Düsseldorf's spirit of Christmas Past

You may have noticed that it's Christmas again, a time of cheer and of giving. Time once again for shopping centres throughout the UK to assail your ears with piped versions of Slade, Wizzard and Jingle Bells. And time to spend inordinate amounts of cash on presents for loved ones that, for the most part, they neither want nor need.

But for those of you weary and dismayed by this orgiastic pageant of spending that owes more to Mammon than to Jesus, take heart. There is an antidote.

Germany's Christmas markets (Christkindlmarkt) draw upon an almost-forgotten tradition that retains the magic of Christmas without being either po-faced or austere. Hundreds of stalls, festooned with fairy-lights, selling traditional hand-carved cribs, toys and decorations huddle together while visitors peruse the wares, stopping occasionally to have a mug of mulled wine (Gluhwein), gingerbread (Lebkuchen) or potato fritter (Reibekuchen).

Dresden claims to be the oldest Christmas market, dating back to 1434 but any German town worth its Salz has one these days. They generally start on the last weekend of November and won't shut up stall for the last time until Christmas Eve.

I plumped for Düsseldorf; being a mere 50 minutes from London, it meant I was able to have lunch in the capital and still have time to hit the streets in Germany well before tea-time.

The main shopping street in Düsseldorf is the Königsallee, or the Kö, an affluent and prosperous boulevard lined with expensive boutiques. A beautiful street, the main attraction here is the army of trees adorned with bulbs, reflected in the wide canal that runs down the middle of the avenue.

But the real pull of Düsseldorf at this time of year is the number of Christmas markets dotted about the city centre. You'll find the best ones in the Old Town (Altstadt) on the west side of the city by the Rhine. Described as "the longest bar in the world" this area of one square kilometre boast over 260 bars and restaurants.

And it is in the Altstadt that you'll find a liberal sprinkling of Christkindlmarkt. They're all so close that they almost merge into one long route of stalls, with traditional carols being played and the air heavy with the delicious smell of spices. Indeed, it is impossible to go more than a few yards in any direction without being tempted to have something to eat or drink.

Gluhwein comes at 3.50 DM (about £1) for a mug filled to the brim. You'll be asked to pay a deposit (pfand) of 3 DM to encourage you to return the mug. As well as gingerbread (Lebkuchen), the horrendously calorific but delicious potato fritters, Reibekuchen, are ubiquitous. You'll get three of these for 4 DM together with a generous dollop of apple sauce (Apfelmus). And of course no trip to Germany would be complete without sampling the many forms of enormous sausages (Wurst) on offer.

Perhaps the prettiest market is to be found in Marktplatz, a pretty cobbled square near the Rhine and in front of the elegant town hall (Rathaus). After nightfall the whole setting takes on an almost magical quality, the stalls all lit by fairy bulbs, couples ambling by looking for presents and everywhere the sound of carols.

For those with fond memories of a time when Christmas was less commercial, these German Christmas markets will strike a chord that may well entice you into returning yearly to soak up the atmosphere and buy your festive accoutrements. Hand-made cribs with figurines and hand-carved nativity scenes are a particular speciality that you'd be hard-pressed to find in the UK - and then, certainly not at these prices.

Eating and drinking
If you're making a weekend of it - strongly recommended - you'll have no trouble finding good bars and restaurants. We decided against Indian or Italian, preferring to try local cuisine. As a vegetarian, I was not overly optimistic about my chances, imagining German kitchens to be little more than glorified abbatoirs. I could not have been more wrong.

Weinhaus Tante Anna is a traditional style restaurant, specialising in regional dishes and cuisine. It's an old building that claims to have once been a monastery's chapel, and as you walk in, heavy velvet drapes give way to a wood-panelled dining room, complete with candelabras and antique furniture. The Advent and Christmas menu caters for all - goose being the main attraction for meat-eaters and a delicious red cabbage strudel with plenty of vegetables for your reporter. And as a starter, the outrageously tasty cream of mustard soup really has to be sampled - I now have a recipe, courtesy of the chef, awaiting translation. We paid around about £75 for three courses for two people, with plenty of wine .

And staying with German cuisine, Hecker on Lambertusstrasse is an impressive building nestling in the shadow of St Lambertus Basilica. The name itself is a tongue-in-cheek post-modern reference to an old Mother Hecker who, before the war, ran kitchens offering traditional stodgy fare. It is a great room to eat in with improbably high ceilings and, like the restaurant's name, an attractive fusion of old and new. Solid wooden chairs and tables are lit by fantastic art-deco chrome wall lights, while the tables themselves are casually strewn with pine branches and dried fruit. The food was excellent and the price reasonable - around £50 for two courses with wine for two. Booking strongly advised.

And if the effect of the day's steady intake of gluhwein is wearing off, drop into one of the hundreds of bars for a glass of Alt - the regional brewing speciality. A dark 'top-fermented' beer, it slips down well but is reasonably potent - typically, about 4.8%. We enjoyed a few glasses in a dixie jazz bar called Jazz Em Pöötzke on Mertensgasse, being entertained by a band of jovial old boys singing classics like Ain't Misbehaving. The band's name? Powerkraut. Who says the Germans have no sense of humour?

Düsseldorf, of course, has been the victim of gross misrepresentation in travel literature. Read any guide book before you go and, if you manage to locate any reference to it at all, you'll find it described sparsely as an industrial town and a banking centre. In reality Düsseldorf is no more an industrial town than, say, Amsterdam and to dismiss it as a banking centre would be quite wrong. And while there is a prosperous self-confidence about Düsseldorf, that is just as much to do with having been the chief town of the north Rhine for several hundred years as anything else.

As well as enjoying the Christmas markets, the weekend visitor should endeavour to take in one or two tourist 'must sees' such as the Rheinturm. At 234 metres tall, this telecom tower affords a fantastic view over Düsseldorf and the northern Rhine region - and, like all good 'modern' towers, has a revolving restaurant (it takes exactly one hour to rotate). Quite why anybody wants to revolve while eating is another matter, but from here you'll get fantastic views of both the regional parliament (Landtag) and the impressive office complexes designed by Frank O.Gehry, designer of Bilbao's Guggenheim Museum. It costs 4 DM to take a lift to the observation room, unless you intend to dine.

Finally, without wishing to draw too heavily on hackneyed cliches about Teutonic efficiency and civic pride, the following is worth pointing out. It took a mere two or three minutes to transfer by bus from plane to terminal by which time my luggage was already on the baggage carousel. The train from the airport to the main city station (Hauptbahnof) took about ten minutes and cost 9.90 DM (about £3) for two (Heathrow Express et al, take note). And the peanut holders at the hotel bar were in the shape of ducks with the bill as pourer. Anyone who has heard the apocryphal story about 12 different samples of urine being found on a bowl of peanuts at an English pub will share my enthusiasm.

Eugene Costello flew with buzz to Düsseldorf. Return flights start at £89 including taxes.

Weinhaus Tante Anna is at Andreasstrasse 2, 40213 D?sseldorf. Telephone +49 211 131163.

Hecker is at Lambertusstrasse 10, 40213 D?sseldorf. Telephone +49 211 131946.

Jazz Em Pöötzke is at Mertensgasse 6, 40213 D?sseldorf. Telephone +49 211 326973. Hotels can be found by using the Tourist Board's informative site www.duesseldorf.de

www.sorat-hotels.com

Slide gallery of Dusseldorf