What does Strasbourg look like at Christmas?
Strasbourg is a city in Alsace, in eastern France, close to the Rhine. The Ill river splits into silver arms and holds an island of old roofs. In the middle rises a cathedral of pink sandstone with a single tall spire, and all around, half-timbered houses lean over the water with their golden windows.
The Christkindelsmärik, the market of the Christ Child
The first Christ Child market was held here in 1570, which makes it one of the oldest Christmas markets in Europe. In the evening, Place Broglie fills with the wooden huts of the Christkindelsmärik, with warm lights and the smell of cinnamon, butter and orange. The market usually runs from late November to late December.
What do you find at the market?
- Glass baubles and gingerbread hearts.
- Old tin boxes full of little cookies in every shape: stars, hearts, moons and little trees.
- Männele, little brioche men with raisin eyes.
- Hot chocolate for winter evenings.
What can you do at the market?
- Look at the cathedral: built of pink sandstone, it rises 142 meters above the old town.
- Cross a bridge to La Petite France, where crooked lanes and tall half-timbered houses lean over the water.
- Find the Grand Sapin, the giant tree in Place Kléber, full of lights and decorations, which has stood here every winter since 2000.
- Climb onto the terrace of the Vauban Dam (1686), next to the covered bridges, for a wide view.
Two Alsatian Christmas customs
Saint Nicholas and the Männele
On 6 December, children leave their shoes by the door, and in the morning they find chocolate, tangerines and Männele, little brioche men. Many dip them in hot chocolate.
Christkindel and Hans Trapp
Christkindel, dressed all in white, wears a crown of fir with four candles and brings sweets to good children. Beside her walks grumpy Hans Trapp. In the end, everyone laughs.
A taste of Alsace: bredle
During Advent, families in Alsace bake many kinds of little cookies called bredle: butter ones, cinnamon stars, orange ones. They keep them in an old metal tin and share them with the people they love. The recipe for Mira’s butter cookies, to make together with an adult, is in the book.
How do you say “Merry Christmas!” in French?
Joyeux Noël!
Try saying it at dinner on Christmas Eve.
What word did Mira discover here?
In each of the eleven cities of the second journey, Mira finds a special word. The word from Strasbourg is written in her Christmas passport, at the end of chapter 5.
