Incidentally, Santa Claus can also help creating a cozy atmosphere when looking for gifts. For a steaming cup of mulled wine, a "Gebäckkringel" (spiral pastry) sprinkled with crystal sugar, a "Dampfnudel" (German yeast dumplings) bedded on vanilla and fruit or a juicy piece of "Marzipanstollen" (Christmas almond stollen) has always appeased every reindeer tired from much flying and sliding.
Anyone who becomes a recidivist during the four-week run of the Christmas market in Trier will be (red)nosing ahead: Almost every day, on the atmospheric stage in front of the cathedral's west façade, there will be a varied program available for the whole family, from the historic puppet theater to the star tenor, or figureheads of the regional music scene. For this reason, one not only meets Santa Claus and his co-workers at Domfreihof and the medieval Hauptmarkt, but also the only Mulled Wine Queen in Germany, St. Nicholas, the angels of the Christmas bakery and thousands of guests from Germany and abroad.
Already on the first weekend of Advent guests also will have the opportunity to find their Christmas happiness at the Porta Nigra. Here, at the "Sterntaler" Christmas market, around 30 exhibitors present their lovingly handcrafted regional products between the brightly illuminated arcades of the Brunnenhof. This is a real insider tip from the organizing "Kulturkarawane" (Cultural Caravan), which Santa Claus has kindly whispered confidentially into our ear. After all, everyone should have fun during Advent ̶ not just at work.
You can find more information at www.trierer-weihnachtsmarkt.de and at www.kultur-karawane.de (to the "Sterntaler" Christmas market).