Every year, it’s the first to open its chalets to visitors: the Esch-sur-Alzette Christmas market has opened its doors in Place de l’Hôtel de Ville on Friday 17 November. KACHEN took the opportunity to bring you a sneak preview of this Christmas market.
As you leave the car park at Esch town hall, the lift takes you straight to the heart of the event: its doors open onto a chalet of jumpers and Christmas outfits. This is Rui Costa’s stand. Here you’ll find colourful jumpers for end-of-year parties with colleagues or friends, and outfits for younger children. “We start at 6 months, with bodysuits, and then we have all ages for children, right up to adults”, explains the man who used to have a stall at the market fifteen years ago, before moving on to Differdange and back to Esch four years ago.
From fondue to Mettwurst
On the side, in front of the town hall, there are, as always, chalets for gourmets: the famous Swiss “rendez-vous”, where you can indulge in raclette or fondue, and the traditional stall, where you can devour Knidellen, sauerkraut, Mettwurst and other currywurst. These are historic figures for this market, which this year welcomes 26 stallholders, seven more than last year. Elsewhere on the market, there are other delicatessen stops to discover.
The tallest pyramid in Luxembourg
The Glühwein Pyramid is a must for many visitors and regulars of the market. For Daniel, 43, it’s a tradition: “Every year, with family or friends, this is where I come to drink my mulled wine,” he says, a mug in his hand.
“It’s now the tallest in Luxembourg at 20 metres!” explains Frank Roos, the owner, whose family has been trading in Christmas markets for 7 generations and has been present in Esch for seventeen years!
Mulled wine and Christmas mugs
Here, you can warm up in the chalet on the ground floor, and drink your Roude Glühwain (red mulled wine) in Esch-sur-Alzette branded mugs or the more traditional ones in Christmas colours, as well as a Wäisse Glühwain (white mulled wine), and a non-alcoholic Kannerpunch to share this festive moment with the children. Don’t forget to return the cup if you don’t want to take it home! The deposit is €4.
Warm and tasty gifts
In the aisles of the market, which will be regularly enlivened by concerts until Friday 22 December, when it closes, you will also find scarves, hats, cuddly toys of all sizes and small toys like Pia’s, who has come from Lac de la Haute-Sûre to exhibit at the Esch market for the first time.
A little further on, members of the ASBL Schëtter Nössmaart have set up shop in a large chalet where the atmosphere is friendly and warm: “We are a charity organisation,” explains chairman René Marx. For the last twelve years, we’ve been selling a whole selection of products at the Esch Christmas market, including pâtés, sausages, liqueurs and other treats, as well as homemade mulled wine. At the counter, customers seem to be enjoying their finds.
A family moment
And every year, this market, which is also intended to be a family experience, offers angling, as well as a trip back in time, with the magnificent Huard carousel… At the cash desk, Marie-Rose, 70, is in charge of the tickets. Noting that purchasing power has declined, “people don’t buy batches of tickets any more, they just buy a €3 ticket…”, she has been a regular visitor to the Place de l’Hôtel-de-Ville for the past fifteen years, with its merry-go-round from another era.
A carousel from 1870
“It dates back to 1870, to the time of my husband’s great-grandfather. The canvas ceiling is still original, and so are some of the copper columns”, says with pride the woman who, since the death of her husband last year, has had to manage everything on her own. “But I only do this market,” explains the Verdun resident. So this will be the only time this year that you’ll be able to take a ride on the carousel, riding horses, elephants, pigs, dogs and chickens, and dreaming a little longer before Santa arrives…
Sunday to Thursday 12 noon to 8pm and Friday and Saturday 12 noon to 10pm.
Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday, concerts from 4pm.
Pictures: KACHEN
