Ingo

I promised to write a brief report and here we go.

2nd Advent weekend, 2-4 Dec 2011. Quedlinburg is a picturesque small town at the foot of the Harz mountains in Northern Germany. Everything in town was fully booked so we stayed at Harzresort in Allrode, 21 km up in the mountains. Very quiet, village, beautiful setting. Stayed in the dependancy, 2 min. walk from the main house. Room was large, clean, nice furniture, odd: no telephone but satellite TV. Breakfast was very good, 3-course dinner was awful the first night, good the second night. Paid 37 Euro + 1.80 Euro local tax per night and person incl. breakfast and dinner - special deal, a steal Friendliness was la-la, I even got into an argument with the waitress at dinner. I don't think I'll stay there again.

Theatre (operetta "The Land of Smile") the first night. I like this piece a lot. New production, nice stage setting and costumes, the small orchestra was pretty good. Chorus did ok, the soloists were not good. Especially the lead soprano was terrible. She often screamed and was off pitch almost all the time. Ugh. The lead male soloist at least knew his limitations (very constricted voice) and did somewhat ok.

Saturday was reserved for the town - Christmas market, the advertised "Advent in the courtyards" and other sightseeing. Quedlinburg has a huge number of beautiful timber-framed houses, unfortunately quite a lot of them not (yet) restored, surprisingly many not inhabited. However, with the cobbled narrow alleys, the churches, it all adds up to a picturesque (mostly) medieval town. The Christmas market on the market square was about 85% food/beverages stalls. We hardly found stalls (and if, then not best quality) that sold the traditional German Christmas items. The open private courtyards that were so highly advertised for festive "Advent" ambience lacked a beautiful decoration, sold mostly non-christmassy stuff and again were often just food courts. Did I mention it was packed? It became really annoying to push through the crowds after a while. So we fled toward the castle hill, visited the church with crypt and treasure chamber - the highlight of the trip for me - and were lucky to see a rainbow over the city (beautiful view from the castle terrace).

We had a hard time finding a restaurant that would have a table available. Lines, long lines everywhere. Finally we went a few steps beyond the castle hill and found a nice small restaurant - good choice. Had good soup and something to drink and chatted away for a while. Afterward we did some more sightseeing, including one of the oldest timber-framed houses in Germany (from about 1300) and the St. Blasii church where an organ concert was scheduled. Entrance fee was 2 Euro which I would have paid but the place was sold out. Just had a quick look inside - beautiful Baroque church. After having a Glühwein at one of the stalls in the market square we left and drove back to our hotel. Dinner - see above.

Sunday was not particularly eventful. We checked out, drove to the Kyffhäuser mountain south of the Harz mountains and wanted to see the monument of Emperor Friedrich Barbarossa there but they charged 6 Euro so we skipped it.

All in all I can say I enjoyed the time in Quedlinburg but it was more because of the company than the town. The town is picturesque and has quite some sights to see but I'd rather go there in summer I think. I really missed the festive Advent/Christmas ambience that you find in the Erzgebirge mountains. There were hardly Christmassy decorations and items to buy in Quedlinburg.

annhig

hi Ingo,

no cut for you from the Quedlingburg tourist office then!

thanks for the "warts n'all" TR. you are really helping to sell the Erzgebirge to me, though i've no idea whether I'll ever get the chance to go there are this time of year.

Pegontheroad

Thanks for the report, Ingo. It sounds like much of your problem with the town was due to the crowds. It sounds like it didn't have the wonderful Christmas markets that one sees in other places.

I loved Quedlinburg, but I was there in the summer, and there weren't really any crowds to speak of. I hope to visit eastern Germany again, hopefully in 2012.

bettyk

We went in September 2009 and loved Quedlinburg. We didn't have much in the way of crowds either. Like Peg, I'd love to visit that part of Germany again.

Ingo

Crowds, yes. But the biggest issue was the lack of festive Christmas spirit. No Christmas music either, btw. I've been to several towns in the area in summer (Wernigerode, Halberstadt, Blankenburg, Aschersleben, Quedlinburg also but long time ago) and liked them all - but summer is a much nicer time to visit there.

klondiketoo

Thanks for the TR, Ingo.

Regarding Christmas music: a blurb I read on German Christmas traditions stated that German's do no usually play Christmas music, especially religious music, until the actual day of Christmas. This might explain why, when there has been Xmas music at markets I've been to, they are playing American songs...I've always found it a bit odd to hear Bing crooning away or hearing twangs of 'Frosty the Snowman'.

Ingo

klondike: That blurb you read was not correct. Sure, I am not a fan of American Christmas songs at (German) Christmas markets, either. But there are dozens, if not hundreds of German songs for Advent season - also religious ones - that fit perfectly into the time before Christmas Day. Think of Bach's Christmas Oratorio alone. Also, on the Christmas markets I know in Saxony they use to have brass bands and choirs (children and/or adults) who play/sing (live) both religious and non-religious songs that fit the season and make you feel christmassy.

quokka

Errrmmm... Ingo... sorry for nitpicking but recheck what dates the Christmas Oratorio was originally written for. This is not meant to be music for Advent but for the period from Christmas Day to Jan 6. But there are many many popular German carols that can be heard everywhere.

Since I was part of the "company" mentioned (thanks for compliments!) I feel the need to add my two cents. I think the general idea in Quedlinburg is a nice one. The courtyards are usually not open to the public except maybe on Heritage Day in September, so the architecture and ambience is part of it. There are stalls with food and crafts in the courtyards and one can stroll at leisure to explore those hidden courtyards and what's offered inside them. This is the theory. Unfortunately they have been overrun by their own success. With a crowd of 60,000 visitors in town, this just does not work any more because the courtyards are too narrow and it is all pushing and squeezing. Not much fun. The weather was lousy and we were really lucky to find a table in that restaurant.
I agree that the main Christmas market is not much to write home about. Anyway, it was a nice day because of the company!

Ingo

Ok, I better had asked the expert on religious music first The Christmas Oratorio may not be written for Advent but it is always performed during that season. Proof is that I'm going to attend one tonight. Ok, so scratch that this one fits into Advent season, but there are many others.

Quokka, did you find the courtyards worth to be seen? I did not really. Christmassy decoration? Where? And the craft to find there was only partially Christmas related. I don't mind mind seeing a display of papercutting pieces or pottery but wish it would have something to do with that special season. They could have named it "Open courtyards" or so, but the word "Advent" in that combination was misleading IMO.

yk

Thanks for the report, Ingo. Sounds like a really lovely town, so I'll put that on my list (except not to go just before Christmas)!

wanderfrau

Thanks Ingo. Is the market open during the week as well?

Ingo

Wanderfrau, not anymore, I think, but it was open the whole week from 1st to 2nd Advent if I recall correctly.

yk, yep, better go in summer. Don't expect much from the theatre, though

kleeblatt

Thanks Ingo.

My favorite Christmas market in Switzerland is Rapperswil. I was just there last weekend and really enjoy the choice of wares in the stalls and then we had a coffee at the Kapuziner Kloster which is open to the public only during the afternoons for market goers.

swandav2000

Lovely report, Ingo, even if you didn't have a wonderful time. Your observations are keen, as always, and the context you provide really helps me to understand your observations.

Don't know how I missed this earlier!!

s

Ingo

LOL, you're two YEARS late, s! But thanks for the comment

Travelforbeer

Having been in Quedlinburg 3 months ago I wondered why there was no mention of the town square being totally torn up and under reconstruction. Then I saw the dates as pointed out by Ingo and got the answer to my question.I don't see how they had any Christmas Market in that area this year...

To be politically correct, Happy Holidays to all...

swandav2000

Oh dear!