This Christmas in Germany has a little less atmosphere.
One of the important reasons is that the Christmas market, which German people love to see, was cancelled due to the epidemic.
The second wave of the epidemic in Europe is fierce.
The German federal government has upgraded epidemic prevention measures from the 16th of this month. Schools are closed, retail stores are closed, and public gatherings have been cancelled.
It hopes to control the spread of the epidemic during the Christmas and New Year holidays.
In the Christmas season of previous years, German cities were like fairy tales: traditional wooden houses-style shops were erected on the square, warm-colored lights surrounded the tall Christmas tree, and classic music accompanied cries.
On a winter day when the light hours are short and the weather is cold, people gather in a hustle and bustle for shopping and eating…
In 2020, the German Christmas Market will be closed.
Faced with this situation, Deutsche News Agency used puns to describe that Christmas Eve this year has really become a silent night.
More than 600 years of “Germany Years”
The Christmas market, also known as the Christmas market, is one of the most famous traditional events in winter in Germany.
This is a big episode, or to be more precise, an annual episode, which carries “the taste of German New Year.”
In the narratives of the German media, the Christmas market originated in the German-speaking area of the late Middle Ages and has a history of more than 600 years. In the beginning, these markets were places where people bought winter items, including cotton shoes, baskets, toys, etc.
The goods were nothing special. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the religious atmosphere of these bazaars became strong, and merchants began to sell some wooden carved religious figures and classic scenes from religious books.
Year after year, with the gradual increase in the flow of people, some musicians and jugglers also gather in the market, which adds to the joyful atmosphere, and the function of the market’s commodity exchange gradually becomes leisure and entertainment.
Today, there are more than 2500 Christmas markets in Germany, and the business atmosphere is even stronger.
In addition to classic delicacies such as mulled wine, fried almonds, and gingerbread, there are also many souvenirs for tourists.
The prosperity of the market and its cultural status in Germany and even European society have caused some cities to actively compete for the name of the “hometown” of the Christmas bazaar.
Bazaars in different places are also flaunting their own characteristics and creating gimmicks, hoping to attract more visitors:
The Wenzell Bazaar in the eastern German city of Bautzen is known as the “oldest” in Germany.
The reason is that in 1384, King Wenceslas IV of Bohemia issued an order: “Create a meat market before Christmas”. The earliest written record of the German Christmas Market.
The fruit cake market in Dresden is known as “the most authentic”.
According to the official description, the local fruit cake in Dresden is specially baked for Christmas, so the market there is a market specially designed for Christmas, and the rest are local The previously existing “December Market” is far-fetched.
The market under the Cologne Cathedral is known as “the most artistic”.
The small stage set up every year organizes more than 100 performances and attracts more than 4 million visitors…
“The price that had to be painfully paid”
The inheritance of history will encounter setbacks in 2020.
According to data released by the Robert Koch Institute, a German disease control agency, on December 24, Germany has 32,195 new confirmed cases of new crowns compared with the previous day, and a total of 1,587,115 confirmed cases; 802 new deaths and a total of 28,770 deaths.
In view of the high number of newly confirmed and dead cases, the German government has decided to further tighten the epidemic prevention and control measures starting from the 16th of this month until January 10th next year.
Christmas is coming, and the market does not open. In some cities, only a few vendors are allowed to sell mulled wine, and the city squares appear empty and there are not many people buying them. After all, the mellow aroma of mulled wine is on the one hand the taste, on the other hand it is the enthusiasm of holding a hot cup and socializing with people in winter.
Many businesses also suffered heavy losses. “Kate Wolfart” is a brand of German festival decorations. At this time in previous years, wooden dolls and Christmas tree decorations were on sale.
The demand has decreased this year, and companies have to cut the number of employees. A few years ago, the big nutcracker, which cost 50 euros at every turn, will be sold at a special price in supermarkets this year for only a dozen euros.
Landshut in southern Bavaria has designed a “shuttle Christmas market”, where people drive cars slowly in front of shops, which is a new attempt to save the Christmas atmosphere.
However, this year’s festival is destined to be different.
“We feel that there are fewer people going to the city center.” Jurgen Brandstede, manager of “Schmidt Gingerbread” in Nuremberg, said that the lack of Christmas atmosphere has swept everyone out of the holiday season.
This is due to the epidemic. The emotional trauma that people leave.
The program of North German Radio said that the Christmas market tradition was broken.
The last time was during World War II, when supplies were scarce, but now the new crown virus has forced people to distance themselves.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel recently confessed in a speech in the Bundestag that the prevention of epidemic prevention measures such as Christmas fairs is not allowed to appear “unfriendly”, but this is “a price that has to be paid painfully.”
