2016 Christmas Market Tour: Glauchau (Saxony)

While traveling around in Germany at Christmas time, there are two key rules to keep in mind:

1. Take the best train offer that will get you around in a German state for a full day and
2. If you miss a connection or the trains are not going, put some time aside in a town you’re stranded in and take a look around.

Especially for Christmas markets in a small town like Glauchau (Saxony), by taking the second option, most times you will be in for a pleasant surprise. 🙂

Located just outside the Erzgebirge Region in western Saxony, Glauchau belongs to the Aue Region, where not only are there towns with the suffix ending of “-au” but their origin means island surrounded by river or wetlands. Other nearby towns belonging to this region include Werdau, Crimmitschau, Aue and neighboring Zwickau, but also other towns, like Meerane, Gössnitz, Mosel and Neukirchen, all of which are situated along rivers and in wetlands surrounding bodies of water. In Glauchau’s case, the city of 24,000 residents is located on the Zwickauer Mulde River, which is divided into one going through the city and a diversion bypassing the city to the west. In addition, the river feeds off a Lake (Gründelsee) near the castle, and the Glauchau Reservoir which is in the outskirts on the south end.

Glauchau’s topography is unique for even though much of the predominantly agricultural community straddles the Mulde River and is located in the valley, much of its commerce and key historic places are on the hill in the highest elevation on the east side of the valley. Much of that has to do with the founding of the city in the Middle Ages, where two sets of castles were built on the hill overlooking the river and regions to the south, and the only ways into the city was through the walled gates and several key bridges spanning deep valleys from the north end as well as one bridge on the south end. A guide on the city’s bridges can be found here.  The north entrance from the train station still exists today as Leipziger Strasse and after crossing three valley crossings, one will enter the shopping scene, as shown in the picture above.  With a half hour of free time before my next train, I decided to have a look at the city’s Christmas market to see what it has to offer.

To start off with the market, Glauchau has its market during the first or second Advent only. The reason behind it is not because of the town’s population but also competing schedules involving markets in other neighboring communities, like Waldenburg, Hohenstein-Ernstthal, Werdau and Crimmitschau. It is also sandwiched between two bigger cities, whose Christmas markets attract a larger crowd and are held during the holiday season: Chemnitz and Zwickau.  Also behind the reason is the shopping one will find in the “Shopping Mile”, a pedestrian plaza along Leipziger Strasse, which used to be a thoroughfare for cars until a couple years ago. Many small shops selling clothing, food and other supplies can be found there as one walks toward the first part of the Christmas market, which is…..

The Market Square:

Unlike other Christmas markets seen so far on tour, Glauchau’s market square is not the main attraction during the holiday season. The reason behind this is that this year was the first year the Christmas market expanded to include the market square, given the increase in visitors to Glauchau and the need for space so that other merchants can sell their local goods. This was based on a referendum that was taken after the 2015 market, which received an overwhelming yes for the market. In its first year at the market the number of stands that encircle the large Christmas tree is about 10, but given the size of the market square and a stage for performances, it is not surprising that the need to limit the booths at this place was needed to accommodate the crowd during the weekend of the market. However, sometimes it is OK to have booths along the Shopping Mile and the corridor connecting the market square and the next attraction at the market, which is the church. It was seen at some markets including Flensburg, where rows of huts connected the city’s two markets along Roter Strasse.

St. Georgenkirche:

Going past the city hall overlooking the market square we have the St. Georgenkirche (St. George Evangelical Lutheran Church) on the left side. This tall structure was built in 1728 replacing an earlier church that was destroyed in a fire. It underwent extensive renovations to return it to its original form beginning in 1988, which included the restoration of the building, pipe organ, pews, mural of the Madonna and lastly in 2002, the church bells. The white and gold color of the interior coincide with the white color of the outer siding of the building. But in this church there was a display of Räuchermänner, located along the wall on the right-hand side as one enters the church. Over six dozen different incense smokers, resembling miners, stoves, hunters, and even forest creatures were found encased in glass. There were many that were made by hand and over 80 years old. Others came from the East German times, although Christmas was not celebrated much at all because of the suppression of Christianity by the Communist regime. In fact, Räuchermänner were rare to find in any household during the age of the Cold War and if they exist, they were considered as sacred as Bible itself. Furthermore, information revealed that Räuchermänner were still being made during that time, but were either sold at Intershops or exported to West Germany- a real torture for the East German who prided itself on Christmas products made in the east. One could really sense elation and euphoria once the Wall fell and Germany was reunited because of such tactics like that- all for the purpose of being loyal to Socialism (Hilfe!!!).

Originally I had taken a few pics of the Räuchermänner on display until I was confronted by the church asking if I was working for a professional media outlet. When I mentioned I was an independent columnist doing a tour of the Christmas market, I was told not to post them on my page due to potential copyright issues. I learned that I had to register at the city office days in advance. So much for being a passer-by writer. As I could not post the pics, I hope you can imagine what the display looked like, otherwise the most practical alternative is to see the display itself to get some impressions of your own.

But the church did have a neat manger set with live animals and a few booths selling church-related items for both the church-goer and those interested in Christ or other religions, which best fit the scene with the church in the background. But as a small population goes to a church in Germany, the guess is that a quarter of the people stopped there, while the rest made their way to their final destination, which was…….

Museumsschloss (Glauchau Castle Complex):  

Leaving the church ground and going 300 meters west, one will cross a bridge spanning a moat and enter the castle. Consisting of the Fordere and Hintere Schlösser (the western and eastern halves of the castle), the castle complex has been the centerpiece for the Christmas market in Glauchau, having hosted the event since German reunification. All of the eateries and local goods, combined with some Medieval-style entertainment and some amusement can be found in the courtyard. Unlike before the new format, most of the shops and huts were located inside and surrounding the castle. Yet since having expanded the market to include the market square, the castle has much more space, and people can better enjoy food and entertainment without having to fight for a little space, especially at night when the visitors are at their peak and as the temperatures go below zero.

Apart from some ceramics, home-grown honey and local spiced wine, I had an opportunity to try Martin Luther liquor from a distillery located in Lutherstadt-Wittenberg in Saxony-Anhalt. Martin Luther was an avid beer drinker, and even his wife Catherine craft a homemade beer for him as he was spreading the 95 Theses throughout the church. The timing of the liquor was perfect as next year will be the 500th anniversary of his work that formed the Lutheran Church. As each of the liquors tasted hearty and sweet at the same time- be it herb or with fruit, then the distillery will hit a grand slam in sales, as hundreds of thousands of people convene on Germany to pay homage to the monk who ran amonk for the good of the people who refuse to be sent to purgatories without indulgences.

Apart from an antique carousel, picnic area and even an ice skating rink outside the castle, the Castle Complex is the main stage for the Christmas market, although because of its increasing size and number of tourists in the region, it is more likely that the market will shift more towards the market square in the next couple of years and even expand further in the future. However, from a columnist’s point of view, in order to avoid having a tsunami rush of people for one weekend, it would make sense to have the market like in Chemnitz and Zwickau- that is for the whole month. Even if the city decided for the market on the weekends during Advent and even Christmas, it would encourage people to plan ahead and choose when to visit Glauchau and when to visit the markets elsewhere. Combine that with a corridor of huts connecting the main areas like in Flensburg, which means huts along the street connecting the Castle Complex, The Church and the Market Square, plus some along the Shopping Mile, the city will have a win-win situation as it will be able to better accommodate tourists, bring in more income and make it more attractive than it is right now. Glauchau’s Christmas market is nice small market that is worth every minute of my thirty-minute tour this time around. However, sometimes more can be done to make it better for the future.

And as I board the train for my nex destination, I leave Glauchau with some impressions of a small agricultural city, priding on religion and culture, but with a potential to become more attractive in the future than it is now. And if you disagree with that, especially when you look at the photo gallery on the Flensburg Files’ facebook page (click here), as well as those taken by the Glauchau City facebook page (click here), then maybe the town is worth your day’s visit so that you can see the impressions yourself. 😉

The Mulde consists of the Zwickauer Mulde, which flows through Glauchau and the Freiberger Mulde, which is east of Chemnitz. They make a confluence near Grimma and flow northwesterly to Dessau-Rosslau, where it empties into the Elbe River. The river, together with the Pleisse, which flows through Werdau and Crimmitschau, have had a history with flooding the flat plains in the valley, which makes the suffix Aue unique. In Glauchau’s case, a diversion canal was constructed after the flood of 1954 to keep the flow of water away from the city.

The German Railways (a.k.a. Deutsche Bahn) has a ticket available where you can travel throughout the state for one day. In this case, we have the Sachsenticket. For 23 Euros, you can travel around to as many destinations as you please between 9:00 am and 3:00 am the following day. It is valid for all regional trains as well as local tram and bus services. When travelling in Germany next time and you wish to travel cheaply, look at state ticket options.