It’s 🎄 Christmas Market 🎄 season in Northern and Central Europe! Pictured here are markets at Charlottenburg Palace and Gendarmenmarkt in Berlin.
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Do you know how Christmas markets started? Well, settle in; or skip to the list of the ten best Christmas markets in Europe, as I know you want to.
The first December market was authorized in Vienna in 1296, though it wasn’t really Christmas themed, just a 14-day permit for vendors to convene and do their thing. This was followed by markets in Bohemia, and then throughout the German territories of the time, though it eventually spread to a lot of northern and Central Europe.
It’s hard to pinpoint when exactly they became associated with the holiday itself, but probably around the time that Martin Luther thought gift giving should transfer from December 6, St. Nicholas’ Day (hey, that’s Santa Claus!) to December 25. Up until then, Christmas marked the end of a sober month of reflection, and the beginning of several days of dancing, eating, and drinking till someone called you a medieval Uber. So if you celebrate this way, don’t you dare let anyone tell you you’re not traditional!
Markets started to decline with the spread of department stores in the 1800s, until in the 1930s, the (ugh) N@z!s reinvigorated them by associating them with German traditions and greatness rather than a pure shopping experience. Because everything nice in this world must somehow be tainted. Anyway, don’t worry, there is no current association between Christmas markets and fascist pigs, so you can enjoy freely.
If you want to see one of the oldest continuously operating Christmas market, drop by Dresden, in operation since the 1400s. Otherwise, here is a list of other great markets:
1. Vienna
2. Brussels
3. Stockholm
4. Prague
5. Budapest
6. Tallinn
7. Krakow
8. Copenhagen
9. Bruges
10. Cologne
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