December 2001 - Nr. 13
Dresden’s Striezelmarkt: Christmas magic and the original Christstollen
DZT - A cake gave the Dresden Christmas Market its name: the Striezel. The stollen was first mentioned in 1474 on a bill of the Christian Bartholomew Hospital in Dresden as a confection for the fasting season, made of flour, yeast and water.
Without butter or milk the Striezel was a tasteless piece of cake, but its recipe was subject to church dogma. Prince Elector Ernst von Sachsen and his brother finally managed to have the "butter ban" lifted through their plea to the pope and from then on the stollen could be made with milk and butter.
The Striezelmarkt, too, was first mentioned in 1474. After 1560 the Dresden bakers gave their local rulers one or two 36-pound Christmas stollen for the holy festival. Eight masters and eight journeymen carried them to the castle. This tradition lasted for a long time.
In 1730, August the Strong surpassed everything that had been done up to that time. In conjunction with the "Zeithain Party" he had the bakers’ guild of Dresden bake a huge stollen weighing 1.8 tons to serve around 24,000 guests. This event was commemorated with the Stollen Festival each year in December. Thus the traditional Striezel has remained the centrepiece of Germany’s oldest Christmas market.
"The Striezelmarkt that was named for the peculiar confection that attracted us children," recalled Wilhelm von Kügelgen, a Dresden artist of the early 19th century. And this year, too, the Christmas market starting Nov. 26 in the heart of the Elb city will attract young and old.
Christmas enchantment will also be provided by lace from Plauen and the Vogtland, decorative blue cloth from the Lausitz and ceramics from the Schlesian area of Saxony, as will the characteristic woodwork of the Erzgebirge and the 45-foot-tall wooden pyramid that stands on the Dresden Altmarkt as well as in the Guinness Book of Records.
Besides that, the Dresden folk and their guests can celebrate the Stollen Festival on Dec. 8 and the Pyramid Festival on Dec. 15, or attend traditional choir vespers with the Kreuzchor at the Kreuzkirche each Saturday at 5 p.m. The Striezelmarkt will end punctually on the evening of Dec. 24.
Information: Dresden-Werbung und Tourismus, Postfach 120952, D-01010 Dresden. Tel. 0351-491920. Fax 49192116.
