Category: Christmas

The Upper Rhine Valley is homeland to Christmas

Christmas markets start now!

In our Upper Rhine valley, cities of Colmar, Strasbourg, Mulhouse, Freiburg-im-Breisgau (Germany), Basel (Switzerland) and Thann, are opening their Christmas Markets on November 23-24, 2018!

Christmas concerts in Riquewihr – 2015 program

According to tradition, the first Christmas songs were sung by the angels above the crib to celebrate the birth of baby Jesus. Historically, the first Christmas songs were songs of joy evoking the Nativity, sometimes even rhythmic chants or dances. During the Middle Ages, the “mysteries of the Nativity” were a popular theater form where…

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Christmas Trails in Osthouse

Les “Sentiers de Noël” are back! — Update 2015. A superb sound and light show is taking place in Osthouse, a village beside Erstein, south of Strasbourg. The word “show” is probably a misnomer. It is an experience. It is a colorful immersion, cheerful and naive, in the world of fairy tales and legends of…

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The beautiful and real story of the Christmas tree

The fir has long been the symbol of Christmas in Christian homes. A well-established tradition in Alsace for over 5 centuries, the Christmas tree would have crossed the blue line of the Vosges mountains to conquer French families only after the 1870s. At the heart of Alsace and the Rhine valley, the beautiful town of…

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Meisenthal glass factory, craddle of the Christmas bauble

Further north of the Vosges mountains, at the edge of Alsace and Lorraine, there are several villages (St-Louis, Lemberg, Goetzenbruck, Soucht and Meisenthal) which had long specialized in producing glass and crystal ware. The village of Meisenthal is famous for its Centre International d’Art Verrier (CIAV; international center for studio glass). Glass has been produced…

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5 Christmas markets are awaiting you in Colmar!

The Christmas markets 2018 will start officially in Colmar Nov. 23, 2018 and will welcome you every day until late December, 31. Colmar is located in the very center of Alsace, a mere 10 kilometers away from the Alsace wine hills. Colmar and its surroundings has a sunny microclimate and is the second driest city…

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Christmas market magic in Riquewihr – 2014 update

 You may probably find it a bit strange to see a post about Christmas be published in the middle of the Summer? Actually we are just a little more than 100 days away from the earliest Christmas markets in Alsace (Colmar is starting on Nov 21, 2014). And waiting for a last minute opportunity for…

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We wish you a Merry Christmas

In Alsace and in the Upper Rhine valley, Christmas always had a special meaning. In our agitated world some thoughts about peace, love, looking out for anyone needing help or being alone are still of some genuine significance here around. To all of you I send my very sincere wishes for a Merry Christmas!