Advent journey through the Ore Mountains along the Silver Route
- en roUTE
- Dec 31, 2024
- 3 min read
Updated: Jan 9
Experience a fabulous Christmas land
Christmas is a sensual time - especially in the Ore Mountains! This is when the windows are decorated and the house is transformed into a beautiful, cosy home.
The Ore Mountains showed us their beautiful winter side in white splendour. The snow crackled and the wind blew on the hill. The candles flickered on the tree - a dream. Our noses were cold along the Silver Road.
On the paths of my childhood, it harbours memories and a feeling of home. It tells of friendly people, the former silver mining, and the fairytale Christmas land. These childhood memories and rituals still characterise my understanding of the festivities today.
Advent journey Ore Mountain, along the Silver route:
The Ore Mountains - a World Heritage mining region in south-east Germany - have always been known for their very unique Christmas tradition. It offers in unmistakable manner what exists nowhere else - cosy markets, its own (miners‘) customs and miners’ parades, crafts steeped in regional tradition lace-making, fresh stollen, music from marching bands, incense smokers, nutcrackers...
Lovingly and magnificently decorated windows and front gardens capture the magic of the festive season. Such a romantic splendour of lights, Christmas trees, candle arches and pyramids is unprecedented anywhere in worldwide. The miners' custom of lighting up the dark season with candlelight is particularly celebrated at Christmas time.
Whether it's the ‘Erzgebirgsweihnacht’ in (A) Aue, the Festival of Lights in Schneeberg (‘Lichtlfest’), the romantic Christmas market in Schwarzenberg, one of the oldest markets in Lößnitz, handmade stars from Hartenstein, the original incense cones from (B) Crottendorf or "Huss Weihrichtkarzl" from Neudorf, the unique Christmas experience in (C) Annaberg-Buchholz, (E) the toy village Seiffen or (F) the silver city Freiberg - each place holds its very own magic.
If you want to experience the special Christmas flair of Ore Mountains in all its facets, the “Erzgebirgsensemble Aue” is the right door to the world of music, dance, word art and poetry (dialect), hearty conviviality and cosy Hutzenstub.
Old-established craft businesses and (also new) manufacturers wood-turn, carve and forge (all year round). Their created incense smokers, nutcrackers, candle arches, pyramids, miners and angels epitomise the Christmas decorations typical of The Ore Mountains, which also set the atmosphere far away from home.
The unique skills and creative passions often found expression in so-called Christmas mountains, which recreate the landscapes and living environments of the miners. They can be admired in museums in Schneeberg, Schwarzenberg and Annaberg-Buchholz, for example.
Despite being produced locally in the former GDR, the highly coveted goods were difficult to acquire and were therefore often used as barter goods (under-the-counter-good).
‘Made in the The Ore Mountains’ stands for high-quality craftsmanship and is conquering the world. It tells the story of the miners' lives: the candle arch was once an arch of lights above the entrance to the mine as a symbol of longing for daylight, which they did not get to see in winter.
Along the route are beautiful landscapes and opportunities for discoveries and hikes, such as the basalt columns and the mountain of Scheibenberg.
Let yourself be inspired by the fairytale Christmas traditions and the stories and its beauty fill you with wonder.
Information:
Duration of the route:
1 week, whereby some Christmas markets and especially the miners' parades take place on different weekends. The route can easily be combined with the Striezelmarkt in Dresden.
Accommodation:
Booking early is recommended, as The Ore Mountains are very popular during Advent, especially on the market and miners' parade weekends
The most beautiful Christmas markets and miners' parades:
Lichtlfest Schneeberg: 2nd Advent weekend, miners' parade on Sat. and Sun.
Schwarzenberg: 2nd and 3rd Advent weekend, big miners' parade on the 3rd Advent
Lößnitz: 3rd Advent weekend, 3rd Advent miners' parade
Annaberg Buchholz: over the entire Advent period, big miners' parade 4th Advent
Seiffen: throughout the Advent season, big miners' parade 3rd Advent Sat.
Knowledge:
The Silver Route through Germany leads from Zwickau to Dresden and brings the history of silver mining and historic trade routes tangibly closer.
Comments