Berlin - With more than 60 Christmas markets, Berlin is a fun place to be right now, shining in a festive blaze of lights, decorated fir trees and stalls offering a profusion of giftsKlaus Wowereit, Berlin's governing mayor, sums up the Yuletide atmosphere by saying: "Who needs to go to New York for Christmas shopping when there is so much on offer here?"
Berlin's Christmas markets have a tradition dating back to medieval times. Every Berlin district boasts at least one Christmas market, sometimes two or three.
Particularly atmospheric is the one in front of Charlottenburg Palace where sophisticated craftwork, high-quality culinary delights and a classical Baroque programme of music are offered the public on a daily basis.
The traditional Christmas market in Spandau, equipped with some 400 booths and a huge illuminated Christmas tree, transforms the district's old market square into a magical Christmas world.
The Christmas Magic market at the prestigious Gendarmenmarkt attracts crowds of visitors, with traditional craftsmen from across Europe manning stalls in the cosy marquee complex.
The square, renowned for its German-French church architecture and ornate concert hall, was once a thriving Berlin trading point in previous centuries.
Now, jugglers with painted faces and comical cone-like hats entertain the crowds, as the carol "Oh Tannenbaum" booms across the square, and artists in bizarre outfits stomp about on stilts.
Those in search of environmentally-friendly gifts, natural goods and fair-trade products, will probably be drawn to the Christmas market in Sophienstrasse, in Berlin's historically oldest preserved street.
On four successive weekends during advent season, environmental protection organisations plan to introduce nature conservation projects there.
In similar vein, a "Green Christmas Market," with toys, textiles, craftwork and delicacies from around the world - produced to environmentally conscious standards - is being held on the Kollwitz Platz, in the eastern Prenzlauer Berg district,
Father Christmas, it's rumoured, will be attired in green!
At the Christmas market on the Opernpalais, alongside the Unter den Linden opera house, one already gets a whiff of almonds, ginger bread and mulled wine.
Artisans from Germany and neighbouring countries have already arrived, bringing with them products, ranging from Nativity figurines, to woodwork and marionettes, lambskin shoes and jewellery.
Traditional Christmas markets apart, Berlin visitors are being offered an off-beat techno market titled "Holy Shit Shopping" - to be held in mid-December.
While the German capital remains popular with tourists at this time of year, it's in the southern city of Nuremburg that you find Germany's most famous Christmas market - Christkindlmarkt, after Christ the child. Annually, it gets celebrated with typical Bavarian catholic gusto, with copious quantities of sausages and beer.
Tourists arrive to buy "Nussknacker" - nutcrackers. No ordinary nutcrackers, mind you. These are figurines, ranging from 15 inches high to life-size, carved from wood and brightly painted as soldiers and kings, among other things.
Planeloads of foreign tourists start to arrive in Berlin and Nuremburg at this time of year - eager to soak up the fairyland Christmas atmosphere.
German-style Christmas markets are today big hits throughout Europe. Currently, 30 such markets are held in Britain - at locations in London, Birmingham, Manchester and other parts of the country.
