Christmas Market in Dusseldorf

Since the archive was closed, for a week plus over the holidays we asked our Mission President for permission to drive to Dusseldorf to visit a Christmas Market. His response to us was "Have fun!"

Our trip to Dusseldorf was a fun adventure for us. Out on our own making our way to a new part of the country, traveling the Autoban and navigating through an unknown city, not speaking the language and having no idea what is up ahead! (Sometimes I wonder if we are too old to be doing this...)

We stayed at the Marriott Courtyard close (about 1 1/2 miles) to the old town (Altstadt) where the Christmas Markets are. 

Courtyard standard fare...loaner umbrellas, apples, water, etc.

The Rhine certainly snakes around a lot! This is a map of just a little bit of Dusseldorf. The Market is where the black dot in the middle is.

The hotel was not on the Rhine, but it was closeby so we walked up the street, across a pedestrian bridge and quickly arrived at the Rhine Promenade, a popular place for locals to hang out as well as tourists. 

Above: View from the pedestrian bridge...Rhine Tower is the tallest building/structure in Dusseldorf. It used to be a cell tower for TV and Radio. The restaurant/viewing area is very cool. We were happy to have good weather for our very quick trip up the elevator to 168 meters. The complete tower is 240.5 meters high. 

Above: The Courtyard is located at the top left center of the photo. Just below there is the pedestrian bridge we walked over to get to the Promenade.

Above: This is a great view of the Promenade and the ferris wheel where the markets start.

Above: Last of the directional views from the Rhine Tower.

Above: Dusseldorf is a fashion and arts center but I was intrigued with the construction of some of the apartment buildings along the promenade. 

Above: I wish I knew what kind of trees there are. They are all along the Rhine Promenade.

Following are some of the fun photos we took once we got into the Markets. There were actually six different sites for markets so there was a lot of traffic into the night.  

Here you go: 

Entrance to where the stalls begin

Chocolate covered fruit, a big hit for us...

Lots of people, but it's early

Lines of people to get dinner. Everyone is quite patient.

Fresh roasted chestnuts!

Churros are always a big hit at markets and carnivals the world over! But every place puts their own spin on what you get. Here it is a cardboard container with about six 4-6 inch churros covered with icing and other candy of your choice.

We did not get any churros, but I did get a photo. 

Jewelry!!

Potato twisters! We thought they were sooooo good!

The puppets are coming!!! 😀 We never did see them but I'm sure they were great. 

Above: Here you see the Christmas decor at Burgplatz. The ferris wheel and the Schlossturm Tower, all that remains of the Dusseldorf Castle that burned down for the last time in the 1800's but began in the 1200's. There is a museum inside now. 

As evening progressed we made our way along the streets to one of the other markets. This one had the largest decorated tree and was just outside a big inside mall with lots of decorations around. 

Everywhere we turned there were more and more stalls for the vendors but many were repeats of what we had already seen. 

Lots of winter wear stalls...

Food stalls galore. We had a really good crepe for dinner.

Then I saw the one and only store with nativities in it.  Lovely! 

These figures are my favorite. I love Mary's face detail and Joseph looks on so lovingly. 

Ed decided on some mushrooms too! We shared...They were very good. 

Nora looked at the mall windows and saw clothes she would love to get for her handsome grandsons.

Above: We decided it was time to begin heading back because we had walked so far and it was another 1 1/2 miles back home. Passing through another of the six Christmas Markets we saw this huge German Christmas pyramid (I did buy a small version). It was a very innovative market stall to sell mulled wine. 

On our way back along the promenade, we decided to take this picture by a beautiful, lighted, evergreen Christmas tree. What a wonderful way to end our first Christmas in Germany. We love the symbolism of the evergreen tree with lights. Each one of us has our own light to share with others and to remember why we celebrate His birth. He is the Light of the World. I hope we can all remember Him not just at Christmas time, but all year long.