Tag Archives: Christmas market

Decorated streets

Christmas Events in Sonderborg

Towards the end of November we had written about the switching on of the Christmas lights in Sonderborg. However, since then, we have barely mentioned any of the Christmas-related activities in Sonderborg.

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First of all, Christmas in Sonderborg means later shop-opening times, including opening on Sunday. Having just arrived from London, where shops are open much later and there is not much distinguishing weekends from weekdays, this was a good transition time for us to get here!

Speaking about shopping and having previously written about our visit to Flensburg, we shouldn’t forget that Sonderborg has its own Christmas market. The Christmas market was located in the square between Ronhaveplads and Perlegade, giving it quite a small footprint. However, there was still enough stuff to interest us and we walked away with some delicious mead from Mjodladen.

However, coming from a country with no snow, I was most excited by the ice-skating rink next to the harbour. We never made it as we had other plans, but its on our 99 things to do in Sonderborg list, and I promise you – we will try it out next year!

Christmas Market in Flensburg #4/99

Christmas markets, or Weihnachtsmarkts, have a long tradition in German-speaking countries, with Dresden Christmas market, which is one of the most famous, being first mentioned in 1434. Nowadays, these street market are a very common sight during the month of December. Having heard good things about Flensburg Christmas market we decided to make a Saturday afternoon of it.

The mill at the southern market

As I was hoping for (and expecting), the market was a very pretty sight indeed or, as the Danes would say, hyggeligt. It is mainly located on the main walking street, with stalls going all the way from Sudermarkt to Nordermarkt.

The walking street, particularly the area around Sudermarkt was packed! The people were out in full-force enjoying the cozy atmosphere of the Christmas stalls. In particular, they seemed to be enjoying their drinks. They stood huddling together at the stalls drinking their gluhwein and their punsch, which is a Flensburg version of gluhwein to which rum is also added.

Candles of bees wax

The market can easily be managed in half a day. A good suggestion would be to go in the afternoon to see all the pretty Christmas lights when it gets dark. Besides the main walking street a visit to Rote Strasse should also be on your to-do list, particularly going down one of the alleys and stopping for some drinks to warm you up in the prettily decorated stalls invariably located down each one.

Rote Strasse

However, there is more to Flensburg than just the Christmas market! With Flensburg being within easy reach of Sonderborg (45mins by car; 1hr15 by bus) we will definitely be visiting again in the coming months. I have already spied a board game shop I definitely need to explore on our next trip!