A Taste of Christmas: strolling through the mountain Christmas market

As soon as the Christmas markets open their doors in wintry Innsbruck, I start looking for my favorite stalls of the season. With seven atmospheric markets from mountain to valley, you can't really do anything else from mid-November. So I simply rejoice, as it's well known that wintertime has the best stories to tell. It's always a little easier to rejoice after a couple of mulled wines. And yes, you can't miss out on a „Kiachl“ - I'll tell you where to find the very best in Innsbruck. With this in mind: My urgent suggestion for a stroll around the stalls and where it's worth stopping for a few nice stories along the way.

When the brass players at the Golden Roof solemnly blow their horns in the evening, the Christmas market in the old town and thus the mountain Christmas is officially open. I was secretly there at lunchtime, eating my first Dengg-Kiachl. Now I'm in line for the next one. At the oldest Christmas market in the city, the Café Dengg has been serving its kiachl for exactly 50 years this year. Even when there were no Christmas markets anywhere during the lockdown winter of 2020, the tradition continued to-go and through the café window in Riesengasse.

Today, Jakob Dengg is the third generation of the family to serve the tasty yeast dough flatbreads. The Kiachl team (30) has been around longer than Jakob (26) has. Even as a young lad (15) he helped out in the Kuchl, today he runs the store with a smile. The recipe is unchanged from grandma's, every Kiachl is fresh, crispy and delicious, just like in the old days. And when the cabbage giant Radi introduces me to his son at my third Kiachl, I know that this secret is also in the very best of hands.

When the larger markets are perhaps a little too busy for a relaxed get-together, I simply switch to the smaller ones. One of my favorites is on Wiltener Platzl and has only about a handful of stalls next to a stage. But Innsbruck's first own apple mead, sinfully sweet chocolate-pistachio kiachln and a whole series of concerts don't really need any more. Right next to the stage, Kerstin invites me into the collective stall „Wundertüte“. I'm served tea in a homemade cup(House of K), Iris is unfortunately ill and the radiant warmer has no power. That's why Kerstin is holding down the fort today between Innsbruck collectives, cultural associations and various small artists and is also promoting the eponymous wonder bags: 50 percent goes to Tyrolean disabled sports, the other 50 percent is building a school in Africa. The bags, which start at three euros and are graded according to size, are filled with her donated pottery, among other things, smiles Kerstin. But she promises that supplies will be coming soon. When she's not at the stall, she's at the potter's wheel. I finish my tea and give Kerstin her cup back. I almost just took it with me.

As soon as I step out into the icy wind, my hands miss the warm cup. Luckily, Andi beckons me to the next stall for my first taste of apple mead. South Tyrolean organic apples meet a creative Innsbruck master brewer (Max) as well as cinnamon, cloves and the finest Innsbruck city honey, explains the Innsbruck city beekeeper. And it tastes just like it sounds. Far away from the mulled wine craze and punch, just something honestly different, the stall owner praises himself a little. And rightly so, I raise my glass and have another one poured.

In the meantime, the next handsome Andi introduces himself at Uncle Tom's Kiachl and Victoria waves to me from behind the deep fryer. The specially created „Wiltener Kiachl“ was immediately noticeable. As a true Wiltener and a little Kraut traditionalist, I find that almost a bit cheeky. But as soon as I taste the luscious pistachio and chocolate-soaked Christmas cake, I know better and keep quiet. See you next time, I wave from the next mead. Meanwhile, the first bars of "Es werd scho glei dumper" waft over from the stage, some Andi warms me up with a (homemade, of course!) Zirbeler, then the wind carries me away.

Two other small markets at the Bergweihnacht must be commended at this point: Firstly, the really tiny Augustiner Christmas garden at Franziskanerplatz. Here you can not only get delicious orange punch (with or without a shot) from elegant copper pots, but also probably the most beautiful deposit cups in town (this mini market is not part of the official Bergweihnacht!). What's more, you can usually sit here comfortably in the lee and have a warm room in the Stiftskeller to warm up and toilets to go to.

On the other hand, the delightful Christmas market in St. Nikolaus. In a very small space, there is room for an outdoor fire bowl, an open wooden parlor to squat in, a kitchen for kiachl and culinary delights, a stage for the program and a handful of tiny stalls. With only one entrance and exit, this is more of an invitation to stay than to stroll around. After the second eggnog, I tell Kathi in her little witch's cottage that you can pour yourself a glass of white mulled wine if you need to. However, she doesn't tell me her eggnog recipe in return. Meanwhile, another little brass band is playing outside: It's beginning to look a lot like christmas, how nice.

The opening hours of all seven Bergweihnacht markets can be found here.

The Altstadt, Maria-Theresien-Straße and Marktplatz markets are open daily from 11:00 to 21:00 (the Augustiner Christmas Garden is even open until 22:00).

The Wiltener Weihnachtszauber invites you to enjoy a concert program and conviviality every day from 16:00 to 20:00, while the St. Nikolaus Christmas market is open until 21:00 (with brass bands from 18:00).

Photos: All pictures in the article were blurred by the author himself.