Chemnitz Christmas Market 2015

During the Advent season, the Christmas market area around Chemnitz Town Hall and the town hall, which is also decorated, lights up, a magical mixture of incense candles, mulled wine and culinary delights and treats attracts visitors to the displays, atmospheric music can be heard canned or live on the large Neumarkt stage, and a flying visit from Father Christmas and his entourage is announced every evening.

The rustic basis for the traditionally decorated Christmas village is once again provided by over 200 huts: Construction begins on Monday, 16. November with 172 stands on Markt and Neumarkt, Rosenhof, Jakobikirchplatz and Richard-Möbius-Straße, 15 stands on Düsseldorfer Platz - here again with the Erzgebirgsdorf and 2-storey "Mühlenschänschen".ckige "Mühlenschänke" - and 30 stands on Innere Klosterstraße, which will once again host the traditional Chemnitz Klosterweihnacht with its medieval market.

Opening with Lord Mayor Barbara Ludwig

The Chemnitz Christmas Market will be opened by Lord Mayor Barbara Ludwig on Friday, 27 November at 4 pm with the traditional stollen cutting ceremony. The head of the city will be supported by Father Christmas and fairy-tale characters. The ten-kilo, 1.30 metre long stollen is once again from the Pietschmann bakery in Chemnitz.

The Christmas market is open on the opening day from 4 pm to 9 pm, from 28 November to 22 December daily from 10 am to 9 pm and on 23 December, the last day, from 10 am to 8 pm.

Every evening at 5 pm, Father Christmas (Claus Höhne or his deputy Rolf Pfüller) visits the fairytale stage and brings a fairytale surprise, performed by "Langes" Theather, Fritz Theater or the Unart theatre group.

Girls and boys aged four to six who would like to meet Father Christmas directly on stage should register by letter, including a picture they have drawn themselves, for the Christmas flying visit - here is the address:

Weihnachtsmarktstudio der Stadt Chemnitz, Marktwesen, 09106 Chemnitz (see also PM 570 dated 5 October 2015).

Large traditional Christmas market

From 27 November to 23 December, visitors and guests to the Chemnitz Christmas market can expect an extensive and varied range of original Erzgebirge folk art, typical tree decorations, Advent arrangements and many culinary delights. There are 172 stalls with 166 huts and six fairground rides and a children's area.

At a total of 58 stands, visitors can experience activities and handicrafts (from smoked candle making to show turning and carving to show distillery and sweet making) as well as exhibits such as the original humpback mine.

Chemnitz Monastery Christmas

One of the attractions is the historical market organised by Bibow Communikations GmbH as part of the Chemnitz Christmas market programme since 2005 with the "Chemnitzer Klosterweihnacht" in Innere Klosterstraße with 30 historical stalls: New this year is the "Queen of the Needles" competition with a prize-giving ceremony on 20 December at 5 pm.

The bathhouse and the "Laterna Magica" for children with the Grimm's fairy tale hour, bakery and tavern, shootingcastle, smithy and leatherworker, fire show and jugglers as well as the musical theatre "Scharlatan", the groups "Streuner" and "Wohlgemuth" and Pyrokatharsis Feuergaukler on the Advent weekends.

Erzgebirgsdorf

The "Erzgebirgsdorf" on Düsseldorfer Platz offers 15 stands including the two-storey "Mühlenschänke", e.g. a mulled wine pyramid and regional culinary specialities as well as offers for children, such as crafting smoke houses and tree decorations or baking biscuits. The event is organised by Event Catering Restaurant GmbH.

If you lose your bearings at the Christmas market, you can also follow the ten signposts.

Mulled wine cup

In addition to numerous hearty dishes and delicious treats (including roasted almonds, nuts and gingerbread, of course), mulled wine and the mulled wine huts will once again be a popular attraction and meeting point for visitors at the Chemnitz Christmas Market 2015. And it's not just the winter drink, which is offered in a wide variety of recipes, but also the mulled wine cup itself that is a tradition in Chemnitz and has long since become a collector's item for some visitors to the Christmas market.

The mulled wine cup has been a tradition at the Chemnitz Christmas market since 1995, always in a different colour: After light, dark and cobalt blue, light and dark green, light and dark purple, brown, red, orange, apricot and various two-coloured versions, most recently beige on the outside and fiery red on the inside, this year the cup in the shape of a punch pot is beige on the outside and green on the inside with a half relief on the cup's belly.

Christmas colours

Tradition applies to the Chemnitz Christmas market in its typical Christmas colours of red, green, gold or silver and blue or natural colours in general and once again in the design of the huts and Christmas decorations. After all, the Market Department in the city's Public Order Office, which is also responsible for preparing and organising the Chemnitz Christmas Market, would like to defend the excellent reputation of this attraction, which has already won several awards in recent years, in 2015 as well.

Awards

The Chemnitz Christmas market has an excellent reputation as a popular attraction for visitors from all over Germany and beyond, and not just in the traditional "Christmas land of the Ore Mountains": local broadcaster MDR has named the Chemnitz Christmas market as one of the most beautiful, atmospheric and authentic of its kind three times. In the 2014 "Best Christmas City" competition organised by Messe Frankfurt, Chemnitz took first place with 9,215 votes and was named the most beautiful Christmas city in Germany.

Special attractions

One of the special visual attractions of the Chemnitz Christmas market this year was once again the twelve-metre-high Christmas pyramid built in 1986 on its site between Neumarkt and Markt: 21 human and three animal figures as well as twelve trees told the story of everyday life in the Ore Mountains over five floors. The body of the "Peremett" and the figures have been replaced piece by piece over the past few years, and the original figures can still be seen in the foyer of the town hall on the market square.

The 5 x 2 metre, 200-kilogram original candle arch from the Ore Mountains by the craftsman Claus Döhler from Sosa, which has once again adorned one of the festively decorated entrances to the Christmas market since 1993, also pays homage to the Christmas land.

The giant music box, which was reissued on behalf of the town in 2013, was built by Erzgebirgische Holzkunst Gahlenz GmbH in the image of the music box that has been a fixture at the Christmas market since 2002. The scene of "Bescherung in einer Weihnachtsstube" ("Giving presents in a Christmas parlour") rotates on a plate with a diameter of 4.40 metres every half hour to the Christmas tunes of the musical mechanism.

The well-known traditional Erzgebirge figures in the decorated area also include: the 1.90 metre high nutcracker since 2003, the miner and angel (each 1.80 metres high) since 2009 and the snowman (also 1.80 metres high) since 2010, all three also made by Erzgebirgische Holzkunst Gahlenz GmbH.

Christmas tree 2015

The atmospheric and shiny centrepiece of the Christmas market is a 28-metre-high spruce tree, which will be delivered to and erected on the market square by the town hall next Saturday afternoon (14 November) (PM 659 from 6 November 2015). This time, the tree, which is around 80 years old, was found in the Adorf forest district in the Auerbach forest district, Vogtland.

Until the tree arrives, the waiting time can once again be shortened with a pre-Christmas barbecue and mulled wine - another pre-Christmas tradition in Chemnitz. Once the tree has arrived at the market on Saturday afternoon, the pre-Christmas season in Chemnitz has finally begun.

The octagonal round bench, which was created in 2012 by employees of the Parks Department and built from local English oak, is of course once again installed under the Christmas tree.

Twinkling lights

The tree will be adorned with 820 lights - the lighting will begin on Monday, 16 November.

A total of around 15,500 lights will illuminate the Chemnitz Christmas market in festive splendour.

Cultural offerings

There are a total of 264 cultural events in the packed 2015 Christmas market programme. In addition to the Great Mountain Parade on the day before 1 Advent and the 106 carillon concerts (11 a.m., 2 p.m., 4 p.m. and 7 p.m., 2 p.m. with additional Christmas music), there are 135 events on the Neumarkt stage, four tower blowing concerts, 14 carillon concerts and four guided tours of the town hall, as well as numerous activities at the medieval market and in the "Erzgebirgsdorf".

Crafts to see, marvel at and take part in

Visitors can look forward to a total of 58 activities and craft demonstrations in huts and on the Christmas market site. Incidentally, a repair service for Erzgebirge jewellery has once again set up its hut at the Chemnitz Christmas market. Here, owners of ore mountain jewellery in need of help will find expert advice and rescue.

Big mountain parade

One of the impressive highlights of the pre-Christmas period in Chemnitz is the 37th Great Mountain Parade through the city centre on Saturday, 28 November, starting at 2 pm. Once again, over 1,000 participants will present this tradition: 670 people in uniform, 383 mountain musicians and 20 mountain singers will be seen in the always impressive parade, opening the Christmas season in the Ore Mountains. There will be a pre-concert in the Stadthallenpark from 13:30 with the Olbernhau-Grünthal metallurgical band and the choir of the Zwickau Coal Mining Association. As usual, the mining parade will start at 2 pm at the theatre square.

The route leads along Karl-Liebknecht-Straße, Richard-Tauber-Straße, Straße der Nationen and Brückenstraße to the Stadthallenpark. The grand closing ceremony will take place here at 2.30 pm.

(You will receive a separate press release for this).

Days of Erzgebirge folklore

The 37th Days of Erzgebirge Folklore traditionally take place in the Stadthalle on the 1st weekend of Advent under the motto "Advent in the Erzgebirge" - the detailed programme, which includes music, song and dance performances as well as guided tours by Erzgebirge craftspeople and many hands-on activities, is available online at

www.c3-chemnitz.de> Calendar of events.

Advertising and information material

The leaflet published by the City of Chemnitz for the 2015 Christmas Market with a print run of 30,000 copies and the Christmas Citycard with a print run of 27,000 copies are available to take away. The leaflets and cards will be distributed locally in Chemnitz as well as in Leipzig, Dresden and Zwickau. Leaflets were already sent to travel and bus companies throughout Germany, Switzerland and Austria in the summer. In addition, advertisements in national magazines and on 100 City Light posters in Chemnitz draw attention to the Christmas market.

All information about the Chemnitz Christmas Market 2015 at:

www.chemnitz.de/weihnachtsmarkt