Piles of tinsel, wrapping paper and newly bought things: Christmas has been struggling with its image as a huge consumer battle for years. A few active people want to show that there is another way, not just around Christmas Eve, at the Ebersberg Christmas market on the weekend of 26./27. November. They have planned two offers, both of which come under the umbrella term of sustainability: There will be an “empty stand” where anyone interested can offer things they have made themselves, and right next door there will be a yurt where all sorts of events related to the topic will take place.
Tanja Gronde, Kai Platz and Miriam Boehlke, connected via laptop, talk about their plans for the Ebersberg Christmas market.
(Photo: Christian Endt)
However, the initiator Tanja Gronde emphasizes that these two offers are by no means a kind of critical counterpoint to the traditional Christmas market in the district capital. “It’s made very lovingly, for example it offers a lot of handicrafts and only reusable tableware,” says the journalist and communication trainer from Ebersberg. In this respect, it is only a matter of making the topic of sustainability in all its facets even more present in the context of this beautiful event, adds Gronde’s colleague Kai Platz.
Ultimately, the “empty pavilion” will be well filled. For example, there are wooden objects for sale by Konstantin Cibu from Moosach…
(Photo: Organizer)
…sweet baby shoes by Nina Buske…
(Photo: Organizer)
…or pretty boxes by Petra Pfeiffelmann from Ebersberg.
(Photo: organizer)
The two got to know each other through the Ebersberg project “Gemeinsam.Zukunft.Machen” (Gemeinsam.Zukunft.Machen) and now, among other things, the idea of an “empty stand” for the Christmas market was born and implemented. This is a beautiful, very stable wooden pavilion in which Gronde and Platz will sell homemade goods of all kinds under the motto “Diversity in Ebersberg for Ebersberg”. “We want to give everyone who feels like it an opportunity to show their talent. Maybe some of them started knitting or crocheting, making fairy lights or learning another craft during the lockdown,” says Gronde. And these hidden talents are now being sought for the pavilion.
The two initiators proudly report that they have already been offered pretty surprise boxes made of paper, slippers, upcycled decorative items, baby shoes with pretzels on them, pillows and even a crocheted bikini. In general, quantity is not important: even if someone has only knitted three pairs of socks, they are very welcome. In addition, people are also happy to accept goods spontaneously, directly at the Christmas market. “Just drop by, we’re there,” says Platz.
And the good thing is: if you want, you can sell your own products, but nobody has to stand in their stomachs. The pavilion team is happy to sell on commission. It does not require a fee for this. “Our project is voluntary and not aimed at profit, that’s very important to us,” explains Platz. “But if someone would like to help us pay the stand fee, we’ll of course be happy to accept it.”
For the offer in the yurt, Ebersberger Kai Platz has teamed up with a Grafinger, Miriam Boehlke. Both are also working as consultants in the field of sustainability and are now making their knowledge and contacts available for an extraordinary program at the Christmas market. First of all, the “wandering yurt” von Boehlke, the traditional tent of the nomadic tribes in Central Asia, is a “symbol of sustainability and a well-rounded togetherness”. The tent was built with wood, felt and cords in a natural way, and its round shape automatically makes people come together in a circle, says Boehlke.
Miriam Boehlke has invited many actors to introduce themselves to the audience in her yurt.
(Photo: Peter Hinz-Rosin)
Inside the yurt there are workshops, games and information on all possible facets of sustainability on both market days. For example, you can listen to stories about Ebersberg’s future, get to know a repair café, have your personal ecological footprint calculated or discuss economy for the common good. The district’s climate manager, Lisa Rütgers, will also report on her work. But the children will probably be particularly happy about the “snail blower”, which will teach them to elicit beautiful sounds from the pretty cases.
The initiators hope that this will become a flagship project for the district town and even the district
“We want to give the various local initiatives and actors space and opportunity to introduce themselves,” says Boehlke. “We want to show what already exists and what everyone can contribute to sustainability.” The organizers have given everyone involved a time window of half an hour to one and a half hours. There will probably not be any breaks, the program is so full. The hosts hope that there will be a lot of interest, not least because it is warm and dry in the yurt, and there will always be home-cooked chai, in reusable cups, of course. “You should really be able to spend time here, make contacts and chat,” says yurt owner Boehlke.
Even if the three committed people still describe their two non-commercial oases at the Ebersberg Christkindlmarkt as a “test laboratory”, they still hope that it will become a lighthouse project for the district town and even the district – after all, the pavilion and yurt offer real added value for all sides, for the consumers, for the producers and also for the municipalities. “In any case, our goal is for these offers to become established, so that they are no longer questioned, but simply supported,” says Gronde. After all, real change towards more sustainability requires the participation of all sides, civil society, companies and public authorities.
Anyone interested in selling in the pavilion can contact Kai Platz and Tanja Gronde by email to [email protected] or [email protected].