merry christkindl...photography • christkindl market and dieter heller indoors at christkindl, the...

NOVEMBER I DECEMBER 2015 GRAND 59

CHRISTKINDL

STARRY NIGHT

CHRISTMAS MEMORIES

Holiday Triple Treat

NOVEMBER I DECEMBER 2015 GRAND 6160 GRAND NOVEMBER I DECEMBER 2015

BY CORAL ANDREWS

PHOTOGRAPHY • COURTESY OF CHRISTKINDL MARKET

When Tony Bergmeier was a young lad

growing up in Munich, Germany, one of his

fondest childhood memories was celebrat-

ing Christmas in the city square with his

family and friends.

It was an Old World wonderland, with

everything from dazzling live entertainment

to mouth-watering seasonal treats.

In 1996, the City of Kitchener was looking

for ways to enliven a struggling downtown

core. Bergmeier approached council with

a Canadian vision of his idyllic childhood

Christmas. And as Kitchener, formerly

Berlin, possessed a strong German heritage,

collaborations began for the creation of a

new city centre festival.

Bergmeier visited many markets through-

out Waterloo Region to find vendor pals.

He asked them if they would come to

support him at the first Christkindl. He also

invited several musical friends to provide

live entertainment, eventually recruiting 45

vendors and several regional performers.

“Kitchener was such a great fit,” says

Astrid Braun, president of Christkindl

Market. “The reason for this German

market is for the vendors to share, exchange

things and sell food. And we are known for

our markets,” she says.

So people came to Kitchener City Hall

curious to experience their first “Christ-

kindlmarkt,” originally called “Nikolaus-

dult,” which dates back to the Middle Ages.

Now Christkindl (pronounced “kriss-

kindle”) sits on the list of the Top 50

Festivals and Events in Ontario, with

thousands attending each year. From Dec.

3 to 6, people from around the region,

visitors from the United States and Europe,

and others experience this four-day event to

signal the beginning of Advent.

For the opening ceremonies, people

gather at Victoria Park’s Clock Tower for a

singalong and the illumination of the trees

in the park during the Festival of Lights.

Led by Mary, Joseph and their donkeys,

the crowd — carrying candles and lanterns

— leaves the clock tower to the sound of

church bells and trumpet fanfare, in honour

of the holy couple looking for the inn and

the birth of the Christ child.

Christmas carols ring out as everyone

parades along Gaukel Street to Carl Zehr

Square and the Live Nativity, where German

“gift bringer” Christkindl, her two angels

and St. Nick’s folkloric companion Knecht

OPPOSITE: German folk dancers are a staple at

Christkindl, a four-day festival of cultural glitz.

TOP: Crowds parade from Victoria Park to Kitchener

City Hall during Christkindl.

ABOVE: Christkindl, third from left, is the Christ

child, and is usually a teenage girl. Here, she’s with

her two angels and Knecht Ruprecht, St. Nick’s

folkloric companion.

Merry ChristkindlEven as it approaches its 20th year in Kitchener, this ancient German festival continues to grow and have cross-cultural appeal

T R I P L E T R E AT T

NOVEMBER I DECEMBER 2015 GRAND 6160 GRAND NOVEMBER I DECEMBER 2015

BY CORAL ANDREWS

PHOTOGRAPHY • COURTESY OF CHRISTKINDL MARKET

When Tony Bergmeier was a young lad

growing up in Munich, Germany, one of his

fondest childhood memories was celebrat-

ing Christmas in the city square with his

family and friends.

It was an Old World wonderland, with

everything from dazzling live entertainment

to mouth-watering seasonal treats.

In 1996, the City of Kitchener was looking

for ways to enliven a struggling downtown

core. Bergmeier approached council with

a Canadian vision of his idyllic childhood

Christmas. And as Kitchener, formerly

Berlin, possessed a strong German heritage,

collaborations began for the creation of a

new city centre festival.

Bergmeier visited many markets through-

out Waterloo Region to find vendor pals.

He asked them if they would come to

support him at the first Christkindl. He also

invited several musical friends to provide

live entertainment, eventually recruiting 45

vendors and several regional performers.

“Kitchener was such a great fit,” says

Astrid Braun, president of Christkindl

Market. “The reason for this German

market is for the vendors to share, exchange

things and sell food. And we are known for

our markets,” she says.

So people came to Kitchener City Hall

curious to experience their first “Christ-

kindlmarkt,” originally called “Nikolaus-

dult,” which dates back to the Middle Ages.

Now Christkindl (pronounced “kriss-

kindle”) sits on the list of the Top 50

Festivals and Events in Ontario, with

thousands attending each year. From Dec.

3 to 6, people from around the region,

visitors from the United States and Europe,

and others experience this four-day event to

signal the beginning of Advent.

For the opening ceremonies, people

gather at Victoria Park’s Clock Tower for a

singalong and the illumination of the trees

in the park during the Festival of Lights.

Led by Mary, Joseph and their donkeys,

the crowd — carrying candles and lanterns

— leaves the clock tower to the sound of

church bells and trumpet fanfare, in honour

of the holy couple looking for the inn and

the birth of the Christ child.

Christmas carols ring out as everyone

parades along Gaukel Street to Carl Zehr

Square and the Live Nativity, where German

“gift bringer” Christkindl, her two angels

and St. Nick’s folkloric companion Knecht

OPPOSITE: German folk dancers are a staple at

Christkindl, a four-day festival of cultural glitz.

TOP: Crowds parade from Victoria Park to Kitchener

City Hall during Christkindl.

ABOVE: Christkindl, third from left, is the Christ

child, and is usually a teenage girl. Here, she’s with

her two angels and Knecht Ruprecht, St. Nick’s

folkloric companion.

Merry ChristkindlEven as it approaches its 20th year in Kitchener, this ancient German festival continues to grow and have cross-cultural appeal

T R I P L E T R E AT T

62 GRAND NOVEMBER I DECEMBER 2015 NOVEMBER I DECEMBER 2015 GRAND 63

CHRISTKINDL: BY THE NUMBERS

19 Number of years festival has been

celebrated in Kitchener

70+ Number of vendors each year,

some of which have been there from the

10-20 buses carrying high school

students and seniors that arrive at the

festival each year from Ontario, Michigan

and New York

28+ live performances on stage and

and at other festival locations each year

$75,000+ money invested

over the years by Fred and Jenny Aldred

(with founder, the late Fred Aldred Sr.) who

have been displaying their model trains at

Christkindl since 2000

$80,000 funds raised at the

festival for Children’s Wish Foundation

over the past 18 years

500 students in North America’s larg-

est Saturday German School, Concordia

German Language School, supported by

the event

35,000 apple fritters consumed

Data provided by Christkindl Market.

Ruprecht await.

“Christkindl is the Christ child, basically.

She is usually a teenage girl and she walks

with two angels,” says Monica Reid,

marketing chair for Christkindl Market.

Adds Braun, with a laugh: “My son says

‘Mum, if I try to explain that whole concept

to anybody else they think I am crazy

because how does the Baby Jesus translate

all of sudden into a beautiful young

woman?’”

Braun admits the image does get a bit lost

in translation.

Traditional welcomes trill from the

balcony, followed by an opening prologue

by Christkindl and her angels.

“Christkindl declares her market open

with the wave of her hand and says: ‘Let

there be light,’ which then turns on the tree

lights in the square,” says Braun.

As the towering Tannenbaum sparkles, the

Grand Philharmonic Choir sings a rousing

Hallelujah chorus from Handel’s “Messiah.”

These festive German markets are mostly

outdoors, says Braun, but due to Canadian

weather, this market is also indoors.

Vendors and children’s workshops and

other activities take over city hall’s rotunda

and other floors.

Indoors, wide-eyed little ones delight at

multi-track miniature trains and model

steam engines. Craft workshops include

Kinderecke, where younger children and

parents learn to make their own Christmas

crafts. Outdoors, children marvel at antique

organ grinder/concertina player, Klaus

Wehrenberg, who has been performing

at the market since 2000 with monkey

puppet Ovambo. Wehrenberg is preserving

the legacy of live street entertainment long

associated with the festival.

Blacksmiths show off their work and

warm up the square with their coal-fuelled

forges, as onlookers gather at their booths

to ask questions about one of yesteryear’s

noble trades.

Entertainment abounds in four days of

cultural glitz that include German folk

dancers, choirs, puppet shows and brass

bands.

The festival’s signature wooden huts and

booths have displays from vendors far

and wide. Their seasonal offerings include

traditional clothing, glass-blown ornaments,

handcrafted jewelry, toys, dolls, German

specialty foods and custom-made crafts.

“We have them coming in from all over

Ontario, including Thunder Bay, Northern

Ontario and also B.C.,” says Braun. “We

use social media for the vendor applica-

tions. It is a juried program, so we have

maybe 150 applications. We now have

over 70 vendors….”

Christkindl celebrates its 20th

anniversary next year. The festival

enjoys continuing support from

the Kitchener Downtown Business Associa-

tion, corporate sponsors and a growing,

culturally diverse community.

“We had one family that came one year

and they wanted all kinds of info before

they came,” says Reid. “The next year

they brought their immediate family. The

following year they brought all of their

friends. They come, stay in a bed and

breakfast, and spend the entire weekend.”

Reid estimates about 40,000 people attend

each year, and they expect more American

visitors this year because of the low

Canadian loonie.

Christkindl has been partnering with

Children’s Wish Foundation from its first

year, and has raised $70,000 to date.

Both Reid and Braun have noticed more

university and college students at the

event because of social media. They’ve also

witnessed many random acts of kindness,

including a woman buying a present for a

child whose mother was short on funds.

“Santa does not always wear a red suit,”

muses Reid softly, adding that festival

giveaway baskets often go to those who

need them most.

Braun enjoys the busy atmosphere, which

generates “electricity” for customers and

vendors.

“If they are financially successful, they are

happy, we are happy,” she says.

From opening procession to closing

ceremonies, Christkindl has fine traditions,

but a new one has emerged in recent years.

The Christmas Pickle stems from ye olde

German Christmas Eve gift exchange.

“Whoever finds the (hidden) pickle

ornament on the tree gets an extra gift,”

explains Reid.

“Oh Tannenbaum. Oh Tannenbaum.

Wie grün sind deine gurken,” meaning

“Oh Christmas Tree. Oh Christmas Tree.

How green are your pickles!” Braun says,

laughing.

The towering Tannenbaum at Kitchener City Hall alights with a wave of Christkindl’s hand.

• CH

DIETER

HELLER

Indoors at Christkindl, the multi-track miniature trains are a big attraction for wide-eyed little ones.

From left: Cathy Lumb, vice-president, Christkindl

Market; Monica Reid, marketing chair; and Astrid

Braun, president.

CHRISTKINDL: BY THE NUMBERS

19 Number of years festival has been

celebrated in Kitchener

70+ Number of vendors each year,

some of which have been there from the

10-20 buses carrying high school

students and seniors that arrive at the

festival each year from Ontario, Michigan

and New York

28+ live performances on stage and

and at other festival locations each year

$75,000+ money invested

over the years by Fred and Jenny Aldred

(with founder, the late Fred Aldred Sr.) who

have been displaying their model trains at

Christkindl since 2000

$80,000 funds raised at the

festival for Children’s Wish Foundation

over the past 18 years

500 students in North America’s larg-

est Saturday German School, Concordia

German Language School, supported by

the event

35,000 apple fritters consumed

Data provided by Christkindl Market.

Ruprecht await.

“Christkindl is the Christ child, basically.

She is usually a teenage girl and she walks

with two angels,” says Monica Reid,

marketing chair for Christkindl Market.

Adds Braun, with a laugh: “My son says

‘Mum, if I try to explain that whole concept

to anybody else they think I am crazy

because how does the Baby Jesus translate

all of sudden into a beautiful young

woman?’”

Braun admits the image does get a bit lost

in translation.

Traditional welcomes trill from the

balcony, followed by an opening prologue

by Christkindl and her angels.

“Christkindl declares her market open

with the wave of her hand and says: ‘Let

there be light,’ which then turns on the tree

lights in the square,” says Braun.

As the towering Tannenbaum sparkles, the

Grand Philharmonic Choir sings a rousing

Hallelujah chorus from Handel’s “Messiah.”

These festive German markets are mostly

outdoors, says Braun, but due to Canadian

weather, this market is also indoors.

Vendors and children’s workshops and

other activities take over city hall’s rotunda

and other floors.

Indoors, wide-eyed little ones delight at

multi-track miniature trains and model

steam engines. Craft workshops include

Kinderecke, where younger children and

parents learn to make their own Christmas

crafts. Outdoors, children marvel at antique

organ grinder/concertina player, Klaus

Wehrenberg, who has been performing

at the market since 2000 with monkey

puppet Ovambo. Wehrenberg is preserving

the legacy of live street entertainment long

associated with the festival.

Blacksmiths show off their work and

warm up the square with their coal-fuelled

forges, as onlookers gather at their booths

to ask questions about one of yesteryear’s

noble trades.

Entertainment abounds in four days of

cultural glitz that include German folk

dancers, choirs, puppet shows and brass

bands.

The festival’s signature wooden huts and

booths have displays from vendors far

and wide. Their seasonal offerings include

traditional clothing, glass-blown ornaments,

handcrafted jewelry, toys, dolls, German

specialty foods and custom-made crafts.

“We have them coming in from all over

Ontario, including Thunder Bay, Northern

Ontario and also B.C.,” says Braun. “We

use social media for the vendor applica-

tions. It is a juried program, so we have

maybe 150 applications. We now have

over 70 vendors….”

Christkindl celebrates its 20th

anniversary next year. The festival

enjoys continuing support from

the Kitchener Downtown Business Associa-

tion, corporate sponsors and a growing,

culturally diverse community.

“We had one family that came one year

and they wanted all kinds of info before

they came,” says Reid. “The next year

they brought their immediate family. The

following year they brought all of their

friends. They come, stay in a bed and

breakfast, and spend the entire weekend.”

Reid estimates about 40,000 people attend

each year, and they expect more American

visitors this year because of the low

Canadian loonie.

Christkindl has been partnering with

Children’s Wish Foundation from its first

year, and has raised $70,000 to date.

Both Reid and Braun have noticed more

university and college students at the

event because of social media. They’ve also

witnessed many random acts of kindness,

including a woman buying a present for a

child whose mother was short on funds.

“Santa does not always wear a red suit,”

muses Reid softly, adding that festival

giveaway baskets often go to those who

need them most.

Braun enjoys the busy atmosphere, which

generates “electricity” for customers and

vendors.

“If they are financially successful, they are

happy, we are happy,” she says.

From opening procession to closing

ceremonies, Christkindl has fine traditions,

but a new one has emerged in recent years.

The Christmas Pickle stems from ye olde

German Christmas Eve gift exchange.

“Whoever finds the (hidden) pickle

ornament on the tree gets an extra gift,”

explains Reid.

“Oh Tannenbaum. Oh Tannenbaum.

Wie grün sind deine gurken,” meaning

“Oh Christmas Tree. Oh Christmas Tree.

How green are your pickles!” Braun says,

laughing.

The towering Tannenbaum at Kitchener City Hall alights with a wave of Christkindl’s hand.

• CH

DIETER

HELLER

Indoors at Christkindl, the multi-track miniature trains are a big attraction for wide-eyed little ones.

From left: Cathy Lumb, vice-president, Christkindl

Market; Monica Reid, marketing chair; and Astrid

Braun, president.

MEET 4 CHRISTKINDL VENDORS

T h r e e O a k C r a f t s Dieter Heller

Like Santa in his workshop, Dieter Heller,

spends his winters working on special

Christmas pieces called “schwibbogens”

(from the German word “schwebebogen”),

or “light bows,” an art form originating

from Germany’s Ore Mountains in Central

Europe.

“The schwibbogen is the floating arch,

which represents the entrance of the

mines. An old story has it that at the end

of the year, all the miners gather in front

of the mines to celebrate Christmas time,”

explains Heller. “And if there were no

fatalities in the mine that year, they all hung

their lanterns across the entrance of the

mine.”

Schwibbogens were originally crafted from

iron until the 20th century, when wood

became more popular. Heller uses specially

made plywood with maple veneer and a

mahogany core, and a fine-blade coping

saw for this intricate work.

His latest light bow, which he’s bringing to

this year’s Christkindl, represents the city

outline of Dresden, Germany, bombed in

1945 during the Second World War. The

city, which was rebuilt, is famous for its

Procession of Princes, a mural that’s 105

feet long and made of 40,000 pieces of

ceramic porcelain tile.

“The piece that I built … took me the

better part of 100 hours to recreate,”

says Heller, who also handcrafts German

wooden pyramids, representing the towers

of the mine.

Heller, a retiree from Frankfurt, Germany,

started woodcrafting because of a trip to

East Germany after the fall of the Berlin

Wall. While shopping, his wife “fell in love

with a big pyramid in the window.”

“I saw the price. As stingy as I am I fell,

out of love with it. Me and my big mouth, I

said I could do it better myself,” says Heller

with a laugh, adding he visits Germany

each year in search of new patterns, candles

and hand-carved figurines for his shop.

This year marks Heller’s 15th year at

Christkindl.

“You are stepping into city hall and you

are stepping into a complete new world.

Everything around you fascinates you, and

there are so many different things. And that

just keeps me going.”

T h e S i l v e r T h i s t l eMarlene and Frank Schilling

At The Silver Thistle, named after an

Alpine flower, co-owners Marlene and

Frank Schilling honour her parents’ 40-year

legacy selling handcrafted wooden histori-

cal toys and period costumes for dolls.

In 1976, Marlene’s father, a master

carpenter, was looking for something to

do in his retirement years. So he started

researching vintage toys.

“As for my mother, she had this intrigue

with dolls because she never really had a

doll when she was a child,” says Schilling.

“She never used any kind of a pattern. She

just looked at a doll and said, ‘I think she

would look nice in this,’ and she would use

the doll itself for measurements and create

these things which ended up being works

of art.”

Schilling outfits toys, including old-style

rubber dolls, China dolls and “standard”

Barbies, in period costumes made in fabrics

such as cotton, silk and satin.

Schilling’s husband Frank, whose father

was also a carpenter, learned woodcutting

patterns from his wife’s father and uses a

variety of power tools, as well as hand tools

for the finer work. Marlene, her daughters

Laura, 32, and Sarah, 23, and sister-in-law,

Audrey (Aadri Horn of Adri’s chocolates),

assist with painting and woodwork. Her

son David, 28, helps with sales.

The Schilling family came to Christkindl

in 1997 after festival founder Bergmeier

invited her father to the festival. The

family spends summers at the cottage near

Goderich preparing for Christkindl. There,

they fashion a variety of homegrown ash

and pine products “from raw stump to toy”

including carousels, spinning tops, Jacob’s

Ladders, “tumble tikes” (who sit on a ladder

and fall down) and walking elephants.

“We are trying to expand a little bit into

the 20th century by making games and

more educational puzzles and things like

that,” says Marlene.

Silver Thistle’s toys cater to all ages, from

newborns to seniors, including an 86-year-

ABOVE AND RIGHT: A handcrafted wooden elephant

and doll in period costume from The Silver Thistle,

co-owned by Marlene and Frank Schilling.

Dieter Heller of Three Oaks Crafts with his masterfully crafted ‘schwiboggens.’

Hilde Scheid as jovial Mrs. Santa Claus selling sausages and ‘foot longs’ at her Cloverleaf Farms stall.

HOME THEATRE DESIGN & INSTALLATION • HOME CONTROL FROM IPAD / IPHONE/ ITOUCH • PRE WIRE – NEW & EXISTING HOMES • RESIDENTIAL & COMMERCIAL PROJECTS • LIGHTING CONTROL SYSTEMS • MOTORIZED SHADES & WINDOW COVERINGS

MEET 4 CHRISTKINDL VENDORS

T h r e e O a k C r a f t s Dieter Heller

Like Santa in his workshop, Dieter Heller,

spends his winters working on special

Christmas pieces called “schwibbogens”

(from the German word “schwebebogen”),

or “light bows,” an art form originating

from Germany’s Ore Mountains in Central

Europe.

“The schwibbogen is the floating arch,

which represents the entrance of the

mines. An old story has it that at the end

of the year, all the miners gather in front

of the mines to celebrate Christmas time,”

explains Heller. “And if there were no

fatalities in the mine that year, they all hung

their lanterns across the entrance of the

mine.”

Schwibbogens were originally crafted from

iron until the 20th century, when wood

became more popular. Heller uses specially

made plywood with maple veneer and a

mahogany core, and a fine-blade coping

saw for this intricate work.

His latest light bow, which he’s bringing to

this year’s Christkindl, represents the city

outline of Dresden, Germany, bombed in

1945 during the Second World War. The

city, which was rebuilt, is famous for its

Procession of Princes, a mural that’s 105

feet long and made of 40,000 pieces of

ceramic porcelain tile.

“The piece that I built … took me the

better part of 100 hours to recreate,”

says Heller, who also handcrafts German

wooden pyramids, representing the towers

of the mine.

Heller, a retiree from Frankfurt, Germany,

started woodcrafting because of a trip to

East Germany after the fall of the Berlin

Wall. While shopping, his wife “fell in love

with a big pyramid in the window.”

“I saw the price. As stingy as I am I fell,

out of love with it. Me and my big mouth, I

said I could do it better myself,” says Heller

with a laugh, adding he visits Germany

each year in search of new patterns, candles

and hand-carved figurines for his shop.

This year marks Heller’s 15th year at

Christkindl.

“You are stepping into city hall and you

are stepping into a complete new world.

Everything around you fascinates you, and

there are so many different things. And that

just keeps me going.”

T h e S i l v e r T h i s t l eMarlene and Frank Schilling

At The Silver Thistle, named after an

Alpine flower, co-owners Marlene and

Frank Schilling honour her parents’ 40-year

legacy selling handcrafted wooden histori-

cal toys and period costumes for dolls.

In 1976, Marlene’s father, a master

carpenter, was looking for something to

do in his retirement years. So he started

researching vintage toys.

“As for my mother, she had this intrigue

with dolls because she never really had a

doll when she was a child,” says Schilling.

“She never used any kind of a pattern. She

just looked at a doll and said, ‘I think she

would look nice in this,’ and she would use

the doll itself for measurements and create

these things which ended up being works

of art.”

Schilling outfits toys, including old-style

rubber dolls, China dolls and “standard”

Barbies, in period costumes made in fabrics

such as cotton, silk and satin.

Schilling’s husband Frank, whose father

was also a carpenter, learned woodcutting

patterns from his wife’s father and uses a

variety of power tools, as well as hand tools

for the finer work. Marlene, her daughters

Laura, 32, and Sarah, 23, and sister-in-law,

Audrey (Aadri Horn of Adri’s chocolates),

assist with painting and woodwork. Her

son David, 28, helps with sales.

The Schilling family came to Christkindl

in 1997 after festival founder Bergmeier

invited her father to the festival. The

family spends summers at the cottage near

Goderich preparing for Christkindl. There,

they fashion a variety of homegrown ash

and pine products “from raw stump to toy”

including carousels, spinning tops, Jacob’s

Ladders, “tumble tikes” (who sit on a ladder

and fall down) and walking elephants.

“We are trying to expand a little bit into

the 20th century by making games and

more educational puzzles and things like

that,” says Marlene.

Silver Thistle’s toys cater to all ages, from

newborns to seniors, including an 86-year-

ABOVE AND RIGHT: A handcrafted wooden elephant

and doll in period costume from The Silver Thistle,

co-owned by Marlene and Frank Schilling.

Dieter Heller of Three Oaks Crafts with his masterfully crafted ‘schwiboggens.’

Hilde Scheid as jovial Mrs. Santa Claus selling sausages and ‘foot longs’ at her Cloverleaf Farms stall.

HOME THEATRE DESIGN & INSTALLATION • HOME CONTROL FROM IPAD / IPHONE/ ITOUCH • PRE WIRE – NEW & EXISTING HOMES • RESIDENTIAL & COMMERCIAL PROJECTS • LIGHTING CONTROL SYSTEMS • MOTORIZED SHADES & WINDOW COVERINGS

66 GRAND NOVEMBER I DECEMBER 2015

old gentleman from Barrie who had been

looking for Jacob’s Ladders for about 40

years and bought several of theirs at the

festival.

“Anyone can play with a toy,” she says,

adding that it’s a universal thing that spans

all ethnicities and religions. “You can

really see that it brings a smile to a kid’s

face and there is nothing more important or

better than that.”

C l o v e r l e a f F a r m sHilde Scheid

What would a German Christmas

celebration be without traditional fare

such as sausage and sauerkraut, goulash,

smoked turkey legs, beer burgers, chili and

homemade soup?

It’s no surprise to see Hilde Scheid as

jovial Mrs. Santa selling sausage on a bun

and sauerkraut and “foot longs,” or ladling

out her signature homestyle ham and pea

soup taken from her mother’s special blend

of ingredients.

Scheid says her family has been at Christ-

kindl since the first year.

“I dress as Santa in eight layers because it

is so cold and I am outside for 12 hours a

day, maybe more,” explains Scheid, cheer-

fully adding she sells about 500 hundred

sausages a day.

Her indoor booth, just inside city hall’s

main doors, sells cured and smoked

custom-packaged Christmas hams, summer

sausages in cotton bags, pepperettes and

other deli meats.

“The product pretty well stays the same

because people ask for the same thing every

year,” says Scheid. “They phone us and they

say make sure you bring this and this.”

Her sons, butchers Peter and Danny

Scheid, and daughter-in law, Angie Scheid,

who runs their St Jacob’s outlet store, work

together between the indoor and outdoor

vendor booths.

Families skating on the rink in front city

hall often drop by for a hot chocolate or hot

apple cider with their soup and sausage.

“It gives me the Christmas spirit,” says

Scheid. “I have been at the Christkindl in

Germany three times already and it is the

same thing. I love this kind of Christmas.

Even though it is freezing outside it warms

me up inside.”

D a s F r i t t e r H a u sFred and Peter Trautrim

Christkindl’s also known for traditional

deserts and libations, particularly the non-

alcoholic mulled wine “Gluhwein.” Sweets

include marzipan stollen (fruit cake),

lebkuchen (spice cake), gigantic soft pretzels,

strawberry-filled funnel cakes and waffles.

But for a while, the festival was missing

one key confection.

“For two years we did not have apple

fritters and people were devastated,” says

Braun.

Reid goes on to explain that the St. Mary’s

Catholic Church ladies group had been

frying apple fritters in a wooden hut until

the fire department closed them down.

Safety laws dictated that, in the outdoors,

fritters could be cooked only in a metal

trailer.

But where to find fritter makers that came

up to code? In 2011, festival organizers

discovered Das Fritter Haus, which since

then has operated in its familiar spot beside

the four flagpoles near a corner of Kitchener

City Hall’s skating rink.

It’s run by brothers Fred and Peter

Trautrim, who have been coming to

Christkindl for 19 years. They laugh as they

recollect their first Christkindl as vendors.

“When Fred and I started we went in as

greenhorns, having no idea what we were getting

into and how big it would get,” says Peter.

An experienced baker, Peter asked his

wife Joan if he could use her grandmother’s

apple fritter recipe, which he then adapted

for Das Fritter Haus.

Fred says they order stock a month ahead,

with the apples supplied by a family-run

farm in Tavistock. He says he sells about

1,500 to 1,800 pounds of apples during the

festival.

The Fritter Haus team prepares and

produces fritters often at “a mad pace,”

working at trailer stations, starting in the

prep area where they peel and core the

apples, which are then machine sliced into

rings and deep fried.

Revellers can eat fritters plain, or topped

with cinnamon sugar topping, whipped

cream, chocolate syrup, or Elmira maple

syrup. The fritter “plate” is four plain apple

fritters with maple syrup and whipped cream.

“When we dish that out, it is usually with

two forks,” says Fred, with a knowing

chuckle.

The Haus drink specialty is hot chocolate

cider, a blend of hot chocolate and apple cider

with whipped cream and caramel drizzle.

“We love the energy from the whole

Christkindl atmosphere and we feel it right

inside the trailer.”

Since 2011, the Fritter Haus, co-owned by brothers Fred and Peter Trautrim has operated in its familiar spot beside the four flagpoles near a corner of Kitchener City Hall’s skating rink.

merry christkindl...photography • christkindl market and dieter heller indoors at christkindl, the...

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