Dresden Striezelmarkt
The Dresden Striezelmarkt is one of the oldest and most famous Christmas markets in the world. It has been held in Advent since 1434, mostly on the Altmarkt in Dresden ( Saxony , Germany ) and attracts an average of around 2 million visitors every year.
The 585th Striezelmarkt took place from November 27 to December 24, 2019.
For several years now, the Dresden Striezelmarkt has been supplemented by the nearby Christmas markets on Prager Strasse , Hauptstrasse , but not part of the actual market , as well as the neighboring Christmas markets "Advent on the Neumarkt" in front of the Frauenkirche and the medieval Christmas market in the Stallhof .
The name of the Striezelmarkt has been derived from the Dresdner Stollen , which is called Strutzel or Striezel in Middle High German , a yeast pastry in an elongated shape since around 1500 .
There are 230 market stalls on the market, with around 80 percent of the dealers from Saxony.
history
Before 1945
The Dresden Striezelmarkt goes back to a privilege that the Saxon Elector Friedrich II and his brother Duke Sigismund exhibited on October 19, 1434. Originally, it was a one-day meat market where the residents could choose their Christmas roast after the pre-Christmas fasting days. As the market proved its worth, it was retained. Other sales goods were added later. The Christmas bread, also called Striezel or Stollen , gave the market, which takes place on the Monday before Christmas, the name Striezelmontag from 1548 .
For the once-day market, it was not worth building stalls or weather-protected stalls, so simple boards (Strutzel boards) were used as a base for the striezel (Strutzel boards), which the Council of Dresden loaned for a fee. Carts for transport were also lent out as early as 1507.
In the 16th century the increasing demand attracted more and more craftsmen and traders from neighboring towns, from the Ore Mountains , Upper Lusatia and Bohemia . During this time there were first disputes between the local craftsmen, traders and the salespeople who had traveled to Striezelmontag. Complaints about banning the traders who had traveled from the market because they often sold their goods cheaper were addressed to the Council of Dresden as early as 1649. Initially without success, because it was still common practice to keep strangers for sale on Striezelmontag. In addition, numerous jugglers , barkers and song singers could be found on the market , as well as miracle doctors , dental artists and break masters . The comedy game was added later. From 1704 the presence of "foreign traders" on the Striezelmarkt was restricted by an electoral decision.
In 1706 the holding of the Striezelmarkt was uncertain for a long time, because even after the peace treaty with Sweden King Karl XII. , whose troops were still in large numbers in the country. From 1710 the market duration was extended to three days, later to eight days and the range was significantly expanded. With the decree of September 5, 1721, foreign traders were then also to be allowed to hold for sale on Striezel Monday "two days in a row and therefore to dispose of what was necessary". The Dresden Striezelmarkt was soon one of the most important German Christmas markets , alongside the Nuremberg Christkindlesmarkt and the Frankfurt Christkindchesmarkt .
In addition to pottery, from the second half of the 18th century toy unloading with turned and carved “dolls” dominated the market. Especially the Ore Mountains “box people” dominated the business, much to the annoyance of the Dresden wood turner guild . The Dresden potters also often complained about the competition from other Saxon cities. In 1727 the potters who had traveled were only allowed one basket with goods for sale. Since the traders came to Dresden with larger baskets, a market master checked their size from 1728 onwards. There could not be more goods in the basket than could be carried in one basket. At that time, the entire inventory that was found by controls during forbidden peddling was basically taken away . That did not end the argument. In 1767, for example, the potters from Meissen were ousted from the Striezelmarkt.
From 1787 the dealers could have a fixed, i. H. Acquire non-transferable and lifelong position for 16 groschen at the city authorities by submitting them. In 1811 there were a total of 271 permanently registered places on the Dresden Striezelmarkt. From 1791 onwards, any trader who had not come to Dresden for the last three markets was forbidden to visit the Striezelmarkt. The small trade in the market and in the surrounding streets was mainly done by children around 1800. They enriched the Striezelmarkt with handmade paper lanterns , dolls , plum slippers and other Christmas items. According to the ordinance of November 28, 1850, children were allowed to trade for the last 14 days before Christmas.
The Friedrichstadt bakers ( Dresden-Friedrichstadt ) played a special role, as they were previously prohibited from selling on the Striezelmarkt. Although they formed a guild since 1765, they were considered foreigners and were not tolerated with their stalls. From 1791 onwards, all traders from the city of Dresden and its suburbs were considered to have equal rights. The market regulations were strictly monitored by the members of the trade guild. If a trader was caught selling prematurely, he had to pay a fine of 10 thalers. The market regulations valid for the year were published in the Dresdner Anzeiger from 1864 onwards . From 1879, the owners of Christmas market stalls were only allowed to sell their relatives or people who were in their personal service or who lived in the city of Dresden. Violation could result in the stand being closed and a fine of up to 60 marks.
From the second half of the 19th century, the Dresden Striezelmarkt did not take place continuously on the Altmarkt. The location changed and was often held in the Neustadt am Goldenen Reiter and on the main street.
The Dresden Striezelmarkt had several prominent visitors. On the evening of December 22nd, 1852, Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria was led across the Striezelmarkt by the royal family. Some members of the royal family regularly visited the Striezelmarkt.
1945 to 1989
The traditional Dresden Striezelmarkt had to evade for a few years after the destruction of the city center and its squares. He had to move to the Dresden city hall on Nordplatz. In 1945 there was a Christmas fair in the Goehle factory on Riesaer Strasse, then until 1954 a “Striezelmarkt with Christmas fair” took place in the town hall. On the ground floor of the hall, sales booths were set up according to old custom and the Sonneberg Toy Museum (Thuringia) exhibited some exhibits on the upper floor . In addition, self-made toys were displayed by the students. On the second floor there was usually a model railway system to be admired. Christmas fair and Striezelmarkt took place simultaneously in the GDR for many years. During the Christmas masses, a carillon made of Meissen porcelain with six bells rang out, which was built into a Christmas backdrop. Under the motto "Let peace bells ring over Germany" they rang out several times a day. From 1954 the porcelain carillon was built into a pyramid on the Dresden Striezelmarkt and could be experienced until 1989. The whereabouts of the bells are unknown. In 1967 there were already 87 stalls at the Striezelmarkt around the Altmarkt. The Striezelmarkt was opened at this time with the cutting of a two-meter long tunnel.
Between 1954 and 1976, Dresden's Striezelmarkt often changed its location: Theaterplatz , Altmarkt, Webergasse , Wallstrasse , Gewandhausstrasse, Weisse Gasse and Kreuzstrasse. For a few years, the Striezelmarkt then moved to the exhibition halls at the time on Dresden's Fučíkplatz (since 1991: Straßburger Platz ), but returned to the Altmarkt in 1977.
In 1973 more than 270,000 visitors were counted on December 9th. A huge Advent calendar was usually a magnet for visitors. Further characteristics at that time were a snow man , a mountain man and a smoker, as well as a plum slipper seven meters high. There was a close connection between the Striezelmarkt and the Kreuzkirche on the Altmarkt. a. through the events "Advent music for the Striezelmarkt" with organ concerts and the Dresden Kreuzchor in the Kreuzkirche.
There was often a special post office with a special postmark from the GDR Deutsche Post at Dresden's Striezelmarkt, which collectors and visitors liked to use for their Christmas mail . There is a regular Deutsche Post special post office on the market, and it has been operated by PostModern since 2016 . The GDR travel agency offered special trips by bus and train to the Dresden Striezelmarkt.
Since 1990
In 1994 the 1st Dresden Stollen Festival was celebrated on the Striezelmarkt . In 1997 he received a new pyramid .
In 2007 the Striezelmarkt took place once on Ferdinandplatz due to the renovation of the old market. In 2009 the market was redesigned. He received an entrance gate in the form of a walkable Erzgebirge candle arch . In addition, the fairytale castle in the center of the market was replaced by a smaller, initially decentralized stage; other attractions of the former castle such as the puppet theater and the advent calendar have also been outsourced.
In 2017, 160 concrete bollards ( Nice barriers ) were erected for the first time to protect against attacks .
particularities
General
The Striezelmarkt begins on Wednesday (2014 to 2016 on Thursday) before the first Advent at 3 p.m. with an ecumenical service in the neighboring Kreuzkirche , which the Dresdner Kreuzchor and the Dresdner Kapellknaben perform musically. The Striezelmarkt will then be opened on the Altmarkt with a ceremony by the Lord Mayor at 4 p.m. A Christmas stollen is cut, the length of which corresponds to the current year in mm.
Among other things, wood carving from the Erzgebirge is offered at the market ( Erzgebirge folk art ). Similarly Pulsnitzer gingerbread , Stollen and Pflaumentoffel offered. The latter are small males made from prunes, which were first mentioned in 1801. The lucky charm is modeled on the little chimney sweep boy, often only seven years old, with a cape and ladder, who climbed into the chimneys with their brooms to clean them from the inside.
Striezeltaler are offered for sale as “currency”, 11 thalers for 10 euros.
The highlight of the market is the Dresden Stollen Festival on the Saturday before the 2nd Advent , for which a giant stollen is baked. This is then cut in a ceremony on the Dresden Striezelmarkt. The proceeds go to a good cause.
There is also the Advent Calendar Festival, the Gingerbread Festival, the Plum Cake Festival, the Pyramid Festival, the Schwibbogen Festival and the Day of the Kreuzkirche. Every day, Santa Claus opens a door in the Advent calendar for the children, behind which there are pictures. On a Friday there is a long Striezelnacht with an extended opening time until 10 p.m.
construction
The world's largest step pyramid in the Ore Mountains has stood in the middle of the square since 1997 at a height of 14.62 meters . It was included in the Guinness Book of Records in 1999 . The figures are made of Saxon woods such as beech, maple and ash and are up to 1.80 meters tall. The cost of the pyramid was 250,000 Deutschmarks.
The gateway to Dresden's Striezelmarkt has been the largest accessible arch in the Ore Mountains since 2009 . It is 13.03 meters wide and 5.85 meters high. Until 2008, a large central element of the market was a fairytale castle, which included a stage with an advent calendar, the puppet theater, a fairytale forest and the Santa Claus workshop. For the redesign of the market in 2009, the fairytale castle was no longer built, instead an initially provisional stage was built decentrally on one side of the market, this has been designed since 2010 and has been in the middle of the market since then. Puppet theater and advent calendar were also set up decentrally on and in new houses. In addition, there has been an elf cinema, a handicraft workshop, a bakery and a fairy tale house for children in individual houses since 2009. Since then, on the north side of the market, on Wilsdruffer Strasse, there has been a large house with a demonstration workshop and a tourist information office.
A large Erzgebirge Christmas crib has been under the Christmas tree since 2014.
After the Christmas tree caused a lot of criticism from visitors in 2012, the residents of Dresden have since then been allowed to vote on the Christmas tree after a selection of three applicants by a jury. In 2016, the first of the two trees not elected in 2015 was taken without a vote. In 2017 the other tree not chosen in 2015 should be erected; Since the growth no longer fit, Sachsenforst offered another tree, which was then set up. The spruce came from the Tharandt forest. In 2018 a coastal fir from Pirna was erected. An election was planned, but in the preview the other nine preselected trees did not meet the criteria, especially the height at which the applicants misjudged themselves. In 2019, a 25 meter high spruce from the Bärenfels state forest will be erected.
Others
The continuous counting of the Striezelmarkt, which has been held regularly in Advent since 1434, on the Altmarkt in Dresden, means that one year is missing. However, it is not known exactly what it was. The Striezelmarkt did not take place during the Thirty Years 'War , the Seven Years' War and during the two world wars .
The Dresden painter Julius Otto Fritzsche depicted the Striezelmarkt in the painting Der Dresdner Striezelmarkt on the Golden Rider in the Neustadt in 1910.
To protect the visitors and employees of the Christmas market, the state capital Dresden implemented extensive security measures to prevent terrorist attacks by cars and trucks in 2018.
literature
- A. Hantzsch, History of the Dresden Christmas Market , messages from the Society for the History of Dresden, Eighth Booklet, 1888.
- Heidrun Wozel: The Dresden Striezelmarkt. History and tradition of the oldest German Christmas market. Husum Verlag, Husum 2009, ISBN 978-3-89876-455-1 .
- Monika Grützner: The Dresden Striezelmarkt - Impressions. (Photographic impressions, taken by experienced hobby photographers from the EXAKTA Dresden photo club), Verlag edition nordwest, Dresden 2010, ISBN 978-3-9813657-2-6 .
Web links
- Official website , state capital Dresden
- Striezelmarkt , state capital Dresden
- Striezelmarkt with webcam , Striezelmarkt information with events, attractions and highlights as well as a live webcam
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c H. Wozel: The Dresden Striezelmarkt. History and tradition of the oldest German Christmas market . Husum Verlag, Husum 2009, pp. 7-10.
- ↑ a b c A. Hantzsch, "History of the Dresdner Christmarkt", communications from the Association for the History of Dresden, Eighth Booklet, 1888
- ↑ Neue Zeit of December 7, 1950, Berliner Zeitung of November 25, 1967, Neues Deutschland of December 1, 1969, Neues Deutschland of December 1, 1973, Neue Zeit of December 19, 1987.
- ↑ Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk : Dresden's Striezelmarkt receives concrete barriers - accessed on November 16, 2017
- ↑ R. Hanusch: Sächsische Pflaumentoffel: Black, sticky and sugar-sweet . Husum Dr.- und Verl.-Ges., Husum 2011.
- ↑ Sarah Grundmann: Tradition in XXL format . In: Saxon newspaper . December 14, 2015.
Coordinates: 51 ° 2 ′ 58.7 " N , 13 ° 44 ′ 16.7" E