of community. We want to make the city shine against all odds. People should feel as comfortable as before. “
The showmen, shaken by Corona, are hoping for a good and finally more normal season in 2022. The German Showmen’s Association had warned against the cancellation of the markets: “In particular, the Christmas markets bring billions in sales in the most important weeks of the ‘year – and therefore tax revenues, retail in city centers damaged by monocultures, by lockdowns “. and online competition. “
Christmas markets in the neighboring countries of Austria, Switzerland, France and the Czech Republic:
The Vienna Christmas market starts on November 19, the Salzburg Christmas market two days earlier.
In Zurich, on November 24, exactly one month before Christmas Eve, the “Wienachtsdorf” begins in front of the opera house on Sechseläutenplatz and the Dörfli Christmas market in Niederdorf.
In the Alsatian metropolis of Strasbourg, which defines itself as the “Capital of Christmas”, it all starts on 25 November.
In Prague, on November 26, the large Christmas market opens in the impressive setting of the Old Town Square (Staroměstské Náměstí).
Christmas market in Dusseldorf
Christmas market in front of the Hamburg town hall
