The holiday season has hit in Berlin, which means you can find approximately 5000 Weihnachtsmärkte (Christmas Markets) with every theme and variety in Berlin! It’s cold and dark now, so we might as well get some Glühwein (Hot Mulled Wine) out of it, right?!
Below is a summary of some of the Christmas markets I’ve been to so far and what I found for vegans.
Holy Shit Shopping
I’m not sure if this is officially a Christmas market, but there was mulled wine and the like so it counts. This market was HUGE and in a really cool space that used to be a former power station. It was three flours, the top floor was mostly clothing and jewelry, the middle food and drinks and the bottom other art like prints, plates, furniture, etc. Most if not all from local designers.
For food offerings, there were a few vegan options. At the very top of this post is some Brazilian street food from Tapiocaria, who offered a vegan savory option of their tapiocas. It’s a sort of crepe made from manioc and filled with a soy filled with herbs, actually something I’d never had before and it was quite tasty! This one had soy sauce so it wasn’t gluten-free, but it says on their flyer they also offer gluten-free options sometimes too.
Winterpunsch – hot apple cider with a kick
One of the winter things I miss post from America is hot apple cider, so I was excited to realize it just goes my a different name here, in this case “Winterpunsch”, but also sometimes “Apfelpunsch”. This winterpunch was super delicious, nicely spiced and rather alcoholic. For 4€ it seemed like a lot, but it was quite delicious.
I also tasted some delicious alcohol at one of the stands on the ground floor. A company called O’Donnell offers moonshine in an original flavor and a Bratapfel flavor. I tried the Bratapfel and it was freaking delicious. You can find their website here. They also have an online shop. Bratapfel is a German winter time dessert made from baked apples stuffed with chocolate and marzipan, so this was its alcoholic form. In case you want to make your own real Bratapfel, you can read my Bratapfel recipe here. Super easy and delish!
Korean Komchi Tofu Tacos
I also tried some of these Korean street food fusion creations finally for the first time. These Tofu Kimchi tacos were served in half a pita bread and were super delicious, really fresh tasting with lots of fresh herbs. These were from a company called Son Kitchen and I asked to confirm if the tofu version was vegan and they said yes.
There was also another stand I saw offering a vegan soup with coconut milk that I didn’t try.
As for non-food, my favorite stand I stumbled across was called Wennn…Geschirrgeschichten, whose online Dawanda store you can find here. She takes old vintage plates, cups, tea kettles, like the kind you use at tea parties with the cold around the edge, etc. and then paint cute little animals on top of them. I absolutely want to buy some tea cups once I move to my new place.
Length of line: Medium, but went fast
Entrance fee: 4€
Dates: 6-7 December 2014
Closest Station: Heinrich-Heine Straße (U8)
Japanese Christmas Market (Japanischer Weihnachtsmarkt)
This Japanese Christmas market was super cute but SO CROWDED. I don’t think they expected as many people to come, so we didn’t stay super long. We got in around 1:30 pm and a lot of the food was already sold out. They also had a bunch of dumplings, sushi and noodles, some that was vegan, as well as live performances, sumo wrestling anyone could do with these giant suits, etc. I would have absolutely stayed longer if it hadn’t been so packed, but it was hard to walk anywhere.
Soy Matcha Latte
I did manage to swing by and grab this soy matcha latte from a stand called Macha Macha before left though! Hopefully now that they know there’s interest there will be a bigger venue next year!
Length of line: Veryyyy long
Entrance fee: 2-5€ sliding scale
Dates: 7 December 2014
Closest Station: Warschauer Straße (U1, M10, S8, S41/42/7/75, etc.)
Holy Heimat
Holy Heimat is the Christmas version of Neue Heimat, which is a market every Sunday. The space is great and the stands are mostly food-focused, which I prefer. I also got some hot apple cider with whiskey here (Apfelpunsch). It’s three big buildings and an outside area with fires in barrels, used to be abandoned warehouses I think and they put up lots of lights and it looks really cool. I like the place in general so the Christmas version was great too!
Vegan Noodle Soup
Loving Hut had a stand here, which was interesting as I don’t think Berlin even has a Loving Hut restaurant. This vegan noodle soup was great though and I watched them cut and boil the fresh noodles right in front of me, pour over some broth and then add fresh herbs. Worth the 5€. Yum!
There was also other vegan options if you just poke around. There was a Mexican Street food stand, some Vietnamese ones, I saw a sign for Vegan Cupcakes and some delish looking sweet potato fries, etc.
Length of line: Short or none
Entrance fee: 2€
Dates: 27 November – 21 December 2014 (Sat and Sun until midnight)
Closest Station: Warschauer Straße (U1, M10, S8, S41/42/7/75, etc.)
Green Christmas Market
Of course, for vegans there is also the Green Christmas Market, which is Berlin’s first all vegetarian and vegan Christmas market. I still haven’t been, but I plan to go soon! I heard it’s small, but I think it’s another situation where there is way more interest than they expected, so good that we show support so that it’s bigger next year.
Length of line: Unsure
Entrance fee: 2€
Dates: 30 November – 21 December 2014 (Sundays 2-10pm)
Closest Station: Treptower Park (S41/42/8/85/9/46, Bus 166/167/265)
Alt-Rixdorfer Weihnachtsmarkt
This is advertised as a more traditional Christmas market and I quite like it. They have a couple stands I spotted selling vegan baked goods, lots of different types of hot wine, lots of warm knit stuff, chocolate and marzipan stands and a lot of others things. Everything at the market is handmade. Plus, it’s free! More info here (only in German).
Length of line: None
Entrance fee: free!
Dates: 5 – 7 December 2014
Closest Station: Rathaus Neukölln (U7)
There you have it, lots more to attend as Berlin is Christmas market crazy at the moment!
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