Christmas items
Christmas, or Weihnachten, has a special significance in Germany. This is where the tradition of the Christmas tree originated. German Christmas markets are among the most beautiful in the world, with around 3,000 in all. Their stalls are not filled with fancy goods or Made in China items, but rather with traditional local crafts, providing beautiful souvenirs to bring back from Germany and bring out again each year for the festive season. In addition to Christmas markets, there are also a number of Christmas stores open all year round, in both large and small towns.
Lauscha, a small town in Thuringia, for example, specializes in hand-blown Christmas ornaments. The Lauschaer Glaskunst brand, which stands for "Lauscha glass art", offers incredibly fine blown glass baubles, some hand-painted with snowy German landscapes, others transparent and elegant. All are produced in limited editions. They are exported all over the country, and far beyond. You can be sure of their authenticity by checking for a small sticker bearing the brand's name. You'll also find increasingly modern and whimsical decorations at Christmas markets, with designs rarely found in France. This is your chance to bring home Christmas ornaments in the shape of doughnuts, gherkins, hamburgers or unicorns. In most cases, the sellers take great care to wrap them in such a way as to protect them sufficiently on your return journey.
Eastern Germany is also famous for Erzgebirge Holzkunst, the handicrafts of the Ore Mountains, a Saxon mountain range on the Czech border. This rural, hilly region has a long tradition of woodcarving, dating back to the 18th century. Carved figurines, mainly for Christmas, are a long-standing specialty, like the Nussknacker, an emblematic little soldier in a red suit and black hat. While this character is famous even beyond Germany's borders, other lesser-known wooden toys form part of local folklore at Christmas time, such as the Räuchermännchen, i.e. the smoker, because it has to be filled with incense, or the Weihnachtspyramide, the Christmas pyramid. Far from being confined to the mountains of eastern Germany, where they are made, these figurines are classics at Christmas markets all over Germany. More recently, these markets have also been displaying numerous wooden mechanisms, such as almost theatrical decorations or nativity scenes on which certain movements can be triggered.
Gingerbread is another typical German Christmas decoration. But be warned, it's far too hard to eat! The little hands take care of decorating them with a piping bag of sugar arabesques and other inscriptions to wish happy holidays or declare their love. These are then hung on the tree or around the house.
Local craftsmanship
Handicrafts are still firmly rooted in Germany, giving rise to beautiful souvenirs with a soul. Glassmaking, in particular, is still very much alive, to the point of being listed as a Unesco intangible heritage site. Thuringia, in the center of the country, is highly renowned in this field, with factories such as the Lauscha factory mentioned earlier, which produced the world's first glass eye in 1835. But the art of artisan glassmaking can be found all over the country. In the Black Forest, the Dorotheenhütte factory excels in the art of blowing colored glass to form decorations and tableware. Bavaria's Glashütte Lamberts offers genuine works of art in glass, such as stained glass windows and exceptional vases. Bavaria is home to many glassworks, including Zwiesel Kristallglas, where you'll find glasses of all kinds: champagne flutes, stemmed glasses, mugs..
Another well-known Bavarian glass has become a much-loved souvenir among holidaymakers: the beer mug! You'll find traditional ones, hand-painted and often even gilded, or more modern ones, with humorous slogans or printed works of art. Either way, they'll be the kind of beer service your guests will envy! There are also regional variations, such as the Kölschstange, narrow cylindrical beer glasses typical of Cologne. And don't forget to fill your suitcases with the famous Cologne water. As for tableware, the town of Solingen in North Rhine-Westphalia specializes in cutlery to the point of being nicknamed the city of blades. Solingen knives, which can be found all over the country, are renowned for their quality and incomparable sharpness.
In the Black Forest, another type of handicraft delights visitors: cuckoo clocks. In the mid-19th century, one in every three clocks in the world came from the Black Forest. This craft has been perpetuated, and can still be found today throughout the region, with Triberg im Schwarzwal positioning itself as the national cuckoo clock capital. As well as numerous stores, you can also admire the world's largest cuckoo clock, which forms a veritable little house.
But small country villages don't have the exclusive right to handicrafts, and Berlin has no shortage of them, even if its own is more alternative and modern. In the German capital, you'll find numerous designer boutiques selling jewelry, clothing, cosmetics and works of art. In souvenir or art stores, you can also pick up a miniature version of Buddy Bär, Berlin's mascot bear.
Traditional clothing
Bringing back traditional garments not only gives you an authentic, hand-crafted souvenir to take home with you, but also a beautiful garment that can be reused for theme evenings and carnivals. The traditional Bavarian costume is certainly the best known and most popular with holidaymakers. For women, it's the Dirndl, an embroidered, corseted dress with an apron and plunging neckline. Men, on the other hand, show off their Lederhose, or leather breeches. Traditionally made from deer hide, they are also available in goat, calf or pig, often embroidered with edelweiss and other mountain plants. While this traditional garment went out of fashion in the 1970s, it has once again become the pride of the Bavarians, many of whom own one, so you'll have no trouble finding stores selling them.
Bavarian suits are far from the only traditional garments in Germany. Venture beyond the French border, into the Black Forest, and you'll spot the Bollenhüte. These black hats are topped by 14 very large red pompoms. Although they've become symbols of the Black Forest, they were originally not very widespread, confined to a few Protestant villages. They're a beautiful object to bring back, though not easy to wear. Fortunately, the Bollenhut is now available in a variety of styles: key rings, mugs, or simply a pompom to hang from your bag.
Last but not least, less traditional but just as deeply rooted in the culture, Carnival costumes are legion in Cologne. You shouldn't have any trouble finding a store selling them, as they are often handmade and very creative.
Memories of the Communist era
In Berlin, Dresden, Leipzig, and generally in all the former East German states, relics of the Communist era have become amusing and historic souvenirs for tourists. These include replicas of documents from the Stasi, the GDR's notorious intelligence service, coins, stamps, military accessories, reproductions of propaganda posters and miniatures of the Trabant 601, the car that became the GDR's emblem. You can even buy Vita-Cola, the East German soda intended to imitate Coca-Cola, which of course could not be imported. You'll find plenty of vintage items at flea markets, which can hide some real treasures.
In Berlin, a classic souvenir is none other than theAmpelmann, the little man on East German traffic lights. Drawn in 1961, these characters are a rare mark of the GDR for Berliners today, and a true symbol of theOstalgie, the nostalgia for East Germany, that drives some Germans. You'll findAmpelmann in many forms: necklaces, figurines, notebooks, postcards, mugs, traffic-light lamps..
Pieces of the Berlin Wall are another reminder of the capital's communist past. But beware: the vast majority are fakes. Souvenir stores often sell pieces of concrete vaguely covered on one side with graffiti and sometimes even accompanied by forged certificates of authenticity. So it's best not to buy unless you can vouch for the seller.
Food
Although German food is not widely exported internationally, it is in fact extraordinarily diverse. Bread, for example, comes in 3,000 different varieties, a world record. So every region has its own bread or brioche, which you should try, if not take home with you. You'll find pretzels in Bavaria; Christollen, a sweet Christmas bread, in Dresden; Franzbrötchen, rolled in cinnamon, in Frankfurt; Pumpernickel, or rye bread, in North Rhine-Westphalia..
Another German food with exceptional diversity is the sausage. Germans love their Wurst so much that simply walking into a supermarket and observing the size of the aisle can provoke a veritable culture shock. Today, they are often vacuum-packed for easy transport. Bring home a good Weißwurst, or white sausage, from Bavaria; a sausage from Nuremberg; a Bratwurst from Thuringia; or a sausage from Frankfurt. In Berlin, you'll find Currywurst, i.e. sausages with ketchup and curry sauce, already prepared and packaged.
Perhaps easier to transport, Haribo is also a souvenir of choice. This German confectioner offers a number of products made exclusively in its native country, such as Haribo Weinland, jellies flavored with various German wines, Haribo Salz Brezeln, pretzel-shaped salted sweets, and Haribo Joghurt-Igel, yogurt-flavored sweets.
Don't forget to bring along Black Forest ham, sweet mustard, Nuremberg gingerbread, vacuum-packed sauerkraut, Spreewald gherkins, marzipan, spaetzle and even a spaetzle grater, so you can cook these noodles yourself on your return.
And don't forget the drinks
Beer is an excellent souvenir from Germany, especially as its diversity is impressive. Here, there is no single beer consumed in every bar in the country, but rather a multitude of local beers each dominating their region of origin, or even their city. If you're traveling to Hesse, pack your bags with Benediktiner Weissbräu. In Bavaria, choose Weihenstephaner, the oldest brewery in the world, or Paulaner, typical of Munich. Cologne is famous for its Kölsch, served at the table before you even have time to order in some of the city's restaurants! In Hamburg, you'll find Astra in every mug, while Stuttgart is famous for its Stuttgarter Hofbräu.
But Germany isn't just about beer: it's also home to some excellent wines. In the Rhine or Moselle valleys, you'll find good bottles of white wine, especially Riesling. Good wines are not limited to West Germany, as the country boasts no fewer than 13 wine-growing regions.
To finish the meal, order a schnapps. Here again, many regions have their own speciality, since the term schnapps generally covers brandies. Pear, plum, herb, mirabelle plum or cherry: there's something for every taste.
And there's no shortage of non-alcoholic beverages to choose from: take home Fritz-kola, available in a wide range of flavors, Club-Mate, a century-old energy drink, or Vitamalz, a non-alcoholic beer.
