Cleared for Takeoff - The Triporati Blog » Strasbourg http://www.triporati.com/blog Sharing stories about the world and travel Wed, 15 May 2013 00:51:44 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 en The Spirit of the Season at European Christmas Markets http://www.triporati.com/blog/2009/12/22/the-spirit-of-the-season-at-european-christmas-markets/ http://www.triporati.com/blog/2009/12/22/the-spirit-of-the-season-at-european-christmas-markets/#comments Tue, 22 Dec 2009 19:24:46 +0000 http://www.triporati.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/christmas-market-feature.jpg The Spirit of the Season at European Christmas Markets http://www.triporati.com/blog/2009/12/22/the-spirit-of-the-season-at-european-christmas-markets/ Larry Habegger http://www.triporati.com/blog/?p=2475 Every year around this time we hear railing against the commercialization of Christmas, and the exhortations to shop and buy and give do get tiring, but they’re nothing new. In fact, they’ve been around a long time, since the Middle Ages, as the many Christmas markets across Europe attest.

The oldest, in the French city of Strasbourg in Alsace on the German border, has been active since 1570. Georgia Hesse, in the San Francisco Chronicle, ably describes the appeal of such markets and the particular draw of Strasbourg, where visitors stroll the lanes where Goethe, Gutenberg, and Albert Schweitzer once wandered.

Many markets last through New Year’s Day and some even run through the Epiphany on January 6, but others close up shop on Christmas Eve, so hurry, time’s running out.

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