GERMANY: Dresden celebrates its Christmas speciality

Like every year, the so called "Dresden Christstollen" is honoured by a Stollen festival. The event started early in the morning on Saturday (December 3), with the bakers of Dresden carrying a giant fruit cake, the "Stollen", weighing approximately four tonnes in a procession from the Baroque Zwinger to the Striezelmarkt Christmas market at Altmarkt. The market in Dresden lovingly referred to as the "Striezelmarkt," is considered the oldest in Germany. First mentioned in 1434, it received its name for the local speciality "Striezel" or "Stollen," a type of bread-like sweetcake made around Christmas time. Bakers began baking Stollen in the 16th century and would give one or two 36-pound cakes to the local prince during Christmas time. These cakes were carried ceremoniously to the castle and cut by a knife over five feet long, a tradition that has been reenacted since 1994, when the city introduced its annual Stollen festival. These days, at 4000 kg, the Stollen is larger than those medieval bakers might have been able to imagine. It is divided to feed people from throughout the area. "The ingredients are the same ones used in a normal Stollen. Mainly flour, butter, raisins, lemon, spices and rum- everything that makes a great Stollen. Every baker has his own recipe, but the basic ingredients remain the same," explained baker Hans Merker about the cake. The Striezelmarket is open from 24 November to 24 December 2005.

ITN Source | December 9, 2005

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