Shopping

Are you looking for a unique Christmas gift? When commercialism takes over the shops, traditional German Christmas markets are the right place to get into the mood for the holiday season. The little half-timbered houses, countless tiny radiant lights, and the aroma of hot chestnuts, roasted almonds, and baked apples in the air evoke a truly enchanting festive atmosphere.

The annual Christmas market at Rathausmarkt is one of the largest in Northern Germany. Over 80 vendors are proud to bring the Christmas spirit to Hamburg! As you stroll the lanes watch artisans create traditional decorative items, such as wood carvings, crib figurines, candles, and the like. Taste some of the scrumptious authentic “Lebkuchen” (gingerbread cake), or try the famous marzipan figures. Warm up with a glass of delicious “Glühwein” (mulled wine), or a hot chocolate with a dash of brandy. The uniquely designed mugs will make for a great souvenir!

Feast your eyes and ears on the historic fair organ, and stop by the Viennese art deco café for additional tasty snacks. An old-timer carousel from the 1920s as well as the “Spielzeuggasse” (toy lane) will make this visit an equally memorable experience for children. Young and old visitors alike can admire Santa Claus flying in his sleigh across the market square daily at 16:00, 18:00, and 20:00.

Every (advent) Saturday, there will be a Christmas parade on Mönckebergstrasse leaving at 11:30, 14:00 and 17:00 from “Galeria Kaufhof”.

Hamburg offers many beautiful places to read a good book, at ‘Stories!’ you can dive into books of the New World or choose a bestseller. Stories presents unforgettable classics and a special selection for the youngest readers. Through the book wall-shelves, the extensive assortment is presented particularly clear and concise, this unique minimalism amazes me every time. The store design is spacious and almost comparable with a museum visit.

In the ‘Stories!’ stores reading is a pleasure. The inspiring reading room, also a main feature, with a large reading table in the middle invites you to relax and sink into stories. Here I frequently experience public reading events, mainly presented by the staff gives the whole a personal and familiar touch.

‘Stories!’ dinner also goes English at Hanseviertel, their second store downtown. The dinner reading events are also very popular in German and among professionals with little time. I have participated in the wine lecture, left the event blissfully and with another book to quench my reading hunger. The After Work Club is another must, every first Wednesday of the month, entrance is free, no reservations necessary anymore and from my own experience, come early to save the best standing room. 

With the ‘Stories!’ book project for intermediate level students, they want to make reading fun again. They sell individual stories for history lovers or the whole family, as well as e-books, foreign books, view orders and offer online-shopping combined with superb service and a coffee bar corner to linger.

If you started to read this article you now will read about a choice of lifestyle change I made a while ago because lately I’m very fascinated by the slow food movement and regional products. To find a steady shop which provides you with traditional and local goods is very rare in the city centre. And so I was surprised and very happy to spot “Mutterland” (translated to engl. =home country) which offers a huge variety of products.

When you enter the store, you will notice a large range of products from lollypops to marmalade, chocolate, wine and other nice specialties. The salesperson can tell you where every product is from and on which German tradition it’s based on.

The atmosphere of the shop is based on the concept of a mom-and-pop store which gives the ensemble a very and unique design. It reminded me of my “Le Petit Paris” spot.

This spot is definitively a good choice to visit if you don’t only want to purchase a souvenir from Hamburg but also want to experience the taste of (Nothern) Germany and Lifestyle. Ok now, this was an understatement, so go for it and check it out (here’s a video). You will love it!

Gudberg was founded as an agency for graphic design more then ten years ago. Today they are still doing great work in the fields of corporate-, editorial-, graphic-, interior- and web-design. Beyond this they publish their own or other’s book- or magazine-projects, they have their own magazine called “Gudberg” AND they run a small gallery with a selection of great books and magazines to purchase there (or online).

From time to time I visit them and browse through their range of books and magazines. I really like this place. Not only their interior (which was designed by themselves of course) but the idea of sharing working-space, gallery and a small shop in one location.

I recommend going there and getting inspiration from these great selection of publications.

As I LOVE everything about cooking, food and eating (I read cookbooks like other people read novels) this place is one of my favorite spots.

The Kochkontor is a mixture of bookstore and restaurant. They sell cookbooks of all shades, from different countries, about different topics – everything your culinary heart could wish for.

Included in this shop is a big open-space kitchen and a few tables. Every day they select one of their incredible plenty of books and cook one or two dishes for lunch. You should go there early as there are only a few tables for many potential guests. If you liked your dish you may just buy the appropriate book or any other book that caught your eye.

If you have the possibility and you speak German you can also participate in one of their cooking classes. I haven’t done this yet, but it’s definitely on my agenda. I would probably choose „Classique – French cuisine”. Have a look at the dates on their homepage. Many classes are booked out long before.