“Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht,
Alles schläft; einsam wacht
Nur das traute hochheilige Paar.
Holder Knabe im lockigen Haar,
Schlaf in himmlischer Ruh!
Schlaf in himmlischer Ruh!”
What does Christman mean to you? For the average Bengali it is about cakes from Nahoum’s or Flurys, picnics at the Maidan and oranges in the picnic basket, Park Street lights, and monkey caps. Growing up in a middle-class Bengali household, it was no different for me — except for one thing. Back then, Christmas was about the fete at school (Dolna Day School) — making chains and streamers, singing carols, food stalls, game stalls, greeting cards, and raffles! Since moving to Salzburg, and then London, and getting a chance to spend the festive season around this part of the world, Christmas celebrations have become synonymous with the sights, sounds and smells of Christmas markets.
The advent of festivities in Austria
The brilliantly lit up gates of the main Christmas market in Vienna at Rathaus Hrishit Banerjee
In Germany and Austria, Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas market) or the Christkindlmarkt (Christ child market) are put up during the four weeks of Advent leading up to Christmas, beginning on the fourth Sunday before Christmas or Advent Sunday. Dating back to the late Middle Ages, Christmas markets have been the life and soul of celebrations in Europe for the last 600 years or so.
Stories from Salzburg
The lyrics of the song above is the Christmas carol Silent night, holy night in its original German, written and composed in perhaps the most Christmassy city in the world — Salzburg, Austria. Here, Christmas decoration shops are open throughout the year, so anytime you visit is Christmas time!
For a troubled soul from humid Kolkata, spending cold and snowy nights in Austria felt anything but holy. During these ‘silent nights’ delicious Glühwein (mulled wine) from stalls at Salzburg’s Weihnachtsmarkt warmed my soul as I wandered through dark alleys in an unknown land where people spoke unfamiliar tongues. A half uttered “Grüß (ss) Gott” (good day) to the old Austrian lady selling Christmas tree decorations, a choir singing German carols, molten raclette on ciabatta garnished with Kürbiskernöl or pumpkin seed oil, a Styrian specialty, for dinner.
Christmas baubles, souvenirs, raclette and sausages and warm, spiced Gluhwein are the specialities of the Salzburg markets Shutterstock
Holidays from Salzburg also took me to other places and their ingenious and delightful Christmas market collectibles. A quick hike up to the Schloßberg for a look at the softest hats and socks of Alpaca wool that money can buy, drinking a punsch (punch) in a boot-shaped mug in Graz, and taking the last tram from Graz Hauptplatz (Graz city centre) to my desolate room half lit by the rotary tea light candle bought at the local Christmas market.
Christmas views in Vienna
The Christmas markets in Vienna are a pure joy to behold. The main market in front of Rathaus (town hall) greets you with a lit-up sign that reads Frohe Weihnachten (Merry Christmas). The gates are massive structures decorated with light, and while the decor changes every year, it still has the Christmas imagery of bells, stars, ornaments — the whole shebang.
Vienna’s Christmas markets are postcard perfect Hrishit Banerjee
In the windy cold weather of the city, the smell of baked Kipferl (a predecessor of French croissants) and other assorted Christmas cookies including warm gingerbread will automatically draw you to the tiny German hut-like stalls. The whet your appetite, there is a plethora of German and Austrian sausages — Bavarian bratwurst, cheese filled and bacon wrapped berner würstel, the cheese infused käsekrainer, and even currywurst — a bratwurst with curry sauce for the spice-oriented tongue with caramelised onions over the softest brot (bread). The Glühwein is a much-needed comfort to wash down your schnitzel (similar to what we know as a cutlet) as snow embellishes the evenings.
The star-shaped gate that welcomes visitors at the Belvedere Palace market Hrishit Banerjee
At Belvedere Palace, you enter through a huge gate shaped like a star lit up gorgeously. The grandeur and glory of the palace in the backdrop with the market in front is a true gem of the Habsburg royalty. And speaking of Habsburg, how does one forget the market in the front courtyard of the Schönbrunn Palace, the majestic summer home of the Austrian rulers, Though small in size, it seems straight out of a fairytale. The good king Wenceslas of Bohemia must have been inspired by the grandeur of neighbouring Habsburg!
When in Innsbruck
Little markets dot the banks of the river Inn in the Austrian city of Innsbruck Hrishit Banerjee
If you’re like me and dream of a snowy white Christmas, you must visit Innsbruck. The Christmas markets along the mountainous raging river Inn nestled in the valley of the Nordkette — the jewel of the Alps — is as magical and charming as it can get this time of the year. The special feature here is their delicious hot chocolate, made with sinful dark chocolate and speckled with pink and white marshmallows, and you can make it as warm as you want with a dash of Austrian schnapps. Get the spiralkartoffelen or spiral potatoes — a deep-fried spicy spiral-cut whole potato on a skewer — with your festive drink! A trip up to the snow covered and often blizzardy 2600m Nordkette peak might just be the creative inspiration you need in the gloomy dark days as the year ends!
When Christmas comes to the UK
London’s Christmas markets reflect the multicultural nature of the city with lights and carols sharing space with Bollywood music and international cuisine Hrishit Banerjee
My academic journey through Europe took me from the land of Mozart to the city of British enlightenment — Cambridge. Come winter, however, the city’s intellectual prowess does not make up for the fact that it lacks a proper Christmas market — the sorry attempt at one in Parker’s pieces with a semi-decent ice skating rink is not for the faint hearted in fear of fracturing their coccyges!
So, naturally, we go to London!
London’s multicultural Christmas
London is boisterous, maverick, cosmopolitan and over-crowded. During Christmas time, London is a riot of lights, colours, laughter, carols, street-performers, pickpockets and the Bobbies alike. The city’s Christmas markets might remind the Kolkatan of nothing less than Durga Puja or the Mumbaikar of the madness of Ganesh Chaturthi. Like the corresponding Indian festivals which seem to go on beyond the traditional designated days, London’s Christmas markets survive till the New Year unlike their European counterparts which pack-up on Christmas eve.
Lights and stalls adorn London’s markets right until the New Year Hrishit Banerjee
Even the fares on offer are quite different from the typical German Christmas markets. London doesn’t hide the fact that it loves to anglicise customs and traditions of mainland Europe and adapt it to its own ways. Instead of a bratwurst here you might chance upon a Cumberland sausage, mulled wine takes the place of glühwein, Santa Claus is a lot more prominently and frequently visible. Stalls and shops have Christmas puddings (which the rest of the world calls a cake), mincemeat pies (which have nothing to do with minced meat), yule logs, and Christmas crackers (not firecrackers though). The delightfully hideous red-and-green Christmas jumpers (some even have LEDs these days!) worn so lovingly all scream individuality and familiarity for the perched Indian soul who grew up on a healthy diet of Sherlock Holmes, Harry Potter, Scrooge, and the Grinch!
The ‘Harry Potter’ themes Christmas tree at King’s Cross Station is a special spot for many Hrishit Banerjee
From Trafalgar Square to Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square to Covent Garden, London Christmas Markets are a delightful cocktail of multiculturalism and diversity, with samosas and chaat being consumed with equal fervour as fudges and pretzels. My ears, trained on the soft crooning of hymns at European Christmas markets, could hardly imagine (or condone) Bollywood numbers blaring out of the loudspeakers in the middle of Oxford Circus Christmas celebrations and the entire crowd going ga-ga over them!
Mistletoe and magic in Scotland
One can hardly have Christmas in the UK without holly and mistletoe. Up north in Scotland, the entire city of Edinburgh seems to be covered in holly wreaths and red ribbon bow wrappings. From the Dean’s village to St. James quarter, it’s a demure celebration of the presbyterian traditional Christmas with every imaginable haggis based dish. The main Christmas market straddling the Scottish National Gallery and Scott Monument and covering the entire length of Princes Street is as magical as the city of ghosts itself.
Mistletoe and holly decorate all of Edinburgh through the festive season Hrishit Banerjee
A striking difference in wares looms as almost every garment here is tartan based and tailored for the rainy cold weather and every drink has a bit of whisky in it! The train from Waverley station to Dundee through the misty Bridge of Forth — which looks surprisingly like the Howrah bridge — all decked up with lights makes you miss home all the more as you step out of the station to get a piece of Dundee cake from Fischer and Donaldson, and a little bit of your childhood comes back with every bite.
Dr. Hrishit Banerjee is a lecturer at the School of Science and Engineering at University of Dundee in Scotland. The academician is also an avid literature lover and globe trotter, with a penchant for photography.