Stepping out in Berlin: Gendarmenmarkt Christmas market

BY ONEIKA RAYMOND

A visit to the Gendarmenmarkt Christmas market in Berlin.

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Some would argue that a trip to Germany in December is not complete without a stop at one of the country’s many Christmas markets. As such, Liebling and I popped into Berlin’s Gendarmenmarkt Christmas market on a sunny day earlier on this week. One of about 60 markets that grace the city’s landscape, the Gendarmenmarkt is probably as Christmas-y as it gets — stuffed reindeer heads adorn doorways, Christmas lights sparkle on evergreens even in broad daylight, and many different types of nuts roast on open fires that vendors fan furiously with newspaper.  The array of food stuffs on offer is enough to expand your waist just by looking, and the architectural trio of the nearby Deutscher Dom, Französischer Dom, and the Konzerthaus gives this market one of the most visually stunning backdrops in all of Berlin. Lest you doubt the German-ness of the whole affair, steaming glasses of  gluhwein are served seemingly at every turn, and the air is heavy with the scent of sausages, or rostbratwurst, which, depending on your point of view, can be described as either fragant or malodorous. I dare say that if you’re not eating or drinking, there’s not much to do here (but then, what else would you go to a Christmas market for!), but a heaping serving of Christmas cheer steps away from Berlin’s most well-known sites (tourist hotspots like Alexanderplatz, Checkpoint Charlie, and the Brandenburg Gate are all within walking distance) makes a drop-in a must.

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 Have you ever been to a Christmas market?

SHARING IS CARING

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