Quedlinburg Castle at Sundown. This and all photos taken in December 2012
The next stop on the 2012 Christmas market tour is Quedlinburg. Situated on the Bode River at the foot of the Harz Mountain region in western Saxony-Anhalt, Quedlinburg at first may be a typical town that had survived 40 years of East German Communist rule and seemed to be neglected even after the Berlin Wall fell in 1989 and Germany was reunified a year later. One can see signs of neglect and deterioration when passing through many towns in the region, unless they underwent massive modernization altering its identity. It is noticeable when stepping onto the platform at the train station and averting the train station building, as parts of it have deteriorated to a point where they have been closed off to the public. Yet if many home-making and children’s magazines have recommended visiting Quedlinburg because of its Christmas markets, then the town must have a gem somewhere for people to see, right?
Quedlinburg Train Station: in need of renovations
Crossing the Bahnhofsbruecke over the Bode and walking 10 minutes into the historic city center, one can see why it is a must to visit the Christmas market. Every year, the town of 25,000 inhabitants hosts the Christmas market, but based on an unusual style one will rarely see in Germany. Every weekend in the Advent season, the Adventsmarkt in den Hoefen (advent market in the courtyard) takes place, with local residents displaying and selling handcrafted goods to people looking for a perfect Christmas gift and local delicacies to those hosting a family feast on Christmas Eve. This year’s event took place in the courtyards of 24 houses and market squares throughout the historic city center. For those wondering why this is the case, there is a reason and it has a historic twist to it.
Quedlinburg, as a town, has existed since the 9th Century, and much of the architecture that was first built by Henry the Fowler, his wife Saint Mathilda and his successor Otto the Great, and later expanded throughout the Medieval Period still exists to this day, as the town survived almost entirely unscathed in World War II. Among the architecture that has survived the test of time are the Fachwerk-houses, the houses whose interior is supported by a truss skeleton that can be seen from the outside. A truss is a series of triangular sides which if fastened together form or support certain architecture, like a bridge or skyscraper. Some sources claimed that the first truss was invented in Italy in the 1600s, yet that has been bluffed for such architecture, found in houses like the ones in Quedlinburg, date as far back as the 1300s. Almost all of the architecture in Quedlinburg consist of the Fachwerk style truss design, the houses are usually formed together, making it big enough to fit three families plus belongings on average. They have been restored to their original form and every year at Advent time, families and owners of these houses open their doors to the tourists and showcase their home and the work they do, whether it is making Christmas trees from a tree branch (as seen in the pictures below) or selling local goat and deer meet and sausages with some seasonings in there to make it tasty. Some have fancy displays for people to see. In the case of one courtyard, a loyal fan of the German Railways even had a Bord Restaurant and café for people wanting to have the sense of eating on the train. The Bord Restaurant can be found on all ICE-trains. If one wants to try anything that is typical of the region, the town is the place to do it, for Quedlinburg is at the crossroads between agriculture, mountains and anything Medieval and everything sold at the Advent market is typical of the town and the region.
Quedlinburg represents a fine example of a rural community that prides itself on local goods and never embraces in the more commercialized goods, especially at the bigger Christmas markets in the big cities, like Dresden, Nuremberg and Frankfurt. There is a certain belief that if one wants to sell something, it must be self-made and have the highest quality, even if they are made in low quantities. It is not a necessity to mass produce in order to make the quickest dollar possible, for even though such methods are possible, the people will be turned off by products that are made in haste and doctored in a way that it looks good on the outside, but never satisfies the person on the inside because of the lack of appearance and taste. It is better to strive for high quality and not worry about profits, for in the end people will talk about the experience they had and spread the word instead of just saying “Been there, nothing too spectacular.” When visiting the courtyards and stands at the Adventsmarkt in Quedlinburg, one will definitely experience the feeling of home, when seeing the products being made and sold by the locals. In many cases, Quedlinburg serves as a place where creativity is born or reborn, giving visitors an incentive to starting their own local business, creating and selling local products for others to enjoy. If one wants to be creative, then it is highly recommended to spend a day at the Adventsmarkt in Quedlinburg, talk to people and take something with to use as a starting point.
Quedlinburg is a must-see place for those traveling through Germany and not knowing where to visit (apart from the big cities). Especially in the winter time, where most of the activities take place. Apart from the Advent market, there are winter festivals taking place in February. In the summer time, one can stay at one of the Fachwerk-houses and witness farm life, which includes horseback riding, hiking, biking, etc. In terms of its architecture and history, one can see the historic old town and the castle, all of which have been nominated as part of UNESCO’s World Heritage since 1994. But at Christmas time, if one wishes for something special, Quedlinburg is the place to be, for each of the courtyards have a different theme, each to one’s liking, and when visiting the Advent market, one will come away with something special to share with others. There is something special about Quedlinburg and Christmas which makes it worth visiting, even if it’s just for a day’s visit.
Here are some photos of the Advent Market in Quedlinburg, with a Flensburg Files Frage for the Forum with regards to one of the pictures. Our last stop on the tour is Halle (Saale) and a pair of questions about the town are also found at the end of the article. In the meantime, enjoy the pictures of the Advent Market:
Photos:
Christmas tree being made of a tree branch at the Blue Star Courtyard at the Adventsmarkt……
…and after it was completed and put on display to be bought.
Blue Star Courtyard, one of 24 courtyards that you can see while at the Adventsmarkt
Market Square and City Hall, one of 24 Courtyards at the Adventsmarkt. Here, one can get a tour of the town by bus or try the various food specialties.
Rows upon rows of Fachwerk houses along Marktstrasse, with the St Nicolas Cathedral in the background
Quedlinburger Hof near Carl-Ritter-Strasse at the entrance to Word Garden: one of the largest and oldest of the Fachwerk-houses in the old town. It also has the largest of the Adventmarket stands.
Another example of what can be found in Quedlinburg: half-timbered houses, a cousin of the Fachwerk-houses. This one is found along Word Creek at the entrance to Quedlinburger Hof near Carl-Ritter-Strasse
Another example of a Fachwerk house in Quedlinburg’s old town: Hotel Zur Hoelle (Hint: think of Dante’s Inferno) because of its color. Inside you will find another Adventsmarkt courtyard with various stands
Wordhaus Restaurant at the border to the old town and Word Garden: one of many examples of a finely restored Fachwerk house.
Christmas tree with man-made ornaments
Frage for the Forum:
Can you guess what this tower is, how old it is and what it is used for? It is found at the Quedlinburger Hof near Carl-Ritter Strasse and has a history of its own:
Please place your answers in the comment section. The question will also be posted on the Facebook site bearing the name: Flensburg Files by Monday 14 January. The answer will be provided then…..
The last stop on the tour is Halle (Saale), which will be presented next Monday. The question for the forum is the following:
1. What world renowned musician originated from Halle (and it is NOT Johann Sebastian Bach), and
2. What else is Halle famous for, apart from its Christmas market?
Again, place your answers here as well as in the Facebook section. The answers will surprise you.
Note: The Bridgehunter’s Chronicles is looking for information on Quedlinburg’s historic bridges for there are plenty that exist in and around the city center, but little or no information on it. A link to the article can be found here.
Blogging behind the scenes….
From the Classroom:
When you receive this article, I will be soaking in another session of a seminar called “Mind the App,” a class being offered for students and those interested in knowing how to use apps in the classroom, a topic that will be discussed in a later article. Before digging into this topic: how many of you have your own blog or know what a blog is in comparison to the internet? And in your opinion, what is the role of the news media in response to the blogs that are growing in numbers?
I have to admit, I didn’t know about blogs until a friend of mine (who runs a blog herself at Forum Communications) introduced me to it in the Fall of 2010, in response to a series of photos I had posted on facebook that were in connection with my trip to the US and my involvement at the 2nd annual Historic Bridge weekend in Pittsburgh. And it fitted me perfectly, for another friend of mine (a pontist and Pittsburghian) had previously hinted that I should consider starting a website of my own. But if you want to know in the simplest terms what a blog is, here it is:
A blog is like a column. Think of the columns that had existed, like Dear Abby or Julie and Julie, a blog that dealt with the cooking of Julie Childs by Julie Powell, or the present ones like SidCast, a sportsblog hosted by Sid Hartman of the Star Tribune, Kaitlin O’shea-Healy’s “Preservation in Pink” or “Oh! A Shiny Thing!” written by Kari Lucin of the Jamestown Sun (part of the Forum family). They are all written by one author, who is also the sole administrator, photographer and (if you allow guest columnists/bloggers) editor, and whose content has but one purpose: to inform people of the themes that one normally cannot find in regular streamline news media. And if you construct your blog to your liking, you’ll most likely have some followers that will read your posts.
There are many advantages to blogging: It is easy and cheap to open a blog. In addition, you can design your own template without having a web provider do it for you. Speaking from experience of other websites, opening a website may be expensive, even if you have someone build it for you, which may be to your disliking. In addition to that, you can add some apps by yourself for little or no costs incurred on you. For this online column, together with sister column The Bridgehunter’s Chronicles, they have the most commonly-used apps you can add on for free, but the others that are available can be added for a small fee. But most importantly, after finding the template to your liking and adding the headers on your dashboard and widgets on the sidebars for people to easily access, you can go ahead and start blogging, keeping in mind that you are not only the sole writer, but also the sole editor. That means if a mistake is noticed by you or the reader, you have the right to correct it without having to publish a correction for the next edition of a newspaper or magazine. And if you have the right touch, the right agenda, and the right audience, you may end up having thousands of followers in no time.
If I was to look at the two online columns I’ve had for almost three years, the Flensburg Files has focused on topics that deal with German culture and German-American issues, which includes topics like German-named villages in the USA, the Christmas markets, and places to visit, which have been well-received by the readers. This includes articles extending from a Christmas market in Halle (Saale) to the future of Round Lake in Minnesota after Sather’s Candy Company left town. As for the Bridgehunter’s Chronicles, many topics on historic bridges and ways to preserve them have spawned conversations and comments, most of which have supported alternatives to wasteful demolition for modernized structures and scrap metal, as seen in the last Chronicles’ article on Bellaire Bridge in Ohio. But we also have seen some interest in tours of the bridges in the regions, whether it was in Magdeburg (Germany) or Booneville, New York. If you find a theme that is of your interest and can attract people, then you can create it.
The downside to online column can be divided up into two segments: the internal aspects and the external aspects. Internally, you need to be aware of the amount of space available for you to post your comments, graphics and photos. That means you cannot post a 3MB pic onto your article or your space will be full before you know it. Without having to shrink your photo size to a point where it’s unreadable, between 200gB and 400gB is sufficient enough for you to post a pic that is readable. An alternative to this is to try photo websites, like flickr, panaramio or even Pininterest and link your photos there to your article you post on your blog. I have done this since last year for both online columns for that sole reason and has worked out well. The other problem is you need to keep up with your blog for two reasons: 1. It will increase your chances to being popular and open doors to opportunities you never dreamed of before if you post on a regular basis and with high quality articles and 2. At least a thousand blogs spring up every day and there are over 160 million blogs in use today, which means your blog is like your “Hour of Fame” flower- it is only popular for a short period of time and if not maintained on a regular basis, it becomes a thing of the past in a short time, to a point where no one really reads it. The other problem with blogging is what critic Andrew Keen calls the Amateur Effect and is in connection with a theory conducted by T.H. Huxley with a group of monkeys. There, the monkeys were presented with a typewriter and one in seven used it to create their own form of artwork. Keen considers the use of social networks and other mechanisms, like the blog as one that is operated by millions of monkeys as they can present something that can either blur the credibility of mainstream media or create dangers to themselves and others because of the lack of experience they have with them. Many people have lost their jobs or were forced to destroy their blogs by their employers for their content was considered inappropriate to them, even though the writers have considered them innocent. This has lead to many people to create a code of conduct for people with online blogs to abide by. This includes not having online debates but to talk directly with the people involved, restraining themselves with regard to language, reporting people who abuse their blogs or try to insult your blog in any way, and lastly take responsibility for your articles you post- change somethings that are deemed inappropriate or leave them out altogether, and always TELL THE TRUTH. This is something that mainstream news media has to do everyday and it is also expected from a blogger.
In the almost three years I’ve been a columnist for both Flensburg and Bridgehunter, I’ve never had to put up with that, but have put up with numerous SPAM (a topic to be discussed leter) and a couple comments deemed inappropriate. Yet as I have full control over the two, I also have the power to delete them before even considering adding them in the comment section. But for the most part, both columns have picked up a substantial amount of readers resulting in the addition of groups on facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and most recently, Pininterest, with additional apps to come thanks to some that came to my attention most recently and I’m playing around with even as I write this. Already, Bridgehunter was one of the first blogs that was launched in connection with historic bridges and has been taking the lead in news and discussions involving this topic. Flensburg serves as a tool for people wanting to know more about German-American topics in the English language, encouraging more and more people to embrace the respective cultures with more topics to come.
This leads to the last question: If anyone asked me for advice about blogging, I would ask them the following questions: 1. What theme would you use your blog for? 2. Who is your target audience? and 3. How would you design it to make it attractive and what apps would you use to capture the readers’ attention? These were the questions I had when I started Bridgehunter and Flensburg, but if you can answer these questions and structure it to make it reader friendly, then you are all set. Just keep the blog clean to keep yourself and others out of trouble, maintain it regularly, and market it to attract your followers and in the end, you will have a successful blog, or online-column, as I call mine. Who knows? You may open the doors to new opportunities you never dreamed of….
Author’s Note: Both the Files and the Chronicles may receive some guest columnists in the coming weeks who have never tried blogging before but would like to give it a try. Stay tuned in that department.