Abstract
Annually, there are between 2500 and 3000 Christmas markets in Germany. While claiming to be rooted in century-old tradition, the current concept of the markets, shaped in the 1930s, gradually transformed from primarily mercantile operations to experiential events. In contemporary times, these markets also have quantifiable social and experiential dimensions. The last of these, the experiential dimension, is a mélange of visual, auditory, and olfactory components that create a compound sensory response—the “Christmas atmosphere”. There are copious intangible elements of these markets, which combined create a sum greater than the addition of each of the individual constituent components. We find the recognition of such collections of entwined intangible heritage is novel, warranting further research and documentation, as standard approaches to the identification and management of intangible cultural heritage are too limiting.
Highlights
There are between 2500 and 3000 Christmas markets (“Adventsmarkt”, “Christkindl Markt”, “Weihnachtsmarkt”) in Germany
Later generations would look to the markets of “Christmas past”, such as the Berlin Christmas market of 1791, which was described in a novella by the Berlin author Ludwig Tieck
The experiential dimension of a Christmas market is less readily definable. It is a mélange of visual, auditory, and olfactory components that create a plethora of sensory responses, acting upon the visitor simultaneously as well as discrete entities as the individual progresses through the market space
Summary
There are between 2500 and 3000 Christmas markets (“Adventsmarkt”, “Christkindl Markt”, “Weihnachtsmarkt”) in Germany. Street markets in the town of Bautzen, Saxony, have been generally proclaimed as the first Christkindlmarkt in the area of modern Germany, whereby King Wenceslaus IV granted the city the right to hold a free meat market in 1384, giving butchers the right to sell meat until Christmas Whether this constitutes an actual Christkindlmarkt is disputed, and it has been argued that the beginnings of these Christmas markets are probably later than is often indicated in the media and popular science. The principal German markets of Nuremberg, Dresden, Frankfurt, and Berlin could be considered true “Spielzeugmessen” or toy fairs due to the numerous dolls and figurines being sold in specialty stalls. The growth of such markets is correlated with the wealth of the community; the Berlin market was comprised of 50 stalls in 1650, 303 stalls in 1805, and about 600 stalls in 1840, all of which were erected and dismantled daily.[4]
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