Explore europe’s holiday traditions and christmas markets

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AmaWaterways

Explore Europe’s Holiday

Traditions and Christmas Markets

• All Europe sparkles during the holiday season, as most countries

celebrate for weeks with brilliant decorations, timeless traditional

events, and the famous Christmas markets.

• A river cruise follows the ancient waterways that connect Europe’s

cities and countries. Returning to the slow, gentle pace of travel

leaves more energy to explore city centers for holiday fun.

• The river links traditions of multiple countries on one unforgettable

trip. Savor the tastes and sights of the holidays, and find the roots of

your own holiday memories.

Celebrate the Holidays Across Europe

• Visitors can enjoy today’s popular, non-religious aspects along with the original, religious

meanings.

• Christmas Day celebrates the birth of the Christ Child (Germany’s Christmas fairs are

called Christkindlesmarkt—literally “Christ Child Market”), so the focus is on children—

creating warm, magical memories and indulging the childlike wonder in all of us.

• Christmas markets across Europe are filled with strolling carolers and rows of brightly

decorated stalls selling traditional foods and gifts reserved for this special time of year.

Ancient Holiday Traditions Survive and Change

• Throughout the month-long season, thousands of Christmas Markets open across

Europe, with the oldest and largest found in key cities all along the riverways.

Germany’s oldest recorded market dates to 1393.

• Follow the scent of grilled sausages, freshly baked cookies and spicy gingerbread

mingling in the crisp winter air as you stroll among hundreds of stalls.

• Listen for the crackle and pop of roasted chestnuts, and enjoy an old-time treat in a

paper cone that keeps your hands warm as you walk.

• The visual feast is no less rewarding with layers of sparkling lights reflected in a fresh

dusting of snow. Stalls are filled with colorful hand-carved toys, dolls, nutcrackers,

and ornaments.

Europe’s Magical Christmas Markets

• Everywhere there are small symbols of holiday joy to decorate your tree,

table, or mantel. Nativity scenes, or crèches, represent the tableau of Mary

and Joseph with the Christ child in a manger.

• Crèches were popularized by St. Francis of Assisi’s display in 1223, building

a live scene complete with animals. Different regions adapt local materials,

like terra cotta figures in France.

• In Naples, Italy, crèches (or presepi) became elaborate scenes displaying

richly dressed characters, intended for grand homes of wealthy aristocrats.

Away in a Manger – Nativity Scenes

• Christmas trees grew out of 16th century Germany, when Catholic religious

images were banned.

• German settlers in Pennsylvania brought the Christmas tree to the New

World in the early 19th century.

• When Queen Victoria’s family embraced the tradition, English and American

families adopted it at home, with decorations and gifts under the tree.

Our Favorite Christmas Traditions

• Advent calendars count down the days leading up to Christmas. Each day is

represented by one tiny door for children to open. Behind it is a poem, image, small toy,

or a chocolate.

• First formally printed in Germany in 1908, the tradition spread throughout Europe and

was transported to America by immigrants.

• Today, it celebrates the excitement children feel as Christmas approaches. Glittering

calendars of all sizes are abundant in Europe’s Christmas markets and shops

throughout the season.

The Advent Calendar

• The Epiphany, January 6, celebrates the arrival of the gift-bearing Three Wise Men to

honor the Christ child in the manger. It is a familiar gift-giving day across Europe for the

last celebration of the Christmas season.

• Gifts for good children in Germany arrive with St. Nicholas—or St. Klaus—on his saint’s

day, December 6. More gifts arrive around the Christmas tree on December 25, and

even more on the Epiphany.

• In Italy, La Befana, a good witch, visits homes on her broom, bringing small treats and

toys for children. Her title comes from the Italian name for Epiphany, Befana.

Holiday Gift-giving

• Beginning with joyful church celebrations in honor of the Christ child’s birth,

Christmas carols have migrated across the many cultures of Europe and on

to the New World.

• Once again, German traditions dominate our current favorites in popular

carols such as:

– "Away in a Manger," using the words of Martin Luther,

– “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing," based on a Felix Mendelssohn melody, and

– “Silent Night,” composed in an Austrian village near Salzburg in 1818 by organist

Franz Gruber.

The Sounds of Holiday Music

Christmas in Europe is all about food, from treats on-the-go to elaborate feasts.

Each country or region has favorites, some dating back hundreds of years.

Look for these in your holiday travels:

• Germany – Gingerbread houses, first recorded in the Grimm Brothers’ fairy

tale of Hansel and Gretel, were perhaps inspired by the gingerbread bakers

trade guild founded in Nuremberg in 1643.

• France – bûche de Noël, or yule log, a decadently rich sponge cake,

covered with chocolate cream, shaped like the yule log, and dusted with

powdered sugar for snow.

• Christmas cookies – every village has its recipes, folding in local ingredients

and special delicacies. Sample them wherever you go, with a rich, dark cup

of hot cocoa or coffee.

Europe’s Favorite Holiday Treats

• Nuremberg, Germany – Christkindlesmarkt, where close to 200 wood stalls draped in red

and white are bursting with sweets, angels, candles, and handcrafted ornaments.

• Budapest, Hungary – Christmas Market on Vorosmarty Square, the oldest and largest of

Budapest’s multiple markets, each with a mix of treats from mulled wine and sausages, to

baked delicacies and handmade ornaments.

• Strasbourg, France – After 442 years, the Marchés de Noël has become a must-visit. The

largest and best known in France, it celebrates Alsatian traditions with choirs of carolers,

ornaments, and handcrafted toys in 300 “chalets” over 11 sites.

Christmas Market River Cruising

AmaWaterways is an award-winning river cruise operator, providing all-inclusive excursions that open cultural doors along the great waterways of

Europe, Russia, Vietnam, and Cambodia. Their rapidly growing fleet of custom-designed ships leads travelers to life-changing, restorative

experiences that always exceed expectations.

For more information, please visit www.AmaWaterways.com

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