Handschuhsheim Weihnacts Markt

The Handschuhsheim Weihnacts Markt was held from Friday Dec. 5 to Sunday Dec. 7 and was inside the Tiefberg. Many of the vendors are local vendors such as Sven and the Tiefburg Bookstore. There was only one stand serving Wursts and 3 places serving Gluwein, plus lots of toys and crafts and such, including the guy who sells honey at the farmers market on Saturdays.

The Markt is much smaller than the Heidelberg Markt and the venue is also different. The Tiefburg is a small fort made from stone and is several centuries old. There is an outer wall made from local stone and on the interior there is a ‘castle’ in the center with a yard all around it. The inside of the wall has a raised walkway and a roof. The ground floor is taken up mostly with food vendors and tables.

Sven had a table set up where he was serving Gluwein and selling wines. He had told me earlier in the week that his Gluwein was going to be better than what you would usually get because he was going to use a nicer wine and his own mixture of spices. I believe that he did an excellent job. The wine was very good and the spices he used were much more subtle and tasty than that which you usually get. Sven has told me that most wine used for Gluwein you would not want to drink on its own, but it needs to be heated and to have sugar added before being palatable. While the wine that Sven uses is not a fine wine, it is good enough that you can drink it on its own. During the 3 day Weihnacts Markt, Sven made over 160 liters of Gluwein.