on line d, w dot com, highlights blue, hello. i more and eternity time. it can be measured precisely. and yet each person experiences it differently as if there are different forms of time time, a phenomenon, a dimension and illusion. about time starts december 31st on d, w ah, ah, ah. hello and welcome to this special christmas edition of check in every year in december,

germany is transformed into a huge winter wonderland. almost every town opens at least one christmas market. everywhere you go, the air is filled with a scent of roasted almonds, sausages and mold wine. these days you'll find christmas markets all over the world, but its origins lie in german speaking nations. free corona, germany boasted, at least 3000 christmas markets. last year 2020 all the market stayed shut. now many have reopened, mainly in northern germany, where the case rate is currently lower than in the south. we take a look at 3 of the most gorgeous christmas markets of 2021. we take you along on a tour of christmas in cologne,

lew back and berlin. we reveal the art of crafting a hand made icon and dressed and stolen or fruitless. and we attempt to solve the mystery of the christmas pickle. is it a german or an american invention? ah, oh, we start off at the christmas market at cologne cathedral. the tree at the center of the square is 25 meters tall. it's surrounded by a canopy of lights comprising 70000 ellie deeds. this year the stand and machin, or star girls who help visitors are also carrying out spa checks. good evening were checking whether you are vaccinated or recovered the stand and mention and sure people abide by the corona, virus restrictions only. those who have been vaccinated against cove it or

recovered from it can visit the market and the costume girls scan people's proof of vaccination and issue stamps that are valid at cologne's other christmas markets to have a pleasant evening. by in this 2nd, pandemic, winter checks are essential. but how do people react to them that insulation? i mentioned about the markets i've worked. people have always welcomed checks in the not so far. no one has gotten upset or anything. with a stamp on your hand, you're ready to set off and see the sites. did you know that the christmas market that cologne cathedral is the largest in all of germany? before the corona virus outbreak for 1000000 visitors flocked here. and just for weeks this year, organizers expect only half as many guests, but that hasn't dampened to people's mood. this is on feel is

a lot less crowded than normal. you know, saying we come to the cologne christmas market once a year. there are fewer folks, but there's still a nice holiday mood. we wouldn't want to miss again, nothing. and this is my 1st time here. it's very quiet due to corona, but the atmosphere is really pleasant. as i use guns because that up hotel, always miscellaneous. i must say it's quite nice. i'd often puts you in a christmasy mood showing you the lights are nice, the music to let what i was a good variety of stalls. i mean, it's a, we get dinners, intervene and netherlands, but the german food is much nicer. its lot more soccer, which i'm very fond of. but i love the, the potato pancakes that they have here, syntactic and the, the, the, from luck from lex. yes, it's fantastic. yeah, and obviously the brought whereas the those grilled sausages, waffled, gingerbread and candy canes are classic treats sold at every german christmas

market. but cologne has things you won't find everywhere. you can have a photo taken with a left one under the mistletoe. maybe even steal a kid, according to british traditions that bring luck or by a love law. you can attach it to one of the bridges over the rhine and cologne, or somewhere closer to home, to show that your bond is everlasting. the mugs used to serve, mold wine or another nice souvenir. there is a new design every year. the taste of cologne's organic mold, wine also undergo subtle changes his own. i had went to a special about our mode wine is that we offer red, white and rosy varieties. excellent. my refined by a team from the christmas market that includes somebody for fi maps. mm. and what would christmas be without music? other cities may have cancelled their big on stage events,

but the people of cologne loved singing too much to do that even performing carnival songs at the christmas market. so join in and sing along. ah ah, here are the 3 things you really must do at cologne's christmas market. to take a photo under the mistletoe sample, some organic mold wine, catch a show and sing along loudly. ah, give german bakeries to operate at full capacity and run up to christmas. lou producing treats such as gingerbread from nuremberg, and at home,

and not forgetting tito from dresden. this fruit love usually sounds like hot cakes at the dresden sheets and mocked not this year though as the market remains shut. due to the corona of irish in a report from the archive we show you once again, how check in reporter luca steger learned some tricks of the trade from us teachers . baker, before the pandemic hit injuries nurse a very proud of this story. a cake like fruit bread this christmas specialty even gave the market its name. the old german word for showing it's only original stolen if it's baked in, one of the $150.00 bakery in and around please. and it has to have the steel of the shore protection association. i'm going to learn how to make

a real stone master bigger than krista is my boss. and i am his apprentice. oh, why is the stone protected damask should it has to be protected so that not any old baker and germany can call their fruitcake devised and stolen and blah pick when does f m b o? so we got the idea for this seal which heavy baker in this geographically protected area, again just hung up big old jack jackie, a coffee shop if it's lock is spot before they do for they have to ensure their quality meets our standards. inch placement went on for self installation, which ingredients have to be in. it is much one for the northeast original dresden christmas. stolen ingredients are always measured in relation to flour. fruit akilah, 8 to 500 grams of butter will come with a little smile. and i love them, yeah, we have a recipe that we have to follow from the 65 percent, sal tanis. we're sorry. 15 percent sweet and been alans and 25 percent. candid

lemon and orange peel. i'm shot if and fanciful 10th it's hard work. the other stolen has its price. josh does not sign and we had to earn. it will be no, him off me, always use the bowls of your hands. bend your fingers again and back again. what kinds longer? ya can exactly. it's me. use the bulls of your hands. yeah. like a massage yard. that why baker's as how healthy? like i oh, i think isn't that she should have said i don't think band is impressed with me. iowa. so sir, now we pulled the corners in and then finish it off, crashing it together, loose through it to sun. but i always thought i'm not a natural annika discount will manage in whitmore keep rolling it and pull it always rolling. what does it by itself aligned to the deli next, the next please boom with us. it doesn't take a lot of effort. and matthew, did we dropped dead on to $500.00 stolen a day,

almost done so thick that these are 8 low. so he's taking his out of the island so we can put am sam, your class? i'm cheap. making stone is good exercise 1.8 kilograms in each n him of nit darby around time. her this is the final product. ours just needs the finishing touches, more butter. buffalo washed off, pops, pushed off when it was land, the radio blackened phone to the i'll show you that action a bunch of people that i bar on the side little map is a long form of ill. and the grand finale icing sugar girth. that's enough. sugar's girdle was, but too much in so unhealthy. good, a synthetic as far as his valet,

since an original dresden stolen horn from the l may by the apprentice. ah, our next stop is the historic old town of lou back home to one of the oldest christmas markets in northern germany. it was 1st mentioned in historical documents from the mid 17th century. we don't know precisely what the styles were offering back then, but we can tell you what lou baxa tops these. no sellers are to day from western germany we had nor to lu back. the holton gate is the hands, the attic cities, most famous landmark. it's image can be found all over lou back christmas market. ah, the medieval old town provides the perfect backdrop for festive events. yet things are much quieter here than in cologne. the city band all stage shows to prevent

large gathering and has been produced strict safety measure. how much do they do back decided to impose a mosque mandate in the, in a city and visit the market? is it is, must be either vaccinated against it or have recovered from it. they must present their id and approve the vaccination or try infection by can the, the knock life. so there's a high level of security. i've got something are visitors and operators really value in times like these safety play such a big role? this is another factor which contributes to that sense of safety. is that this year there are simply far fewer visitors ah, in the blue that is an old trading and seafaring city that's always been well connected internationally. maybe that's why visitors come from all over the i come from sweden time from cuba. i'm

from venezuela and i come from brazil. i'm from thailand. also from brazil. wine national, the round of mold wine among friends, though in lou back, you should also give the foyer sung and bow and a try. but beware, it's alcohol content is quite high. on the, on the phone at some point sang and boiler is the sugarloaf on top. it's soak in hyper rum and then bait until the sugar life is melted from the recipe. red wine, orange. look, you have certain spices, i rum and mall. why he was the only one in vine. there's nothing like a mug of foiled song and bowl to warm your heart on cold days. with

a trip to lubbock at christmas time just wouldn't be as sweet without a visit to cafe in need of a guy. here you can get a taste of the festive holiday confection, lou back his famous for mars of han monte pong. the state of if marson pan consists mainly of 2 ingredients, f, a. c, almon pot and sugar. lots upon yet sustain we and neither egg. i still make it the traditional way, guns i and tati said that he gives the mars a pan that roasted aroma west. we still roasted in old copper kettles and i in west caisson glister. then we add a secret ingredient, my client as to which i can't reveal it exist perhaps. but a small exhibition does reveal the firm's history. in 18 o, 6, johan georg, anita aga, opened a cafe. soon afterwards, he started to make mars upin often pressing it into moulds like these and this

is his original recipe. though, unfortunately, the secret ingredient is written on the back. mars the pan can be formed into virtually any shape, like these live sized figures, for instance. incidentally, the man with a top hat is johan georg, neither vega himself, there's even a replica of lou backs old town made almost entirely of martha pan. so these are the 3 must do that lu backs christmas mar. samples on lou back mars. upin sipped some boiled song and bola and enjoy the flare of the old town with german christmas. markets are

also a great place to find tree decorations and not all of them traditional christmas pickles. for example, this is a trend that comes over to us from the united states. the pickles are really popular. they're apparently because they're thought of as typically german, but you won't find them on many trees here. d w reporter halle rollinson, set out to solve the christmas pickle. mystery. ah, yes, the christmas pickle. a beloved in time under german tradition, at least that's what i was told. but i'm in berlin at cody b. germany's biggest department store and i can't find a single one in these christmas trees. are all the pay. oh, but luckily i brought my own. but let me back up where i come from united states.

many people think that all germans hang a single pickle on their 1st mystery. even many american families follow this so called german tradition. so according to this tradition, the 1st person to find the christmas pickle on the christmas tree, yet an extra gift. but to be honest, i haven't seen or heard of a single christmas pickle in germany since i've lived here. so i'm going to ask some germans during their christmas shopping if they have heard of it. peg indeed. are you, hey, a christmas pickle on your christmas tree. this year i not so stout. that must be a tradition elsewhere. it's not a german tradition. would pardon me. do you mean a crime? strong cucumber is not my favorite vegetable music. christmas bunker versus pickles . no one wants a christmas picking up will give, wanted to you wouldn't even had to explain it to santa and germany. in fact, 12016 survey found that 91 percent of germans had never heard of it. so if this tradition isn't german, where does it come from?

and how did it end up in the united states? with a little christmas magic, i'm headed to the small german mountain village of now share in their india to explore that a bit more. if any one knows the origin of a particular glass ornament, it's the people of lucia. they've been blown glass, harrison's 1597 and producing ornament since the mid 19th century class blemish ion holland is the 4th generation to take over his family christmas ornament. business. he hand makes and sells glass ornaments, including the christmas pickle to buyers worldwide. but actually he only learned about the tradition in recent years on a visit to california. i was asked and also you also make christmas pickle. thanks . i just laughed. but then someone else asked the same question until a 3rd, and i started wondering what is it with these christmas pickles? of answer one, explain that it's tradition of germany. it's hang a pickle on your christmas tree, and that is,

every american knows. this was modeling. nobody in germany doses cried little girl that made him curious. so he came home to search through his grandfather's glass molds from the 19 thirty's shop. not even my found this gurkin windows since then we've been producing these glass pickles. oh, now he sells pickle. ornaments to customers in places like japan, norway, switzerland, and of course the united states. but if he just learned about this, tradition, them, where did the story start? well, there are handful legend surrounding the origin of the christmas pickle. one sense that a prison guard took pity in a starving german born soldier during the american civil war and allowed him to eat a single pickle. with this act of kindness, he was able to survive and began hanging a pickle on the street each year. ah, some say it was this man frank w woolworth, who needed a gimmick when he began importing ornaments from germany to the u. s. in 1880 s. but maybe i need to ask someone who knows this christmas town the best. so i'm

meeting lough, shamir, nor but sits man at elliott spoke last winter, founded in 1853. this is the oldest, still existing glassford in town, mister mayor. do you know the tradition of the christmas pickle? if it's irma, why not school go home? we were confused, assistant christmas pickle up. what's that? that's what we learned that a broaden people are convinced that the christmas pickle is an essential german christmas item made. and lucia is personally, i think some clever marketing guy invented this. one site is opposite since families, although she has been making glass pickle, square feet, simply because foreigners believe it's a local specialty, was of motor contrast to kroger. okay, so i still don't have an exact answer, but there might still be hope. i'm going to talk to gary ross, a local who came across the pickle tradition in his research for a magazine and marcia glass. so what can you tell us about the history of the christmas pickle help be? she knocked off washed. i did some research and found out that

a some family gutter tradition of giving that person. i'm found the special christmas tree decoration on the tree. the 1st are largest keshawn thus coast, although asked the getting to the dark. that's how the christmas pic astoria originated her. why not squiggle mock? so we may never know exactly where this pickle to listen comes from. but it certainly is a little bit of fun. and me, one day the germans will know what i'm talking about, but until then, i have an idea i our christmas theme tour of germany reaches berlin. the streets and squares of the capital are festooned with twinkling lights. and most of the cities christmas markets are open again. this year too. we counted more than 40. we take you along to the christmas market and friend of the red city hall in the downtown district of

meter. berlin is the 3rd stop on our christmas tour. this year there are more than 40 christmas markets open in the capital. the one in front of the hood is hot house or red city hall in the district of meta is one of the prettiest. like every year visitors can lace up their skates and glide around the neptune fountain. the only thing missing the daily shows normally performed here but another crowd favorite is back again. the 50 meter tall ferris wheel. it's panoramic gondolas are heated, so riders stay nicely warm and have a view over the whole market. in berlin, everything's a bit larger than life,

like this huge christmas pyramid. it was crafted in the ask of bigger or, or mountains in the state of saxony, an area known for its traditional christmas ornaments. here, miners, wood carvings, reflected their longing for light. handicrafts from the ants gabby ago are sold at many markets, including in berlin. these are pyramids, incense, smokers, known as white mention, and even figures of the miners themselves. another well known motif is this little church. does this year decide his, his life and charge a motif used in many things, a guns on candle arches in pyramids. o, as the pyramid itself dies, ivan is effectively the capital of the ascii banga on and the way of st. james, the salt root, the silver road, these old cross ins, if'n dubious closet. that's likely why this little church is as famous as cologne

cathedral india. by nickos is overwhelmed. villa coronado. ah many germans place these candle arches by their windows at christmas. they're called sped bogan, after the german word for floating. here's why it does this in. it's to do with the minus sign onto. they came out of the mine that hang them minus lamps over the n trojan. back mother thing that made it look like have floating, illuminated arms shaven when done also. that's where the shape okens shape came from. and stunning. who'd have thought that old traditions would play such a big role at a berlin christmas market today? but there's more you can even watch an artist, blacksmith at work, or find hand made jewelry. if you still need to buy a christmas present or to and

of course in berlin, we checked out a mold wine stand on your behalf. here they also serve, mean like the celts once drank them. it is me just a honey wine that's been around for 3000 years because the kind we have this year is dry and stronger than usual. it always depends on the honey that's used. one is still of an adult. if you think you're seeing things after a couple of glasses, that's not because of the me. santa claus really is flying over the christmas market. live and in person here in berlin. oh you're 3 must dues for the christmas market by berlin city hall. take a ride on the ferris wheel. marvel at wood art from the ants could be ago and

try some me. oh, but santa claus always has the last word. for right merry christmas felice navi button ah ah ah, ah, with

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