Passauer Christkindlmarkt am Dom

The Christmas market in Passau is finally open! The Christkindlmarkt or Weihnachtsmarkt is the Christmas market which is open throughout the four weeks of Advent. It is the best place in Germany to meet with friends and warm up during December. Are there Christmas markets in your country?

The history of Christmas markets goes back to the Late Middle Ages and the trade fairs (usually one-day markets) in the German-speaking parts of Europe. At the beginning of the cold season, such markets gave people the opportunity to stock up on meat and winter goods. During the 14th Century the towns allowed toy makers, basket weavers and confectioners to build stands and sell their merchandise to the people. Many of these items were often presented to children for Christmas. Some beloved stands had roasted chestnuts, walnuts and almonds, whichare still commonly enjoyed to this day.

Since the first half of the 20th Century, markets became a significant symbol of the pre-Christmas traditions. So what about today?

Today we define Christmas through candlelight along with the smell of biscuits, mulled wine, and beautiful ice-flowers displayed on windows. Other traditions are hanging Christmas lightsilluminating the streets and the telling of Christmas stories on freezing cold nights by a blazing fire. One can find all of these festive things wrapped together at the annual Christmas market!

Some delicious treats for sale at the market include: gingerbread, spiced biscuits, cinnamon stars, mulled wine, and hot apple juice. And you can find it this at the Christmas market in great selection and of the highest quality. So, it really is the perfect place to go with your family and friends to spend a nice evening. You can reflect on the best moments of the year drinking a cup of hot Glühwein (red mulled wine) or Glühmost (the white one). If you like the sweet stuff, you must try the different Christmas cookies, stars, fruits in chocolate and snowballs. Also, if you like Bavarian cooking, you can find all different kinds of sausages from the area.

There are a lot of traditional/Christmas events and festive delights during December at the Christmas market. Here you will find the events program of Passauer Christkindlmarkt am Dom: http://www.passauer-christkindlmarkt.de/en/programm/ .

Additionally, you can find lots of presents and souvenirs at the Christmas market. There are a variouscandles, hand-made felt accessories, toys, leather and wool products, bags, fleeces, hand-made soaps, and oils. What I like most is the different woodcarvings and glass decorations. So, if you are looking for some special German gifts to send your friends back home, it’s an ideal place to shop!

So dress warm and go have a blast at the Christmas market closest to you! And then come back and let us know: what do you like most about the Christmas market?

 

Accommodation in Passau

I think it will be better if I tell you about my experience in order to keep you from making my mistakes.

Since receiving my admission from University of Passau, I realized what it is I need in order to start searching for good accommodation in the city. I thought it wouldn’t be such a big issue but it turned out to be quite the task.

The first thing I did was applied for a room in the student dorms.

Here you can find the four dormitories of our Uni: http://www.stwno.de/joomla/de/wohnen/wohnanlagen-pa

Later that year in august, I received an email saying my admission was refused. Why?? Because I was a Master Student! (being from Russia doesn’t matter) I have heard about Master students living in the dorms, but I would not advise anyone to try and get in there if you are working on your Master Degree. There are a lot of NICE places in Passau where you can live. If you are going to study for a Bachelor, you should definitely apply for a room as soon as possible.

So, first lesson learned: begin as early as possible to look for a room/ flat.

Back then I wasn’t aware of the different private dormitories Passau had to offer. With these you can apply for a room and have a high chance of getting in. One of the dorms I am living in now is Kapfinger Wohnheim.

You can find out everything you need to know about it here: http://kapfinger.de/

Usually in a German dormitory, you have your own private room. It is common to share a kitchen with about 5-12 other students and often you share a bath. Nevertheless, it’s also possible to get a room with your own personal bath and kitchen as well!

As I realized what I need to look for a room somewhere in a German city I’ve never been from Russia, I have found a really useful website:  http://www.wg-gesucht.de/ Here you can find different rooms/ flats/ houses you can rent in Germany.

Do you have any idea what a German WG is? Coming from Russia, I had no clue. A WG is a flat where 2-5 students or young people live who have his/her own room and share the kitchen, and bath and sometime a drawing room. Of course it is much than just a place you live. In a WG you commonly spend a lot of time quality time with your roommates. Cooking, eating and spending evenings together, partying are the most usual activities.

So I have started to write different people, that I would like to rent their rooms…but I couldn’t visit that flats and introduce myself (Saint Petersburg is pretty far away from Passau), so I understand why people have chosen someone else, who could go to Passau.

Second lesson learned: try to visit the city and look for a room/ flat/ house. If you can’t, at least use Skype!

Most of people will tell you they need time to decide whom they will rent their room too. It’s also common that students who live in that flat can choose their new roommate. It can take quite some time before you find right place and right people for you.

Third lesson learned: try to visit as many flats as possible. At best you will be the one who will choose!

I was short on time time and I couldn’t physically be in Passau so I was left without options. I was really happy as someone told me that I could rent a flat and…it was the greatest mistake I made! But I did it! I officially signed a one-year rental agreement while I was in Saint Petersburg!

Fourth lesson learned: NEVER sign any rental agreement before you have seen the flat!

As I arrived here, I discovered that my new flat was situated in a very, very old house on the hill (you can get there by bus…but only one time an hour and the last bus is leaves at 20:30), so if you don’t have a car, Schärdinger Straße is definitive not for you!

On the WG-Gesucht website you can also find not only rent, but also see how much. Also, you can see if you need to pay separately for water, Internet and electricity (especially heating is really expensive in Germany!).  You can also ask your renter to find out exact prices within your rental agreement (before you sign it!). Of course, I did NOT do that! During my first day in Passau my renter told me that I have to pay 600 Euros for oil. Oil? What oil? Oil for the oil stove (to heat the flat).

It was really difficult to get out of such nice flat (because of my rental agreement), but I did it! So please don’t repeat my mistakes.

There are a lot of really comfortable, nice and cozy flats in Passau, all what you need is to start looking early and try to visit a lot of different flats and never sign anything before you have seen it!

Good luck and see you in Passau!