The period preceding Christmas has many emotional and religious colors and shades. Lanterns carried to the Rorate Mass (morning Advent mass) illuminate the late autumn darkness, and colorful fairs, apart from their commercial character, give colors of hope, bring closer the joy of emerging life. All these autumn-rainy and nostalgic shades of moods characterize Wrocław, a city with long traditions and intertwining threads of many cultures.
This year, starting on November 29, the 15th edition of the Wrocław Christmas market sets the tone. One might ask why only the fifteenth, since the tradition of organizing Christmas markets dates back to the Middle Ages...
A Bit of History
From the available written sources, we learn that the first pre-Christmas fairs were held in Vienna at the end of the 13th century. They later spread to other German cities.
One of the most famous fairs is the Striezelmarkt in Dresden. It owes its name to the Striezel cake, a yeast cake with dried fruit, nuts, which is the most popular, and very appreciated in Germany. Nowadays, fairs shimmering with a thousand colors are organized in many cities. The most popular ones are those organized in Nuremberg, Dresden, Munich, Frankfurt am Main, Lübeck and Erfurt.
Wroclaw Christmas Market (Source: wroclawskie.info, Photo: dolnyslask-travel)
The first Christmas market was held in 1434. This year marks its 590th anniversary. Those markets were very different from today's. They were one-day markets where residents bought meat for the Christmas table. Sales were very simple — directly from carts or from a counter.
In the following years, traders from Bohemia and Upper Lusatia came to the Dresden fair. Competitive struggles began. Local traders felt threatened and demanded a ban on sales at the fair by the, so-called, outsiders, who were lowering the fixed prices. Despite, or perhaps because of, the competitive struggles in the first half of the 18th century, trade lasted eight days, and in the following decades, even two weeks. The range of goods included an increasingly wide range. In addition to meat and baked goods, the stalls offered ceramics, sculptures and toys, especially dolls. Paper lanterns and edible plum figurines were also available. The nature of the fair also changed. In addition to shopping, one could admire street performances by artists-actors, singers and circus performers. The fair became an entertainment event. It has maintained this character to this day.
In Poland, the first fairs were held in Kraków as early as 1310. Unfortunately, there are no documents confirming whether they were of a festive or ordinary commercial nature.
The period of partitions did not favor the development of Polish trade traditions. There is no doubt, however, that occasional stands appeared on the Kraków Market Square in the interwar period. Gdańsk has a long and documented history of fairs. From the 17th century, stalls were set up around St. Mary's Basilica, and in subsequent versions, trade took place in the Artus Court.
After World War I, pre-Christmas fairs were organized by, among others, the United Landowners' Circle, established in 1905. Associated landowners taught rural women hygiene and medical care. The members of the circle created folk theaters, strove to obtain civil rights and popularize education among rural women. At the circle's headquarters on Kopernika Street in Warsaw, a Folk Industry Store was opened, where pre-Christmas fairs were also held, where one could buy preserves, honey, country cream, herbs, linen and clothes. It was also a place for women to meet, get to know each other, exchange ideas, and organize joint workshops.
The tradition of Christmas markets almost completely disappeared during the period of the Polish People's Republic.
This custom has been experiencing a renaissance in Poland since the beginning of the 21st century. For a dozen or so years, Christmas fairs have been becoming popular again. They are organized in large cities and municipal centers. Among them, the leading ones are those organized in Wrocław, Warsaw, Gdańsk, Kraków, Toruń, and Bydgoszcz.
Wroclaw 2024
Christmas Market, Wroclaw (Source: Facebook)
The fair in Wrocław began on 29th November and will last until 7th January. It presents itself very richly, both in the number of exhibitors taking part in it, and in the number of visitors. Regardless of the weather (and it is rather cloudy, rainy and cold in Wrocław), we can observe crowds speaking, as in Babylon, many languages and stopping with curiosity at stands with Christmas tree decorations and Wrocław (!) gingerbread. Among the spruces or firs intended for Christmas trees, a Wrocław Dwarf will get lost, who will greet us with a special face and give us Christmas and New Year's wishes.
See You Next Year!
I also extend to you, the Readers of Kuryer Polski and Friends of Gwiazda Polarna, my warmest wishes for the new year, in health and prosperity. May it be kind to us!
