Christmas market in downtown Bremen
Christmas Market

Christmas market with a Neo-Renaissance style building in the background (End of November, 2016)
German Christmas markets typically open around noon. The above snapshot shows early-afternoon visitors strolling the Domshof (cathedral plaza) section of the Christmas market in downtown Bremen. The market attracts larger crowds in the evening. Then, to warm up on cold and wet days or just for the fun of it, people enjoy sipping a hot alcoholic drink; for example, a mug of Feuerzangenbowle—mulled wine sweetened by a dripping rum-soaked sugarloaf set on fire. The fake-snow-covered, timber-frame hut in the foreground would be a place to check out a real Feuerzangenbowle drink. Not yet tipsy and merry: moving up and down in a gondola of the small rotating wheel further back may help. In the background you can see parts of building that once housed the Bremer Bank—built in the early 20th century based on a Neo-Renaissance design by the architects Albert Dunkel and Diedrich Toelken. Since the fall of 2016, the Manufactum emporium established its business inside the decoratively renovated interior of the building, displaying and selling an interesting variety of goods in a museum-like setting. If you came for the mulled wine, however, you need to scout your favorite hut within the outdoor market spread out around the St. Petri Dom (St. Peter's Cathedral), the Bremer Rathaus (Bremen's Town Hall) and the Liebfrauenkirche (Church of Our Lady). For your loved one(s) at home you may want to get a gingerbread heart wishing Frohe Weihnachten (Merry Christmas).
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Exploring Bremen
▶ Heini Holtenbeen in Bremen's medieval Schnoor district
▶ A silvery whale in Bremen
▶ Bremen's Schlachte
▶ Weser and Teerhof
▶ The windmill in Rekum
▶ Kuhgraben and Friedrich-Bremermann-Weg
▶ A walk through Borgfeld to the Hollerdeich
▶ Rhododendron worlds
▶ A memorial roundtrip: visiting the Valentin submarine factory