The Rathaus “Wiener Weihnachtstraum” market is a lively affair with an outdoor skating rink, the ornate Karlskirche forms a stunning backdrop for the “Art Advent” market on Karlsplatz, and the “Weihnachtsdorf” market on Maria-Theresien-Platz spreads out between two of Vienna’s marquee museums. You can’t go wrong at Vienna’s largest Christmas markets. Thanks!Ĭome advent, every corner of Vienna is awash with holiday season lights, from the narrow lanes of the town center to the Baroque palaces on its margins. If anyone knows one or the other, please leave a note in the comments. I haven’t found any sources yet indicating that it was. *I’m not sure if this practice common to the British Isles and Colonial America was prevalent in early modern Central Europe. It’s not Glühbier, but it’s potent enough to put a glow on your face. If you head to the Christmas market in Munich’s Haidhausen neighbourhood, you’ll find two kinds of Doppelbock brewed by Paulaner specially for the season. You might find stalls selling “gestacheltes Bier,” which obliquely recalls the days when tavern keepers would heat warm beer concoctions with a fiery poker.* The red-hot poker froths the beer and caramelizes the sugar, leaving the beer pleasantly nutty. I’ve seen it on only a handful of occasions. With the plethora of heated alcoholic beverages featuring all sorts of wines and spirits, it’s striking that mulled beer is such a rarity at Christmas markets.
If you’re daring, go for a Feuerzangenbowle, a Glühwein-style drink that involves setting a rum-soaked sugar cube alight atop the cup so that the caramelized sugar and rum drips into the drink. Marillenpunsch (with apricot schnapps) is one of my favourites. But there’s also Jägertee (hunter’s tea), a potent elixir made from black tea and Austrian rum that originated in the hoary Alpine regions, and a whole panoply of drinks called “Punsch.” These drinks typically feature a base of red wine, white wine, or orange juice amped up by all manner of schnapps. Glühwein is king of the winter warmers, its aromas of ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves wafting through every Central European Christmas market. Subscribe to my quarterly Beerscapes Newsletter for more on the fascinating world of beer culture, along with travel tips about where to find the best beer experiences in Europe, North America, and beyond. One ensemble of aromas floats above them all, the spicy fragrances of mulled drinks. The sights are one thing, but it’s the polyphony of smells I always remember: toasted almonds and roasted chestnuts colliding with tangy sauerkraut, sizzling bratwurst, and pungent Käsespätzle covered in melted Alpine cheese and roasted onions. It’s no wonder that festive markets sprung up in Central Europe to brighten peoples’ lives with good cheer.īy late November just about every town square in Central Europe has transformed itself into a dazzling collection of stalls selling nutcrackers, Christmas ornaments, and Lebkuchen. What daylight there is fades all too quickly. Steel-grey skies you could reach up and touch. If you’ve spent even a few days in Germany or Austria around this time of year, you’ll have developed an opinion about the weather.
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