The Dresden Christmas Market Busts Nuts

With their Nussknackers…

The Dresden Christmas market is the oldest in Germany — or at least, that’s what they advertise, since even my children would agree I wasn’t around in 1434 to verify their claims.

The old center of Dresden is a beautiful little gem of an ‘Altstadt’ that I have been visiting now for 20+ years.

As a part of the old DDR (East Germany or GDR in English), it isn’t very convenient to get to — the lines between the old East and West Germany don’t always have the same robust connections as exist in the old ‘West’ Germany (BDR). But it is on one of the main lines to Prague, so I will often stop on my way to Czechia, and as a principal city of Saxony (the old capital of the kingdom), it is well connected within that part of the DDR. It’s only one non-stop hour away by rail from Leipzig, another truly lovely Sachsen Stadt.

It’s a hassle to check in and check out to a new hotel in a new city every day, so I thought I’d try to finesse the travel a bit and instead of spending two days in Leipzig, a day in Dresden, and a day in Berlin as was my original plan, and instead make our base in Leipzig. We then took a day trip to each of Dresden and Berlin.

I regret it.

Not Leipzig, but the hassle of taking day trips on the train wasn’t worth it, because you are on the schedule of the Deutsche Bahn, and totally at their mercy with late trains and track repairs. We ended up always leaving a couple of connections earlier than necessary, just in case the trains were late or canceled (which happens a lot). In retrospect, I would have stayed two days in Leipzig and then two days in one of the other cities, probably Berlin, since there is far more to do there.

Travel tips for the European rail system — either get a Eurail Global Pass or plan meticulously and pre-buy your tickets several days in advance. The savings can be enormous. Also, whenever possible, choose either a direct route (far preferable, even if it’s a later train) or the fewest connections possible, in which case give yourself at least 20 minutes between trains. The days of the Deutsche Bahn being as punctual as a Swiss watch are a distant memory.

While Dresden is well worth the visit, you can see the high spots (IMO) in one day, and since I’d been there many times I just wanted to show my wife the Christmas Markets in the Altstadt and the Zwinger (former palace of the Sachsen king) art museum, which together are an easy day.

The main market is in the Altmarkt / Old Market Square in the heart of the old town, a stone’s throw from the Zwinger palace. It’s called the Streizelmarkt and is one of the most picturesque German Christkindlmarkts.

Not to be missed, a short distance away is the Neumarkt / New Square Christmas Market, where we each had stuffed bread (she had spinach and I had ham-and-cheese) and a cup of the ubiquitous Gluehwein (hot spiced and spiked wine).

Both the Gluehwein and bread were excellent, which is generally par for the course. Note: I’ve not had much bad food at these outdoor markets — according to a highly scientific poll of myself, the Gluehwein quality distribution across Deutschland and Oesterreich is: 40% excellent, 20% good, 20% meh, 10% gross, and 10% amazing. According to the same poll, the food runs 85% ‘great!’, 10% ‘dear God did you make this’, and 5% ‘WTF, was this intended for human consumption?’

We did quite a bit of buying at the Neumarkt, but not as much at the Streizelmarkt. However, the reason isn’t a difference in quality, it’s what we were looking for.

Leipzig and Dresden are both the place in Germany to buy wooden toys, Nutcrackers, and ‘smokers’ etc. The reason is that most (I believe) of the classic German wooden toys come out of the Erzgebirge Harz Mountain region (in English, Erzgebirge literally means ‘the heart of the mountains’) a short drive away, spreading its woody branches through lower Sachsen / Saxony and Thuringen / Thuringia.

Pagans for Christmas, Anyone?

The two reasons we didn’t buy many ornaments/Nussknacker this trip are 1) our kids weren’t with us, and I like to get those with the whole family, and 2) after 30 years of visiting Christkindl/Weihnachtsmarkts, we do already have all that we need. (though there will always be room for another if the kids are with us…)

TLDR — All Great!

If you are visiting Germany for the markets, Dresden is always n the top 5 (IMO) and is often cited by others as the top destination (though, in general, I’d give Nuremberg the #1 spot).

But note — the weather in Northern Germany in winter is cold and dreary, except for when it is a**-clenching-freezing and suicidally-depressing-socked-in-grey, so dress accordingly and be prepared to drink a lot for some good cheer.

The main market — the Streizelmarkt — is certainly one of the best for products out of the Erzgebirge. Between the two large markets, there are many interesting vendors with everything from handmade leather goods to hand-smithed metal reproductions of pagan German antiquity. The food is just outstanding.

And if you are in Dresden, visit the Zwinger collections — we sauntered through the Old Masters section for the umpteenth time (Vermeers and sooo many Cranachs!). The paintings always take us two hours or so, but they also have porcelain (of course, since the region is home to Meissen wares), arms and armor, the palace rooms (including the famous Green Room), etc.

A great town, with a GREAT museum, and great markets.

My rating for Dresden 2022: 9 out of 10.

Go there!