Holiday commerce is already operating at top gear - Holiday commerce is already at a frenzy.
Preparations for the festive season are well underway in Hesse, Germany, where the Christmas spirit is not limited to the cold winter months. From the depths of abandoned mines to bustling bakeries, the region is steeped in traditions that ensure the freshest and finest Christmas goods for locals and visitors alike.
A Time-Honoured Tradition: Storing Stollen in Abandoned Mines
In a unique twist, many bakeries in Hesse store their Christmas stollen in abandoned mines during the summer. These natural underground conditions offer a consistent temperature, often around 8 to 12 degrees Celsius, and humidity that prevent the stollen from drying out or spoiling during storage over the warmer months. This practice, tied to the mining heritage of the region, ensures that the stollen is fresh and well-preserved when sold at Christmas.
One such bakery is the Wilhelm Eberhardt Back- and Chocolate Factory, which stores its Christmas stollen 70 meters deep in the "Grube Christine" mine. The damp, cold, and dark environment of the mine helps maintain the quality and flavor of the baked goods until the Christmas season.
A Shift in Customer Base and Early Availability of Christmas Items
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about changes in the customer base of the Wilhelm Eberhardt Back- and Chocolate Factory, with a shift from retail chains to self-marketers and farm shops. Despite these changes, preparations for the Christmas baked goods are underway, with the first Christmas baked goods expected to be delivered in the first week of September.
Christmas Trees: Small but Perfectly Formed
The Christmas trees in Hesse have also been affected by the dry summers of 2018 and 2019, resulting in a potential crop of smaller trees this year. However, the recent rain has done the trees good, making them very green. Sales to retailers for Christmas trees are in full swing, with the popular Nordmann fir expected to remain stable in price, ranging from 23 to 30 euros per running meter.
The Business of Christmas: Year-Round Occupation
The Christmas business is a year-round occupation in Hesse, with planning and advertising starting in January. Direct marketers are organizing their stands for Christmas tree sales, while bakeries like the von der Heide in Willingen have been baking Christmas stollen for four weeks. Around 4,000 stollen have already been stored to ripen.
In Willingen, stollen is already stored in the mine, taking advantage of the cool and fresh environment with a constant temperature of 7 degrees. This traditional method of stollen storage is so valued that the business with the "Stollen from the Stollen" has been trademarked by the business.
A Look Ahead
As the days grow shorter and the nights grow colder, the Christmas business is already in full swing in many operations in Hesse. With the first Christmas items soon to be available for purchase and the preparations for the Christmas baked goods well underway, the region is gearing up for another festive season filled with tradition and delight.
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