Treasures in the Swiss Christmas Markets

Doug admired this red glass plate with an outline of Switzerland, at Meilen's Christmas market. 

There is no shortage of inspiration in the Swiss Christmas Markets!

I spent hours exploring the gift items at the various Christmas chalets in Zurich, Rapperswil, Winterthur, and Bern. Some were hand-crafted; others were mass produced. My favorites tended to be unusual and handmade in Switzerland. Some were quite affordable (5 to 40 CHF), while others were very steep: some cost over 300 CHF. 

We took pictures of many and made a few purchases. Below are some pictures of handiwork that attracted Doug's attention or mine.

Hand knit Swiss caps, each with a large white cross in the center. (Zurich Bahnhofstrasse)

Beeswax to the max! All the items in this display were made of beeswax; many were candles.  (Winterthur)

A wooden-helix tree ornament with a crystal in the center.  This one will adorn our Christmas tree for years to come. (Bern)

Hand knit sweaters, scarves, gloves, mittens, hats and more...

Festive candles - hand dipped and formed. (Zurich)

Costume jewelry... earrings, bracelets, brooches, and more.

I loved these miniature wood chalets, but at at a cost of 300 CHF or more, it just wasn't in this year's Christmas budget. Maybe sometime in the future.

I also fell in love with these fine scissor-cut silhouettes, each trio enclosing a votive candle within protective glass plates. The technique is called Scherenschnitte (shear-n-SHNIT-a), which is a German word for 'scissor cuts', as in the art of papercutting design. The vendor was Scherenschnitte von Esther Gerber. 

The two pictures shown above were from a vendor who handcrafted these spectacular  Weinachtspyramide (Christmas pyramids). Jessica, who writes Swisstoryblog, has some great pictures of these treasures on her Christmas Advent Day 14.  Again, not in my price range, but something to put on my Christmas wish list in the future.

I also fell in love with these paper lanterns. I found myself drawn again and again to them. See the Swisstoryblog Christmas Advent Day #19 for some additional great photos of these lanterns.

Doug and I both have a passion for things made of wood. These silhouettes in tree-branch slices caught our eye at the Bern Christmas market, and the one in the lower left corner with the nativity scene will adorn our future Christmas trees.

Christmas Market 'Chalet'

No two Christmas Chalets are alike!

If you look up the word chalet in Webster's Dictionary, it is defined as "a wooden dwelling with a sloping roof and widely overhanging eaves, common in Switzerland and other Alpine regions."  The term chalet originated in Arpitan-speaking regions of Switzerland and Savoy, and originally referred to a herder's hut. It is derived from the medieval Latin calittum, which may in turn come from an Indo-European root, cala, that means 'shelter'.

The word 'chalet' is also used to describe the small wooden huts that make up a Swiss Christmas Market.  The front face of the chalet is split lengthwise, and hinges downward to open the booth for business. It can be closed up easily at night, and quickly re-established in the morning.   

How a vendor chooses to decorate the chalet varies noticeably from market to market.  Some are quaint with green ferns covering each roof, as in the picture below.

A Christmas chalet on the Bahnhofstrasse in Zurich. 

Other vendors choose to decorate their booths with a bit more flair, draping both the inside and outside of the chalet with fabric, colored lights and even garlands, similar to those shown in the two pictures below.

And others choose to really go all out, and make a statement with lots of flair!

Below are other examples of vendors selling various Christmas decorations, gifts, or food.

A vendor selling ceramic figurines.

A vendor selling baked breads, cookies, and other sweets.

A vendor selling ornaments and gifts carved from wood and decorated for the holidays.

Even one that was selling toys, music makers, and various trinkets.

Doug purchased a beautifully turned wooden bowl of Nussbaum (walnut) at this chalet in the Rapperswil Christmas Market.  He uses it to corral a small wooden top I bought for him later.

At this chalet, Doug purchased small specimens of boulder opal in ironstone, imported from a mine in Queensland, Australia.

C H R I S T M A S M A R K E T S in Switzerland!!!

Christmas shopping takes on a whole new meaning in Switzerland!

When I told my friends and family that I would be in Switzerland over the holidays, many replied with ohhhhhhhhh, you'll be there for the Christmas Markets!!! I could only imagine what this meant.

That was, until I first entered the Zurich Main (train) Station on my very first day in Switzerland. As Doug and I exited the train and walked towards the center of the station you could feel the excitement in the air. We turned the corner and I got my first sight of Europe's largest indoor Christmas Market. It was being set up, but you could see the beginnings of a specular exhibition.

Thousands of fairly white lights, the enticing aroma of Glühwein (mulled wine), pastries/cookies and many many items to be purchased.

Zurich Christmas Fair in ShopVille-RailCity Zürich 

Zurich's Main Station (Hauptbahnhof) accommodates more than 160 wooden chalets- a great source of inspiration for gifts.  There was a 50 ft. Christmas tree decorated with over 5,000 Swarovski Crystal Ornaments. There were new smells, handmade crafts, trinkets, foods, and fantastic people-watching. 

What I didn't know, but would soon learn was that this was just the first of many Christmas Markets that I would be exploring during the weeks prior to Christmas Day. 

A 'typical' Christmas market consists of numerous stalls on the streets and squares of a place, often before the historic backdrop. There are Christmas baked goods such as print gingerbread, Christstollen, various sweets such as chocolate figurines, candy floss, roasted almonds, hot roasted chestnuts and hot meals are offered. The wooden chalets sell Christmas items, jewelry, tinsel, nativity scenes, candles, carved nutcrackers, knitted items, and much more. 

The history of Christmas markets goes back to the late Middle Ages in the German speaking part of Europe. The Dresden Christmas market was first held in 1434. In many communities Advent is usually ushered in with the opening of the Christmas market or Weihnachtsmarkt. In Switzerland, I've been told, the Christmas market idea is comparatively new, introduced just 30 years ago, but none the less wonderful.

Poster for the Meilener Weinachtsmarkt 

(the subject of a future blog posting)

Below is a list of the Christmas Markets I had the opportunity to visit during the holidays.

• Christkindlimärt Rapperswil-Jona - a wonderful market at the base of the Capuchin monastery in Rapperswil ... December 1 - 14
• Einsiedler Weihnachtmarkt - in front of the Benedictine Abbey of Einsiedeln ... November 29th - December 8th
• Meilener Weinachtsmarkt - a small community southeast of Zurich on the "gold coast" of Lake Zurich ... November 30th
• Zurcher Christmas Market der Altstadt - throughout the cobblestone streets of old town Zurich ... December 8 - 23rd
• Winterthur Christmas Market - throughout the meandering streets of Winterthur ... December 2 - 23rd
  
• Berner Weihnachtmarkt - is held on the square inside the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage listed old town with its cobblestone streets

So ... what do they look like?? Below are just 3 of the nearly 250 photos that Doug and I took of the various Christmas markets we enjoyed.

The Bahnhofstrasse, Zurich ... one of the world's most expensive and exclusive shopping areas.

Looking up towards the Benedictine Abbey of Einsiedeln with their 

Christmas Market in the foreground. 

Christkindlimärt in Rapperswil. This was one of my favorite backdrops for a Swiss Christmas Market, and a spectacular one at that.

Grüezi Miteinander

G R Ü E Z I 

pronounced:  grü-e-tsi

English translation: 'hello' or 'I greet you'

"Grüezi"

I heard this from people who sat next to me on the trams, from individuals I'd meet walking down the street, and even from store clerks. 

"What is Grüezi?" I'd say to myself, and just smile and tip my head a bit at the Swiss-German I had just crossed paths with. This was happening every day. I knew it was some sort of greeting, but other than that I was clueless. 

That was, until Saturday the 29th of November. 

Doug and I were invited to dinner in Meilen with our new Swiss friends, the Sprengers. We met Iris & Paul at the train station and then proceeded to take a walk along a view path between the bluffs over looking Lake Zurich and the open fields. Time and again we would pass people who said 'Gruezi' and Iris would respond 'Gruezi miteinander'. Finally, I had someone to explain this Swiss-German greeting! And so she did... she shared with me that this phrase is used to greet someone and you should return the greeting. I practiced my pronunciation.

Now I got it!  Finally I could stop looking foolish and be polite to the people I meet in Switzerland. 

To gain a clear grasp of this Swiss greeting and other similar phrases ... check out the posting on Swisstoryblog.com for Tuesday, September 9, 2008 titled Swiss Greetings 101. Jessica provides an excellent explanation as to what to say, to whom, when to say it ... and how to respond.

I looked online for a definition of grüezi and came across a photo on flickr.com of a Washington state vanity license plate that read: GRUETZI.

I began to hear it more and see it used in lots of Swiss advertising. It's now part of my vocabulary! 

The only challenge NOW is that I've mastered it so well, that store clerks now continue their conversation with me in Swiss-German. Which again leaves me with more blank stares and slight nods. :) 
P.S. Yes, I know I've used two different spellings for the word Grüezi. Just as in English, it seems to be spelled different ways by different people. :)

Christmas window displays that brought back my childhood memories

I love window shopping, especially at Christmas. 

As a child growing up in Minnesota I have wonderful memories of my parents taking my brothers and me to see (and experience) the Dayton's window displays in downtown Minneapolis. The windows were decorated with miniature scenes of Santa's workshop and winter in Minnesota. Our cold runny noses pressed against the display windows to see who would be the first to spot the moving features...an elf hammering away at a workbench, another putting together a tricycle, or even the smoke coming out of the chimney.

This memory was recreated for me this past weekend when Doug and I took a day trip to Bern, the capital of Switzerland. We passed a department store that had six windows decked out in a story book Christmas theme: the Muggestutz.  I don't know much about the tales, written by author Susanna Schmid-Germann, but my understanding is that they are about the lives of fairy-tale dwarves living in  Meiringen-Hasliberg in the Canton of Bern. 

Below are pictures of the display windows. Bring back any memories???

This was the sticker in each of the windows...

let it snow, Let it Snow, LET IT SNOW!!!

Christmas without snow ... is like ... no Christmas at all!

Yes, I was born in Wisconsin, raised in Minnesota, live in Washington State, and am right now in Switzerland. There is only one kind of Christmas ... Christmas with SNOW!

The picture above was taken in Heiden, perched above Lake Constance in the northeastern corner of Switzerland in the Canton of Appenzell Ausserhoden. Heiden is at an elevation of 2,605 ft.  This particular square and the church to the right are listed as a Heritage Site of National Significance for the country of Switzerland. I just love this picture -- the essence of a northern Christmas. 

Doug and I took a train, a tram, and then a Post bus to Heiden -- to visit the Henry Dunant Museum, a museum dedicated to the life and work of the founder of the Red Cross, who spent his last years here. I'll post more about the museum visit later.

What we didn't expect was a spectacular countryside tour ... 'over the river and through the woods to ...' with amazing postcard-like photo opportunities. Below are just a few of the great pictures we took. 

A view of a side street in Heiden.

A view from the Post bus looking across the countryside.

One of the many small communities we passed along the way to Heiden.

Snow, snow and more snow!

A railway bridge off in the distance over a raging river.

More countryside. Notice the snow hugging the trees.

One solo tree in a park: what more do you need?

I hope you enjoy these snippets of SNOW pictures as much as we enjoyed playing in the snow.

The Sprengers from Switzerland!!

In my 3rd blog entry (December 1st – The Ghost Walk of Zurich) I mentioned having drinks at the Aelpli Bar with our new Swiss friends from Meilen. They are Paul and Iris Sprenger, a wonderful couple who have ‘taken us under their wing’.

Doug always chuckles when I say I’m the shy one of the two of us. But I am! I’m an extremely shy extravert. I like meeting new people and exploring new venues. I was the one who found and suggested the Ghost Walk. We were the first to arrive that evening, but were soon joined by another couple who appeared to be about our age or slightly older. The tour was being given in English, so I knew they spoke or at least understood English … even American English (vs. British English).

So, while people were arriving, I introduced myself to the woman. “My name is Luci,” I said. She responded, “I’m Iris.” The tour began, and as we walked from location to location, she and I chatted about random things: where are you from, why are you taking this tour, isn’t it cold, and so on--nothing in particular, just conversation. Iris introduced her husband Paul to me, and I introduced them both to Doug. We learned that they lived near Zurich, and they were taking the tour just for the fun of it. They lived just south of Zurich in Meilen, but were fond of “meandering” frequently, just as Doug and I do.

Sometime during the tour Iris said, “Give me your number, so we can get together.” YES, I thought: I had made a new friend! I mentioned it to Doug and when the tour ended they suggested we go for a drink. They knew the city and took us through the cobblestone street to an out-of-the-way pub called the Aelpli Bar, in central Zurich’s Niederdorf neighborhood.

As we walked through the old wooden door and up a few narrow steps, it was as if we slipped through a portal into old Zurich. The pub was small, cozy, comfortably lit, and packed with happy patrons. The music was not piped in, but was live and up close: three accordionists played as they sat on overturned crates, and the waitress wove her way among close-packed tables of customers who sang and foot-tapped along with the melody. We found a well worn wooden table and benches in the back of the pub, and Paul ordered us a bottle of wine.

The next hour or so was magical.

Paul shared with us that he had recently connected with relatives from America. In 1854 these relatives’ ancestor, John Jacob Sprenger, had immigrated to America – to my home state of Minnesota! John Jacob Sprenger’s descendents had done their research, connected with Paul and Iris, and exchanged family information. Just last year, Paul and Iris had traveled to Minnesota, California, Oregon, and Washington to visit with their new found relatives. So they knew Seattle, and had visited many of the places we had. We connected!

Before the night was over, we had exchanged not only phone numbers, but business cards and email addresses, and they had invited us to dinner at their home on the following Sunday evening. They walked back through old Zurich with us; then we said good night and boarded our respective trams. Not goodbye, but just good night, for this would be just the first of several adventures with our new Swiss friends.