Christmas markets and mulled wine: Discover the festive magic of Dresden

DRESDEN is a special one when it comes to Christmas markets.

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The Striezelmarkt is currently celebrating its 580th anniversary

The home of Germany’s oldest, dating back to 1434, there are several more, each with its individual character, in a city centre now spectacularly restored to its former Renaissance and Baroque glory. 

Stollen, the German Christmas cake with a popular international following, was also invented here, making it a perfect place for a sparkling winter break and for those in search of gifts and good cheer. 

WITH a feast of Christmas markets, flowing with mulled wine and traditional handicrafts, Dresden’s festive spirit has been shining bright since medieval times.

Restoration of the historic German city and capital of Saxony to its status as one of the world’s legendary architectural beauties is well advanced, following the devastation and decay wreaked by second World War Allied bombing and 40 years of Communist iron rule.

That momentous history and its indelible footprint are the sober backdrop to any visit to Dresden, a place whose transformation sends out a potent symbol of hope at all times of the year, but one that seems especially right at Christmas.

Even if you can only spare a day or two, you are certain not to regret taking the 90-minute flight from the UK, bagging some rocking stocking-fillers and instantly feeling more festive than you could have ever thought possible.

Known as “city of short ways” (kurze wege) for its compact configuration, Swissotel Dresden Am Schloss is the heart of the city’s decorative old town, and just a step away from its famous Royal Palace, Semper Opera as well as the markets, so you can shop, sight-see, knock back  a mulled wine (gluhwein) or two, before dropping your bags and know you will still have plenty of puff left to do it all over again.

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Stollen master Tino Gierig

From many of Swissotel’s 235 spacious rooms and roof terrace you can glimpse the city’s serene skyline of towers and domes and among its five-star comforts is a menu of different pillows for guests to choose from

The hotel’s design, with a chic, contemporary interior and harmonious historical façade, as well as its location, surrounded by late Baroque buildings, is a typical example of the city’s tasteful and dignified resurrection.  

From many of Swissotel’s 235 spacious rooms and roof terrace you can glimpse the city’s serene skyline of towers and domes and among its five-star comforts is a menu of different pillows for guests to choose from.

A 15th century stone cellar, testimony to the site’s medieval origins, houses a well-equipped fitness centre and the Swiss Alpine-inspired Purovel spa, both well worth noting as the hotel lays on an inviting breakfast with an array of homemade breads, berry jams and fresh juice cocktails.

Turn left outside down a cobbled street and here you will find cake and crafts reign supreme in the biggest and oldest of Dresden’s outdoor Christmas markets.

The Striezelmarkt, currently celebrating its 580th anniversary, takes its name from a dry confection that subsequently broke free of religious restrictions to become today’s rich, raisin-studded, rum-infused stollen.

Having won a permanent place in the city’s affections, the sugar-coated Christstollen, said to evoke the baby Jesus in swaddling clothes, is now a centrepiece of Striezelmarkt’s Advent celebrations in the Altmarkt square, along with the world’s biggest nutcracker and a 45-ft high Christmas pyramid, depicting not just rich and powerful figures from Saxony’s history, but folk heroes like miners and bakers.

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The Swissotel Dresden Advantage Room

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Drinks on roof terrace at Swissotel Dresden

Visitors wandering among the 250 stalls will discover delicate wooden decorations, first invented hundreds of years ago by unemployed miners who turned their skills to carving when the ore ran out.

Alongside are hand-made toys, ceramic bells and cherubs, crystal glass ornaments and necklaces, candles, filigree lace, and glowing Moravian advent star lights as well as local specialities like the smoking man incense holders and Pflaumentoffels, small chimney sweep figures made of dried plums.

One pitstop for a warming gluhwein (‘glow’wine) or Eierpunsch (eggnog) quickly leads  to another, especially when there’s a hint of snow in the air.

As advised, I headed for the stalls surrounded by the biggest crowds of locals, but decided to pass on the seasonal Feuerzangenbowle (fire tongs punch), a rum-soaked flaming sugar lump dripped into mug of mulled wine.

Traditional red mulled wine had its drawbacks too I realised when some enthusiastic toasting left my coat with some large rosy stains, permanent reminders of the revels. 

But it was all to the good as that persuaded me to try white gluhwein, not as I feared a mug of peculiar hot Chardonnay, but an aromatic, citrusy tipple and most definitely recommended.

My own stollen cookery class took place at the Dresdner Backhaus, an artisan family bakery, run by Elisabeth Kreutzkamm-Aumueller, and the bearer of the city’s coveted stollen quality kitemark.

Sixty tonnes of its spicy loaves, in flavours from the traditional fruity to almond and poppy seed, are sold to customers throughout the world during the festive season.

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Dresdner Backhaus ChristStollen and Raphael's Sistine Madonna cherubs

The one I was kneading was a ‘whispering’ stollen, meaning the raisins were densely packed side-by-side. Yet had the fruits been more sparsely spread I would have been labouring over a ‘crying’ one I was told, which did not seem half as appealing. 

Mounds of marzipan, bitter almonds and candied peel had all gone into my mix, but what ingredients were in the saucer of pungent golden paste that I had also poured in, I wondered?

Master baker Tino Gierig, who had previously exuded a Paul Hollywood-esque charm when helping me nip and tuck my roll of dough, suddenly turned tight-lipped.

That was the bakery’s generations-old unique recipe, he explained, the key to its unique stollen flavour and a secret as closely guarded as that of Coca-Cola’s.

Night was falling as I returned to the city centre, a perfect time to visit a beguiling medieval market in the Stallhof (stables) courtyard of the Royal Palace.

As haunting early music melodies drifted over stalls gently lit by fragrant beeswax candles, I watched moonbeams dance on a Christmas tree fashioned from bronze metal, blacksmiths stoke glowing fires, and artisans in flowing cloaks sell felt slippers and shiny stone earrings or offer cups of honey wine.

Down-to-earth, wholesome fare in the shape of mustard-drenched sausages and thick gingerbread slices are staples of Dresden’s markets, but the city has also become go-to place in recent years for inventive modern cuisine.

For my supper I chose the stylish Art Nouveau William restaurant, part of a group belonging to Michelin-starred chef Stefan Hermann, where from a menu featuring central European classics such as beetroot soup, I went for a light egg, truffle and spinach dish accompanied by sparkling and crisp white local wines, followed by another Dresden speciality, a ‘cold dog’, a chocolate biscuit and ice-cream dessert.

On my last morning in Dresden the wonders of the city won out over the markets. 

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The Frauenkirche Church

First on my highlights list was the fabulous Royal Palace (Residenzschloss) museum and its chambers of treasures including the Green Vault with 2,000 gold and silver masterpieces, a tiny cherry stone carved with 185 ‘faces’ and an enormous, dazzling green diamond.

A more emotional experience followed with a visit to Frauenkircke, Dresden’s splendid domed church and arguably most famous landmark, reduced to a smouldering shell in 1945 and now restored to its former Baroque splendour.

Then it was on to the Pulverturm restaurant, an ancient former gunpowder store turned jolly Saxon eaterie dishing up popular favourites such as suckling pig, potato dumplings and savoury sauerkraut.

Afterwards as I passed yet another market, this time with a 19th century theme, I could not resist a quick trawl, and it was the same when I came across the Meissen porcelain shop, the refined minimalist designs of its contemporary crockery contrasting beautifully with some old-style saucy wench figurines balancing trays of drinks on their large derrieres.

Back at the Swissotel my Dresdner Backhaus stollen had been delivered.

Delightfully packaged in a tin emblazoned with the image of two cherubs, taken from one of city’s most famous paintings Raphael’s Sistine Madonna, their wistful expressions were said to have come from two children the artist saw peering at cakes in a bakery.

As I made my way to the airport and the city slid from view, I understood something of those angels’ longing, my visit had been too brief.

Dresden’s a cracker of a place at any time, but especially at Christmas.

Dresden need to know: Rooms at Swissotel Dresden Am Schloss start from £102, including breakfast, based on two people sharing a Swissotel Advantage Room.
Visit: www.swissotel.com/dresden or call +49 351 501 200.
CityJet Airlines run return flights from London City Airport up to four times a week, from £127, www.cityjet.com, 0871 405 2020.
Dresden Tourism Board, a brilliant source for all things in the city: www.dresden.de.
For stollen, craft breads and other sweet treats see the Dresdner Backhaus, visit: www.dresdnerstollen.de.

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