[Full HD] Birmingham UK German Christmas market with crafts market
Birmingham Frankfurt Christmas Market How is it German.
Image copyright Birmingham City Council Getty Images image Birmingham Legend was running a market on the Frankfurt model every year since 2001.
Annual Birmingham German market has opened for its 14th consecutive year with nearly five million visitors in 2013, it was described as larger than Berlin's German But how is it.
Every winter, the smell of mulled wine and bratwurst sizzling fills the air of the city center.
Rows of wooden huts selling festive trinkets, candy and gifts snake the road from the Bullring to Victoria Square, where large crowds are tucking into pretzels, cakes and countless sausages.
The Christmas Market Birmingham Frankfurt, to use his own title, has become, for many, the premier annual tradition of the city since its inception in 1997.
Its popularity shopping streets slows to a crawl throughout his residence six weeks, as locals and tourists as well browse the stalls and swallow Glühwein.
Organizers say it is the largest authentic German market outside of Germany and Austria rose from a humble pilot dropping 10 in a mile-long trail of about 200 huts.
But is it not particularly German, some might argue, since most workers are not German and often can not speak the language.
Image Caption stallholder Lus Cristian is from Romania.
Image Caption Ludovic Gaultier travel to France to work in the market of Birmingham.
Dr. Ruth Whittle, a German national who teaches at the University of Birmingham, sends its students to interview market stallholders.
They would come back and say there wasn t anyone out there who could speak German, she said.
The lack of indigenous workers has affected the atmosphere of the market, she added.
They do not have to be German, but it would be nice if they could speak German, she said that you could ask them questions about the product or where they come from.
However, there is still a German presence in Birmingham Astrid Raadschelders, Cologne, ran a stand selling Würstchen Frankfurt since 2001.
She said that Birmingham had become like a second home for her and her family We love coming back every year, she said.
Kurt Stroscher, the Frankfurt Tourist Board organizes urban markets and was responsible for the version West Midlands since its trial run there nearly 20 years.
Employs approximately 1,000 employees, stall workers specialized electricians.
Covering nearly 30,000 square meters, more than four football fields in full screen mode.
About 200 booths in 2014, including the craft market.
Home to a singing moose, which has its own Twitter account.
When he arrived in the UK, all stands were manned by personnel of the city, but in recent years the number of non-German workers increased.
He admitted Birmingham was now with many Eastern European workers, Romania and Poland.
While the majority of the stands seem to be German property, most of the staff are not.
A worker, Ludovic Gaultier, France, works at the market of Birmingham for the last four winters selling candles and chocolates.
Another Cristian Lus, originally from Romania but living in Frankfurt.
He said he was not working on market stalls, but had traveled to Birmingham with his wife, who did.
The journalist Sebastian Kisters, Frankfurt, visited the market in Birmingham and said there was no difference in the items sold.
I know many of my German friends come to buy many things on the market if they can t get to Germany this year, she said.
The products and brands you get there the same as you would get in Germany.
She said stallholders had told her stories of former German expatriates who buy vast reserves of bread and other food imports, it is difficult to find in the UK.
There is another important difference between Birmingham and German markets - namely, the relative importance of beer consumption.
Image Caption There are about 180 stalls selling handcrafted goods in the city center of Birmingham.
Image copyright Edward Moss Photography Image Caption Sebastian Kisters said there was no difference in the products offered in Birmingham and markets in Germany.
Image Caption Astrid Raadschelders ran a market stall in Birmingham since 2001.
Oliver Barnes, a fourth year student of German studies who spent a year in Munich, said he found customers in the city market opted for Glühwein or soft drinks.
I would say they were quite similar, but one thing I noticed in Munich was that it tended to be more oriented food, he said.
Mr. Stroscher, which also organizes markets in Manchester and Leeds, said Brits tend to be more interested in drinking.
He said the Leeds particular version, with its centerpiece of a tent lively beer, was a concession to more English tastes.
The English tradition is more of a party, to have a Christmas party, he said.
Mr. Stroscher said the market of Birmingham, with crowds packed the stands around a network, was more like what is found in Germany.
Perhaps the most German market aspect, some said, was the mere fact of its existence.
Image Caption Kurt Stroscher organizes Birmingham Frankfurt German market since 2001.
Image copyright Ruth Whittle Image Caption Dr. Ruth Whittle said that there had been an increase in non-German workers on the market.
M. Kisters said Weihnachtsmarkt, as they are called, are an integral part of the country's holiday season.
Even small remote villages will stage their own versions, he said, if only for a weekend.
It is where people can meet, drink hot wine or hot orange juice and have fun, he said.
Birmingham Lord Mayor, Shafique Shah, described the Christmas market in the city as its annual flagship event.
And Mr. Stroscher said he had become as much a tradition for Brummies the residents of Frankfurt and other German cities.
Today, the market is so big and important to Birmingham and actually one of the most important cities in the UK for Christmas shopping, he said.
For me, it is impossible to think in Birmingham without the market more.
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