Rejoice! Christmas markets start opening across Germany

The festive season is here at last. Since Thursday Glühwein has been warming the hands of chilly Germans in two of the country’s mayor cities.

Things got off to an interesting start in Hamburg on Thursday where Germany’s “hottest Christmas market” opened its doors in the St Pauli neighbourhood.

On offer in the market on the Reeperbahn – a street infamous for its brothels and Str!p clubs – are festive D!ld0s and other risque gifts, as well as a “Str!p tent” at one end.

Germany’s “hottest Christmas market” in Hamburg. Photo: DPA

In the old town of Düsseldorf, the state capital of North Rhine-Westphalia, the Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas market) also opened on Thursday, but the fair here is much more traditional.

The market is scattered throughout the old town. Visitors will be happy to know they can warm their cold hands in one of the many pubs which dot the charming district as they wind their way from kiosk to kiosk.

The market also has a huge Ferris wheel which offers unrivalled views of the nighttime city-scape.

Residents of Berlin will have to keep their Christmas cheer tucked away in the closet for a few days longer. The capital’s most picturesque Christmas market in Gendarmenmarkt and its more garish sister off Alexanderplatz both open on November 21st

In Stuttgart, Europe’s largest Christmas market is set to open on November 23rd. Around four million visitors are expected at the market through the festive period, reports the Hohenloher Tagblatt.

Despite security fears after two attacks connected to Isis in the south of Germany in the summer, police have not increased security. Because the event takes place throughout the city it is not possible to check visitors’ bags, police have said.

In Munich the Christkindlmarkt will open in Sendlinger Tor on November 24th.

And perhaps Germany’s most renowned and magical market, Nuremberg’s Christkindlesmarkt, starts up on November 25th.