 The gorgeous market in the dusk 
An Authentic German Market in Brum!
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Recommendation added: 11/12/2007 11:07
By: dewberry (YSUK rating +825)dewberry has been thanked 2 times for this contribution
"I was doing some Christmas shopping in Birmingham City Centre today when I decided to wander along New Street and into Victoria Square to have a look at the Frankfurt Christmas Market. This authentic German market is in Birmingham every year, opening around the second week in November and finishing a couple of days before Christmas – this year it runs daily from 15th Nov – 23rd December from 10am until late.
It's set out in a lovely quaint way; mainly traditional wooden stalls decorated with festive ornaments, garlands and ropes of lights which were lit in the early evening when I visited. There are plenty of stalls to look around - I was in the mood for a mooch so wasn't looking for anything in particular, but even during the full hour I spent in the market I know I didn't see everything they had to offer.
The stalls are loosely grouped; hot food, stalls which sell alcohol, cold foodstuffs, gifts and wooden novelties are all situated in close proximity to each other so I found it really easy to make my way around the market.
I was absolutely starving when I arrived, so the first thing I wanted to do was find an authentic German sausage – well, when in Rome…! I was stunned at the sheer choice of hot food at the market; sausages (obviously), burgers, hot fish kebabs, soup and even a couple of larger stalls selling a range of Indian and Asian finger foods where the selection is good enough to rival any take away. Everything is wrapped in a way where you can hold whatever it is you're eating and comfortably walk around the market while still scoffing your food. I had a delicious spicy sausage in a warm crusty roll which cost me £2; looking at the menu boards on the food stalls I noticed that everything is very reasonably priced, when I visit a place like this I always expect to pay slightly over the odds for food but here I don't think anything was priced too high compared to the rest of Birmingham's City Centre.
I'd promised the kids' some sweets from the Pick 'N' Mix shop in Town, but decided to have a look around the market to see if I could pick them something up a bit more exciting. I was intrigued by one stall which seemed to be decorated with small houses, I could see they sold sweets even from a distance so went to have a look. The houses I went to see were actually edible Christmas decorations; handmade in gingerbread and exquisitely decorated with icing, marzipan and a selection of sweets – there were even tiny marzipan people inside the house, although you could only see these when you looked through the windows. I had to have one and was surprised when they were priced at just £4 as the workmanship which must have gone into assembling these houses was simply amazing. As I was paying the lady said that as they were freshly made they'd keep until around 1st January, but the tradition in her house is to eat them after Christmas dinner as apparently the ginger is very good for heartburn!
This was something I liked about the market, how friendly and helpful all the stall holders were. For some reason I was quite surprised when I realised that most of them were German (it IS a German market but I'd not made the connection…), but their English is impeccable and I had no difficulty at all with the language barrier. Particularly when looking at the cold food to take home I thought chatting to some of the stall holders was useful; I bought some uncooked sweet German pastries and would have just bunged them in the oven at home, but the lady selling them must have anticipated this and explained as she was giving me my change that they are best steamed for a few minutes and then shallow fried in butter. I can't imagine how bad they would have been if I'd cooked them my way but when I commented to her that I was intending to bake them she just laughed!
I found a lovely little sweet stall which looked just like the gingerbread house I'd just bought. Here there was a huge selection of sweets and goodies to choose from; traditional German biscuits, handmade fruit jellies, gingerbread, heavy fruit cakes which would easily serve as an excellent Christmas cake and lots more. I bought a bag of German broken biscuits for the kids' to share which cost £1.50 for a large bag full of these biscuits which were perfect apart from the fact that some of them were broken or smashed slightly. I also picked up a couple of trays of beautifully presented handmade marzipan flowers for Christmas presents (plus one for me!) and two massive bags of mixed German sweets.
So, munchies taken care of I was free to look around the rest of the market. I've still got a bit of Christmas shopping to do so thought I'd use the opportunity to look for out of the ordinary presents for the people I'm struggling to find inspiration for. Mooching about the stalls I noticed that the emphasis of the Frankfurt Market is on handmade goods. There are stalls selling beautiful handmade leather purses and bags, one selling purely wooden puppets, others stock a massive selection of candles and yet more have traditional German wooden toys. The one stall which impressed me the most was the one which sold soaps and toiletries. I'm a typical girl and love 'smellies' of any description, so as soon as I spotted the huge chunks of colourful soaps I made a beeline for the stall. I bought a bar of Orange & Ginger glycerine soap, Mulled Wine soap and White Chocolate & Festive Spices soap (all 100g for £3.50) and these were cut directly from the large 'wheels' of soap and carefully wrapped in cling film and tissue paper so they could be transported home safely.
I also looked around the wooden toys and they are all stunningly beautiful. I chose my sister a gorgeous handmade clown doll which was a bargain at £11; it's sculpted from a solid block of pale wood and all his features are made from smaller pieces of wood which have been painstakingly cut and painted to give an amazing end result. I also picked a silver chain up for my daughter which has an unusual pendant design and is so sparkly that I just know she's going to adore it on Christmas morning. An amazingly intricate nativity scene for underneath our Christmas tree completed my purchases and as soon as I got it home and the kids' saw it they said how beautiful it was. A definite good buy which I think will come out with the Christmas decorations for many years to come.
It's impossible for me to tell you everything housed in this large German market as there are nearly 100 stalls to get around. I'd definitely recommend a visit if you're in Birmingham before Christmas, and I'd go so far as to say that I think it's worth a trip even if you live further away. Make a day of it by visiting the market and then having a look at the nearby museum and art gallery. I was in the market for around 1 hour and spent just over £80, which sounds a lot to be spending on the spur of the moment but I arrived back home with no less than 9 carrier bags from the market and I don't think the prices here are any more expensive than if I'd gone to my usual shops and stores – the quality and unusualness of everything I bought today definitely makes the cost worthwhile for me.
The market is completely accessible to wheelchair users and people using mobility scooters. Birmingham is very aware of disabled people and as the market is completely outdoors it's easy to make use of the ramps and disabled facilities provided by Birmingham City Council. Finding the market is a piece of cake. From New Street train station or any of the major car parks you simply need to locate New Street and head along there to reach the sprawling market. It's signposted from most areas of the City Centre and any of the shops or stalls in Town will be able to point you in the right direction.
But do go, I promise you'll love it.
Frankfurt Christmas Market in Birmingham
New Street and Victoria Square
Birmingham
B3 3DQ"
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