The Christmas season has begun!
One of my favorite Texas Christmas traditions is actually a tradition brought to Texas by German immigrants. It’s a special experience that harks back to Germany’s Weinachtsmarkts (Christmas Markets). Beginning the first weekend in Advent, shopkeepers’ tents spring up in the central marketplace of many German cities, turning the shopping districts into a fairytale of lights, sounds, and tastes. Here’s a glimpse of the one in Trier, Germany–close to where we lived when our children were small.
If you visit the Hill Country during the Christmas season, you’ll find a Texas version of this same tradition. The booths offer crafts and foods that are distinctly Texan, and the music coming from the bandstand may have a country twang, but the events still carry the German accent of the pioneers who settled this region.
