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.

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...