Not far from the heavily visited Christmas market at Alexanderplatz is the Entertainment market at Janowitzbrücke. Located on the north side of the tracks, some 300 meters away, this Christmas market provides all the fun for children who may be bored from visiting hut after hut looking for the right gift, or would rather warm up to some action instead of drinking non-alcoholic Glühwein. The market resembles an amusement park that is somewhat crammed when looking at it from a bird’s eye perspective- in this case, from the TV-Tower at Alexanderplatz. Yet looks can be deceiving and and one can bet that it is much bigger when there in person. From an author’s point of view, it is comparable to an amusement park in Iowa, located a few miles south from where I grew up in southwestern Minnesota, namely Arnold’s Park Amusement Park. Like the oldest historic landmark west of the Mississippi River, this park features a Ferris Wheel that is one of the largest in Mitte, a roller coaster that is taller than the one in Iowa, but definitely smaller, bumper cars, several carousels, and other rides to provide the kids with the ooohs and ahhs, the screams and jubilations, as well as the wildness and excitement that is worth remembering.
While located near residential areas with its typical GDR high-rise appearance, the market here is logistically located along the corridor that connects Alexanderplatz and the train station Ostbahnhof- one of five long-distance train stations serving Berlin. There, people can shop at various small shops and market huts along one side of the track, and do the rides on the other side, without having to travel by light rail from one end of the center to the other. In fact, even by foot, one can walk from Alexanderplatz to Ostbahnhof and see the sights without using public transport- this is speaking from experience as it took only 20 minutes to do that. It serves as a bit of relief for the overfilled market at Alexanderplatz and the one at City Hall in a way that each market is designated for certain purposes. For the one at Janowitzbrücke, it was meant for fun and rides. Through this form of segregation, it not only controls the crowd, but it protects businesses profiting from this holiday season from getting trampled by the crowd, especially when some have a little too much to drink.
While we didn’t see the place in version- we were on our way to the Holy Shit! Market at Ostbahnhof, which unfortunately was closed when we got there, a bird’s eye view of the market at Janowitzbrücke provides a great insight at what one could expect when seeing it in person: fun, rides and games. And thanks to our trip up the TV-Tower, it brought back fond memories of the amusement park that I grew up with. In either case, an amusement park between the market that provides everything and the market that provides shopping is what people need to take a break from shopping and drinking, and have some fun in the process. 🙂
FAST FACTS:
1. There is the real Janowitzbrücke located 400 meters from the market- a combination of light-rail stop between Alexanderplatz and Ostbahnhof, a dike and dam that is travelled on by the rail lines and a bridge that was built in the 1940s replacing an 1890s through arch bridge that was destroyed in World War II.
2. Apart from Ostbahnhof, the other four long-distance railway stations include Central (Hauptbahnhof), Südkreuz, Gesundbrunnen (in the north of Berlin) and Spandau (in the former West Berlin). Since 2006, Ostbahnhof and Spandau serve East-West Traffic, whereas Südkreuz and Gesundbrunnen serve North-South Traffic. Hauptbahnhof , located at Europaplatz west of the German parliamentary complex, is the central meeting point.
3. The Holy Shit! Market, located at Ostbahnhof, featured extravagant shopping deals giving the shopper an incentive to buy a lot and pay less. Because of the competition from the markets and stores at Alexanderplatz, this is held for one weekend only.
4. The Arnold’s Park Amusement Park is located on the southern end of West Lake Okoboji. It was originally built in 1889 and was renovated in 1988. Apart from the Ferris Wheel, it features the Classic Roller Coaster, built in 1927 and is one of 13 wooden roller coasters left in the country.
THE FLENSBURG FILES 
