Rothenburg Christmas

The Weihnachtsmarkt is one of many Christmas fairs held across Germany during Advent each year.

Rothenburg's is not one of the largest, but its medieval setting - in a square beside the Rathaus - makes it one of the most charming.

Unlike the giant fairs in Nurnberg and Munich, this one feels small-town.

Booths sell hand-made ornaments, small gifts and traditional Christmas foods - hard candies, gingerbread, bratwurst, mugs of mulled spiced wine called gluhwein, and a local specialty, leberkase - a kind of homemade SPAM in a bun.

Food prices are low, so a strolling meal at the Christmas market is a bargain as well as a winter delight.

Don't miss Kathe Wohlfahrt's Christmas stores, which face each other across the Herrngasse about a block from the Marktplatz.

These stores, the larger focused on glass ornaments, the smaller on traditional woodcarvings, are virtual museums of German Christmas-iana, worth seeing even if you don't buy.

The owners pioneered year-round Christmas merchandising in Germany, and their Rothenburg Christmas stores remain the country's most extensive. Prices are high but the goods are top quality.

Rothenburg - Christmas Market