At the top of the white-clothed tables there are jute bags with the Königsdorf municipality’s coat of arms ready to be taken away, but underneath – somewhat hidden – there are a handful of crates of drinks. “You really have a beer with you?” asks economics officer Clemens Baumgärtner, who himself is holding a coffee mug in his hand on Marienplatz this Wednesday morning, in the direction of Königsdorf Mayor Rainer Kopnicky. Then he nods appreciatively: “Respect! You’re real professionals.”
Of course, the real souvenir that the delegation from the town of 3,000 in the Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen district brought with them is not the beer crates. But: a 25 meter high Serbian spruce that was brought from Königsdorf to Munich, 40 kilometers away, by heavy transport at the crack of dawn on Wednesday. There it will serve as a Christmas tree on Marienplatz, which is traditionally donated by a community.
Just in time for the seven o’clock bell, the employees of the Munich fire department – watched by around 50 onlookers, all of them with smartphones out – sank the trunk of the spruce tree into the two meter deep hole in the ground in front of the New Town Hall. The tree is then wedged there. “During my time in office, I have never seen everything happen so quickly,” praises Clemens Baumgärtner. Then he looks over at the spruce and emphasizes: “I’m very happy with the tree. It looks beautiful.”
After his municipality won the contract, they looked for suitable trees for months, says Königsdorf’s mayor Kopnicky. Five candidates were shortlisted before the city of Munich decided on the spruce tree that was on a campsite on Lake Bibisee. According to the economic department, it should have been cut down anyway for safety reasons. Now the tree is given a second life – as a Christmas tree on Marienplatz.
The Christmas tree at Marienplatz has been donated since 1877
This has been donated every year since 1977. And the waiting list of communities offering this is long. Kopnicky says Königsdorf applied 20 years ago. Through their role as Christmas tree donors, the communities hope, above all, to improve their image. The place of origin is allowed to present itself as a holiday destination during the Munich Christmas market in the magnificent courtyard of the town hall and serve mulled wine. In the case of Königsdorf, 21 local associations from the community will run the stand and also offer regional snacks such as farmer’s bread with crackling lard.
Before that, of course, the Christmas tree still needs to be decorated, including with around 3,000 LED lights. They will then be switched on for the first time on November 27th – at the start of the city’s Christmas market at Marienplatz. Also starting on this day are the medieval market at Wittelsbacher Platz, the Feuerzangenbowle at the Isartor, the Pink Christmas at Stephansplatz and the Christmas markets at Sendlinger Tor and Rotkreuzplatz.
If you want to drink your first mulled wine earlier, you can do so from November 16th in the Bogenhausen Christmas Magic Forest and at the Christmas market in the Werksviertel, from November 17th at Motorworld’s Winterworld, from November 20th at the Viktualienmarkt, from November 23rd in the Christmas Village in the Residenz, at the Tollwood on Theresienwiese, at the Chinese Tower and at the Fairy Tale Bazaar in the Olympic Park and from November 24th at the Eiszauber am Stachus. From November 28th it starts at Weißenburger Platz in Haidhausen and from December 1st at the Christmas market at Münchner Freiheit.
The market in the pedestrian zone lasts until Christmas Eve; The Christmas tree there will light up until Epiphany. It will then be dismantled again on January 10th. What will happen to the spruce afterwards? “We want to have benches made for the community from the trunk,” says Königsdorf’s mayor Rainer Kopnicky. And the town hall has received a request from Austria regarding the branches. “They want to make essential oils out of it.”