OF MIFFLINBURG PA
The Origins of the Christmas Market
The earliest Christmas markets in Germany date back to at least 1434.
A few weeks before Christmas, local craftsmen and food vendors sold their
holiday products from stalls set up in the square surrounding the town church.
The markets went by various names until the 1600s when the term Christkindlmarkt, or Christ Child market, was adopted.
Mifflinburg's version of this 700-year old German tradition was partially inspired by the proximity of several churches on Market Street. The churches serve as venues for various Christmas programs, providing a haven of warmth to visitors. For three days each year, Market Street is lined with outdoor craft and food vendors, where visitors experience the festive atmosphere of an authentic German Christkindl Market. Founded in in 1989, the Christkindl Market of Mifflinburg is the oldest, authentic outdoor Christmad market in the United States.
Visitors can enjoy music and German food while browsing displays of a wide variety of hand-crafted products. Visit our Christkindl Gift Shop which features Nutcrackers, Christmas Pyramids, Smokers, and Candle Arches, all imported from Germany. Just in time for holiday shopping, the free admission event (donations are always welcome to help with future markets) begin on the 2nd Tuesday of December and runs through Saturday. Check our website and Facebook page for a program of scheduled performances throughout the event.
The Christkind (Christ Child)
In parts of Austria, Germany, and several other central European countries, the traditional bringer of Christmas gifts each year is the Christkindl or Christ Child. The tradition of the Christkindl as a gift bringer has its roots in the Protestant Reformation when Martin Luther, in an attempt to discourage the veneration of Saint Nicholas, promoted the idea of the Christ Child bringing gifts to the children each year.
These changes created some regional differences in the celebration of Christmas within German-speaking countries, which is why many traditions today vary and sometimes overlap. These regional differences are also the reason that many Christmas markets in Germany or Austria are called Weihnachtsmarkt, Christkindlesmarkt, or Christkindlmarkt. In the end, however, each regional version is simply a Christmas Market.
Heritage of the Erzgebirge Mountains
Many traditional parts of a Christkindl Market come from the Erzgebirge Mountains (Ore Mountains) of Saxony in eastern Germany. During the 17th century this prosperous mining area was depleted of its natural resources and the miners had to develop another method of earning a livelihood.
The miners transitioned their avocation of carving wooden figures during festive occasions into an artisan industry that still exists today. The Christmas pyramid, nutcrackers, smokers, angels, candle arches, and other holiday figures remain dominant exports from this region. Many of these decorations have become so ingrained in tradition that no genuine Christkindlmarkt would be complete without them. The Mifflinburg Christkindl Market is no exception to that fact and features many Old World traditions rarely seen outside of Germany and Austria.
Take a moment to scroll through some of these traditions below, click to read more.
