Christmas market at the Gedächtniskirche. A bit of a mouth-full, isn’t it, my non-German-speaking friend? How about X-mas market at the Breitscheidplatz? Still no? Christmas at Kurfürstendamm? Christmas market at the Ku’damm is as low as I can go. Pick one to use as a tongue-twister and let’s loosen our tongues with some fiery Feuerzangebowle. Don’t worry, after two of those you’ll be able to say that too.
The Weihnachtsmarkt an der Gedächtniskirche is one of the largest, most central and popular Christmas fairs in Berlin, and also one of the lengthiest, opening late November and closing usually on January 5th. Its various names come from the market’s location: next to the Memorial Church Kaiser Wilhelm (Gedächtniskirche) which is in the center of the square named after a 20th century politician, Breitscheidplatz, placed on one of the most elegant boulevards, sometimes called the Champs Elysees of Berlin, Kurfürstendamm. Practically smack in the middle of West Berlin, where classical architecture blends into the new skyline of City West.
Being as central as possible, it attracts a lot of attention. Even the unwanted type, as it was with the truck attack in December 2016. Concrete barriers around Christmas markets (and other public gatherings) have become the norm.
Being so large (about 200 stalls) and central, it is more of a Winter market, not focusing exclusively on Christmas cheer, but on cold season overabundance: big hunks of peasant bread, slabs of cheese, strings of sausages, piles of sweetmeats, candles and other coziness-generating accessories, knitwork, woodwork, leatherwork, some very-weird-work too (honk if you hate fanny packs as much as I do, especially if they’re sequinned, I mean for the love of fashion police, please stop the horrorshow!).
Of course, once the saddlebags are filled with comfort food to last you until Silvester and beyond (that means New Years Eve, tops), the other half of the nicely decorated wooden huts deal with goods for immediate consumption:
Mulled wine of all sorts in the Glühweingarten (we tried some Zaren-Punsch, the Tsar’s Punch, spiked with serious Russian spirits and packing quite a punch, hence the name, probably), Grandma’s Eggnog, cider, hot beer, even regular beer if you must (heathen!), hot chocolate, the ever spinning Kürtöskalacs, Bavarian poppy dumplings (Germknödel), the onion bread (Hirtenbrot), with or without a thick spread of lard (no comment here, de gustibus) the quark balls, the crepes, the… international street food? Yes, please.
What makes the Christmas market at the Gedächtniskirche different from other markets in Berlin? The setting, of course. You’re in the center of what used to be Berlin’s bohemian beating heart, exactly 100 years ago, when the roaring 20s established it as “the greatest cultural extravaganza”.
You’re also standing on what was a pile of rubble in 1945, after the bombings. Speaking of ruins, visiting the Memorial Church, actually the new glass church built next to the remainders of the old one, is a must. Either go in for an Advent concert or just to look around; you will be smitten with its futuristic serenity and loneliness.
So, my young Yuletide-loving padawan, you have filled yourself visually, historically and spiritually and probably emptied your pockets buying useless Christmas crap cheer and stuffing your face with sacchariferous refreshments. Forgot anything?
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