Weihnachtsmarkt in Braunschweig - that's a mouthful

I am a big nerd for the Christmas market. I like the lights, the smells, the festive atmosphere... And since most cities in Germany have them, it seemed important to visit a market outside of Hannover too. Some people are bigger Christmas market nerds than I am. Tourists come to Germany this time of year to do a tour of markets in several cities. You can pick them out because they are wearing antler headbands or speaking loudly in English.

On Thursday, Kaska, Serena, and I went to the Christmas market in Braunschweig. Try to say Braunschweig Weihnachtsmarkt three times fast, you'll either sound really silly or or someone will say "gesundheit" because they think you just sneezed.
We picked that city because it's not far away and we'd heard that the market there is a nice one. What we discovered is that most of Braunschweig looks like this:

We got off the train and wondered what huge mistake we had made coming to this place. It was like where bad 1960s architecture goes to die. Here's my favorite one - a Deutsche Bank ad saying "save with us" that looks like it should be a cheap Florida motel:

But then, the skies opened up and the Christmas angels started to sing. We entered the Altstadt.
It was like a little island of beauty, Christmas cheer, and sausages in the middle of a mid-century wasteland.

Braunschweig is known as the lion city, because it was the medieval capital of Saxony, which was ruled by Henry the Lion. Back then it was known as a big and important. Now it's known as ugly. It's also known as the city in Germany with the greatest number of Polish people. Kaska felt right at home.
The old city was mostly destroyed during World War 2, so a lot of the buildings you see in the photos below are reconstructions.

Fair food, German style

At the Braunschweig Weihnachtsmarkt they have apple Gluhwein, served with a cinnamon stick. Serena looks a little less happy than Kaska and I because she can't drink any - she's got a baby on the way.

The sausage man, hard at work. Note the massive bottles of mayo, ketchup, and mustard hanging from the ceiling.

That was my outlet last week for my Christmas market nerdiness.