Berlin's traditional Christmas markets reflect its growing diversity

BERLIN -- The smells of mulled wine, roasted almonds and hot bratwurst are wafting through the air across the German capital again, as the city's more than 100 Christmas markets are opening their doors this week. But the annual tradition that Germans have cherished since the Middle Ages — and successfully exported to much of the Western world — has become a pretty diverse affair, at least in Berlin.

The city of 3.8 million, which takes pride in its tolerance and diversity, offers Christmas markets for pretty much every taste these days. Nowadays, almost 40% of Berliners have immigrant roots, and the city's LGBTQ+ community is considered one of the biggest in the country.

So it comes as no surprise that popular Christmas markets include a LGBTQ+ one offering rainbow pierogi and entertainment by drag queens, a Scandinavian market selling moose goulash and reindeer salami and a market tempting revelers with naughty gift ideas, along with a historical market that takes visitors back to medieval times.

“It’s a lovely atmosphere,” Paul Middleton said of the LGBTQ+ market Christmas Avenue, which is illuminated in the colors of the rainbow.

“It’s great to do something for the LGBTQ+ community and offer something positive in a safe environment where everyone’s welcome, no matter what background,” said Middleton, who moved to Berlin from London three years ago “for love."

Middleton was busy selling gay-themed Christmas shirts next to stalls offering suggestive candles and soaps in neon colors.

The market also attracts heterosexual couples, neighborhood residents and groups of moms with baby strollers, said Sebastian Ahlefeld, a spokesman for Christmas Avenue.

“You can meet lots of friends, relax, enjoy a mulled wine and simply kick off the Christmas season,” said Marco Klingberg, who visited the market with friends on Monday night.

Klingberg, a police officer and member of the LGBTQ+ police organization in Brandenburg, the state surrounding Berlin, pointed out that despite the city's reputation as a gay-friendly city, attacks on members of the community are a concern, and it was great to have a protected environment for celebrating.

“First and foremost, it’s a safe space,” he said.

Security is an issue not only at the LGBTQ+ market, where all visitors undergo a bag check before entering. Groups of police officers were patrolling most markets on Monday night, as memories of a deadly terror attack on a Christmas market eight years ago are still fresh for many Berliners.

On Dec. 19, 2016, an Islamist attacker plowed through a crowd of Christmas market-goers with a truck, killing 13 people and injuring dozens more in the German capital. The attacker was killed days later in a shootout in Italy.

Despite increased surveillance, visitors at the Scandinavian-themed Lucia market in Berlin's Prenzlauer Berg neighborhood were hanging out in crowds on the compound of a former brewery. Kids enjoyed merry-go-rounds while their parents stood in line for Finnish honey and Icelandic mulled wine infused with hard liquor, or chatted and warmed up at fire pits.

“I've been coming here every year since kindergarten times,” said Mathilda Schmidt, 21, pointing to kids cheering as they jumped on a trampoline. She was standing in line with her boyfriend for a bratwurst and potato pancakes.

At Humboldt Forum Christmas market near the Spree river, vendors were offering more exotic dishes including jerk chicken with cooked bananas at a Jamaican food stand, Argentinian empanadas, French salamis and Hungarian langos, a deep-fried flatbread.

While the city's biggest markets are open for weeks and usually close only the day before Christmas Eve, smaller markets often open for a weekend or a day.

They include the Kinky Christmas market in the Kreuzberg neighborhood that invites visitors on Dec. 1 only, seeking those who may find traditional markets “too overwhelmingly contemplative and traditional.” Over 20 stalls will offer sexy “fashion, accessories, jewelry, toys and all kinds of naughty gift ideas,” the city of Berlin says on its website.

While Berliners seem to nonchalantly enjoy the variety of Christmas market offerings, they were fiercely united in their complaint about the increasing price of mulled wine — with one small cup now selling for up to seven euros ($7.36).