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Posted November 21st, 2012

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GERMANY

Update November 2012

Christmas markets in Germany: a delight for all the senses.

A Nativity Scene - Nuremberg

Tempting aromas, the festive glow, all the wonderful sounds of the season and delicious yuletide treats. Germany's Christmas markets will appeal to every one of your senses.

Beautifully decorated stalls offer handicrafts and gifts, festive baked treats, glühwein and delicious regional specialities. All the while, choirs and brass-bands provide festive musical accompaniment. Throughout Germany, Christmas markets celebrate seasonal customs and traditions in delightful historical settings. Particularly popular with visitors are Nuremberg's Christkindlesmarkt and the Striezelmarkt in Dresden.

Nuremberg's Christmas Market

Choose from more than 150 of the most beautiful Christmas markets in Germany.

New Chrismas Market App

The ultimate App for anyone who loves Germany’s traditional Christmas markets is here: get into the Christmas mood with the help of The German National Tourist Board, which has launched a new App listing 22 Christmas markets from Berlin to Bayern, which also includes travel discounts courtesy of Deutsche Bahn. There are smaller markets, just oozing Gemütlichkeit in places such as Weimar and Rothenburg ob der Tauber, to larger more sophisticated affairs in Nuremberg and Cologne.

To download our free App to your iOS device, click here.

The Android version will be available very soon. Just keep an eye on our Facebook page "Visit Germany".

German Christmas markets: Seasonal shopping at its finest

Everyone who has been to Germany in the festive season before knows why it's so special.

Feng Shui Christmas market at Bensberg Palace

Earth, metal, wood, fire and water are the basic elements of feng shui. And they also play a key role at the Christmas market at Bensberg Palace near Bergisch Gladbach, which will be taking place on the third Advent weekend from 14 to 16 December 2012. The market stalls in the grounds of the palace are arranged according to the five elements to maintain a flow of positive energy.

For more information on the Feng Shui Christmas Market, click here.

Fairytale Christmas in Kassel

Kassel is hosting a fairytale Christmas from 26 November 2012. When the glittering lights on the Christmas tree and market stalls are switched on for the Fairytale Christmas Market, children will discover a festive market like no other. Because here they will encounter puppet theatre, storytellers and Father Christmases from all over the world in the city centre until 23 December. 2012 is also a special year for the market as it marks the 200th anniversary of the Brothers Grimm Fairytales.

Old-fashioned Christmas market in Detmold

Celebrating Christmas as people did a century ago: MuseumsAdvent, on from 7 to 9 December 2012 at the Open-Air Museum in Detmold, takes visitors back to a bygone age. Storytellers as well as music and craft demonstrations paint a picture of how people used to celebrate Christmas in North Rhine-Westphalia. In the historical rooms of the Paderborn village, visitors can find out how to make festive decorations, bake traditional Christmas cookies and learn how the custom of giving gifts has changed over the years. Storytelling and puppet theatre provide entertainment for the children, while the grown-ups can browse the open-air Christmas market with more than 30 stalls.

Creativity flourishes at the Munich-Schwabing Christmas market

Welcome to the Schwabing Christmas Market - Munich’s finest Artists Market.
The Christmas market flourishes and offers a variety of art & culture.

Endulge in this artistic and creative craft market in the heart of Schwabing. Be inspired by its unique atmosphere. Authentic and contemporary tradition meets modern art.

Schwabing’s Christmas market combines arts and crafts of the highest quality, sculpture, light installations, food stalls, catering for every palate and events for the whole family. All this make it a work of art in itself.

In addition, visitors can also expect daily music shows and kids entertainment, various culinary delights and all that free of charge.

The Market will be opened on Friday, November 30that 6 pm by the local councillor Dieter Reiter, who represents the city of Munich. The opening will be accompanied by the “Swing and Dance Orchestra” Swing and Dance Orchestra.

Munich’s finest Artists Market
Over 100 artists from all over Germany create a place in this hectic world where one can gather, relax and enjoy the unique atmosphere that is the “Schwabing’s Chistmas Market”. The concept has been one of an artists market from the very beginning. An unmistakable flair can be found here with the high level of artistic talent and craftsmanship. This is further underlined by the quality of the daily cultural programme and fine foods.

All concerts and events are free of charge.
Already in the early 1970’s a number of artists, who were to be found during the summer on the ‘Art Mile’ in the Leopold Street, began to show their work at the former Swiss House in the run up to Christmas.

In 1975 the idea of an artists market, with proper stalls and events, was born. With the backing of the local council headed by Mrs. v. Welser-Ude, the Schwabing Chistmas Market was founded.

A jury is responsible for chosing the work shown as well as finding new exhibitors. This ensures that all exhibited work comes from the studios and workshops of the artists.

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Update - October 2012

Health and wellness holidays in Germany

Copyright: Gästeinformation Bad Hindelang, Wolfgang B. Kleiner

In almost all regions of Germany there are spa and health resorts where visitors can rest, relax and recharge their batteries. They offer specialist health and wellness treatments including mud and mineral baths, thalassotherapy and naturopathic Schroth cures. Baden-Baden andBerchtesgaden are two popular spa resorts in southern Germany, while the seaside resort of Heringsdorf in the north is one of a trio of royal spa resorts on the island of Usedom. The 350 spa and health resorts in Destination Germany offer a broad range of health and wellness facilities, including those offered by the spa hotels where guests can avail themselves of multiple therapies or choose a holistic concept. Alternatively, they can enjoy some peace and quiet in a rehabilitation clinic in which specialists focus on the wellbeing of their patients. Also part of this all-round programme are the many outdoor leisure activities on offer such as hiking, Nordic walking and cycling.

Health-promoting walks

Health-promoting walks help people to build their stamina, to become more familiar with their own body and to get out and about in the great outdoors. The idea is to expose the body to the elements. This might be wind and sun but it could also be cold water or cool air. In many regions of Germany there are marked trails and climatic health parks designed specially for this purpose. One example is Heilklimapark Tegernseer Talwith its 27 walking routes, most of which can be used throughout the year. Northern Bavaria is home to Heilklimapark Bischofsgrün, whose 26 kilometres of walks enable holidaymakers to explore the area while boosting their body's defences.

Popular places for walkers in the central German region of Thuringia includeFriedrichsroda and Finsterbergen. Climate terrain walks into the beautiful surrounding region run on Wednesdays and Fridays

The healing power of salt

Salt grottoes enable stressed city dwellers to escape their everyday cares, providing an opportunity for them to inhale salt-rich air and enjoy peace and tranquillity. The climatic conditions in the grottoes boost the body's defences and can help to stave off illnesses such as the flu and alleviate pollen allergies. Salt grottoes can be found in a number of towns and cities in Germany. The Salzgrotte inFrankfurt contains salt from the Himalayas and the Dead Sea and boasts a fine-spray chamber. Its 'Singing bowls' sessions and autogenic training help combat stress. Salzparadies in Waldshut in Baden-Württemberg specialises in muscle relaxation and spinal treatments, and visitors can also unwind in mineral-rich air atSalzgrotte Terrapol in Düsseldorf and Grotte Sel-La-Vie in Friedrichsdorf.

Thalassotherapy: health and relaxation by the sea

Thalassotherapy harnesses the healing properties of seawater and sea air as well as sun, seaweed, sand and mud. The treatments can help combat acute or chronic illnesses such as rheumatism and respiratory tract infections and they also boost the immune system. Holidaymakers in Germany have the choicebetween the Baltic Sea with its sandy beaches and bathing houses and the North Sea. Resorts in Germany that practise thalassotherapy can be found on popular holiday islands such as the East Frisian islands of Borkum and Wangerooge off the North Sea coast and as far east as Usedom close to the Polish border. Between them is a series of seaside resorts, fishermen's villages and stretches of dramatic coastal scenery.

Medical wellness with a seal of approval

Germany is becoming more and more popular as a travel destination for medical wellness. Specialist hotels located in popular holiday regions offer a high degree of expertise. Medical wellness is all about reassessing lifestyles and making conscious efforts to improve them in order to maintain health. The German Wellness Association and the German Medical Wellness Association have defined clear quality standards for their discipline. There is a certification process for professional providers who then receive a seal of approval, and guests can use this quality marque to choose the right hotel for their needs. Many hotels in Germany also offer special services promoting healthy backs, including the Maasberg Back-Fit Cure atHotel Maasberg Therme and the Back Fitness Package offered by Menschels Vitalresort. Both hotels are in Bad Sobernheim in Rhineland-Palatinate. These and other options for health-related holidays in Germany can be found on the Medical Wellness Hotels website.

Spa resorts for healthy holidays

A chance to rest, relax and leave those everyday stresses behind. Holidaymakers can enjoy peace and quiet, fresh air and beautiful natural surroundings in more than 350 spa and health resorts in Germany. The German Spa Associationis sure to have something to suit all tastes – from thermal springs and seaside resorts to Kneipp hydrotherapy and naturopathic Schroth cures. An impressive 70 spa resorts have their own natural springs, whose therapeutic, mineral-rich water is geothermically heated. People either bathe in the water, inhale it as steam or drink it as a means of alleviating various illnesses and afflictions including circulatory problems, joint pain and skin complaints.

40 years of Sesame Street in Berlin

Generations of children have grown up with Bert and Ernie, Kermit the Frog and the Cookie Monster. First broadcast on German television in 1973, Sesame Street is celebrating its 40th anniversary in Germany in 2013. To mark the occasion, the Museum of Film and Television in Berlin and the German broadcaster NDR are presenting an exhibition entitled ‘40 Years of Sesame Street’, which takes a look behind the scenes of the successful US television series. The exhibition runs from 13 December 2012 to 7 April 2013.

Chocolart – the chocolate festival in Tübingen

Chocolate is one of life’s little pleasures, a comfort food that is good for the soul. But there is so much more to chocolate, as the seventh annual Chocolart festival in Tübingen from 4 to 9 December 2012 proves beyond doubt. Some 100 chocolatiers from Africa, South America, North America and Europe will demonstrate the versatility of the cocoa bean to up to 300,000 visitors. The accompanying programme includes praline-making courses, chocolate massages and painting with cocoa.

A musical journey at the Saitensprünge Guitar Festival

Fans of classical, pop or any other style of guitar music are sure to find something of interest at the 13th Saitensprünge international guitar festival in Bad Aibling, Upper Bavaria. From 8 to 29 November musicians from Cuba, USA, Italy and other countries will showcase guitar music in all its diversity – everything from Latin and jazz rhythms to African sounds and tango. In recent years, the festival concerts have attracted more than 3,000 people. There is a treat in store for families with children as the guitar duo Gruber & Maklar perform the musical tale ‘Song of the Torero’.

Rocky’s return in Hamburg

Rocky is the story of a boxer who gets the chance to prove himself – and his epic fight for the title transforms him into a hero for the ordinary working people of Philadelphia. But it is also a love story about two people looking for happiness. The musical based on the blockbuster movie starring Sylvester Stallone is coming to the TUI Operetta House in Hamburg from 18 November 2012.

For regular updates or more information visit www.germany.travel

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