Germany travel tip: Christmas market in Osnabrück
The world’s largest Christmas music box, with 25 of the most popular Christmas carols and a 20-foot-tall nutcracker, will attract visitors to the Osnabrück Christmas market in Lower Saxony. It takes place in the market square, around the Johannis Church and in front of the Cathedral; and they are connected by the popular miniature railway.
If you prefer a true traditional and romantic Christmas market, you may want to consider heading to Germany, where the gifts are not mass-produced, but rather real-quality artisan works. Especially traditional things like crib figures, toys, wood carvings, puppets, straw stars, glass balls, tin tree decorations, cookie tins or candles are hard to resist. Delicious mulled wine and roasted apples are very welcome on cool winter days, and the flavors of gingerbread cookies, marzipan, grilled sausages, toasted almonds, and hot chestnuts add to this special Christmas experience.
Osnabrück in Lower Saxony is home to one of the most beautiful Christmas markets in the region
The cosmopolitan city of Osnabrück and the beautiful surroundings have a lot to offer for the whole family throughout the year and that includes first-class shops, lively markets, typical pubs and restaurants, elegant cafes and many colorful festivals.
From November 25 to December 22, the, previously designated as the “Most Beautiful Christmas Market in Northern Germany”, will once again attract a large number of visitors. To get into the perfect Christmas atmosphere, the air of the festively lit Old Town, with its half-timbered houses and historic buildings, is filled with Christmas carols. The carefully restored 1907 children’s merry-go-round turns as 25 of the most beautiful Christmas carols are played. Soak up the seasonal atmosphere at this historic Christmas market and take the red miniature Bimmelbahn train to St. John’s Church for a magical Christmas experience. Additionally, the fully functional Nussknacker, or Nutcracker, is a local attraction not just for kids and can be easily seen as it stands over twenty feet tall. For the kids, St. Nikolaus visits every day to open a window on the huge Advent calendar in front of City Hall. The churches next to the Christmas market, including St. Marien, the Cathedral, St. Katharinen and St. Johann, offer special performances of organ music and festive choir music.
A regional specialty also available at the Christmas market is Mandelmutzen. They are a kind of little cake in the shape of almonds. You need a basic recipe for short crust; flour, butter, sugar, eggs, baking soda and ammonium carbonate or known as hartshorne salts. You can add marzipan and definitely the aromas of bitter almond and / or rum. Mix everything well and form the small Mutzen and bake them in a lot of hot oil. After they turn a nice brown color, drain the oil and turn it into icing sugar, which gives it a nice and very tasty finish. Now all we can hope for is plenty of snowflakes to transform the Christmas market once again into a white Christmas wonderland; let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!
This is an example of what you can do in Osnabrück while traveling in Germany. If you want to learn more about Osnabrück, we compiled a Osnabrück Travel Guide in collaboration with local residents, offering exclusive travel tips for you to use while on vacation in Germany.