Julius Pepperwood sits at his desk, his head still a little intoxicated with the figurines and the smells of cinnamon and mulled wine. Although every day he finds it more and more difficult to find his way around the city, he still appreciates the Christmas atmosphere, his €10 for spätzle and his 3-figure hotel nights. Suddenly, a question pierced his mind: why did Strasbourg proclaim itself Christmas Capital ? Without a second thought, he pours himself a mulled wine, whiskey flavor, and immerses himself in a 30-year-old story.
Strasbourg Capital of Christmas. We see this label everywhere during the Christmas market, which lasts this year until December 27. A very strong marker of our city, which shines across France and the world every December. We can no longer count the tourists of different nationalities, who arrive in the Alsatian capital for photos of the cathedral, flambéed baguettes and mulled wines.
But before this period of the 21st century, our Christmas market did not shine as brightly. Since its official creation in 1570 [même si les Strasbourgeois(es) se réunissaient déjà il y a deux siècles pour un rendez-vous en l’honneur de Saint-Nicolas, ndlr], the Christkindelsmärik went through several phases, several places with always one constant: the residents grumbled because there were already too many people and were worried about a mercantile drift. Traditions are not lost.
Yes, yes Christkindelsmärik was renowned almost everywhere, as the 20th century progressed, its success gradually dried up. In the 1970s and 1980s, the Christmas market saw competition from large shopping centers, particularly on the German side.. Well stocked, with more attractive prices and above all warm, they inflict a severe blow on the attractiveness of Strasbourg. After all, in the midst of the rise of mass consumerism, why soak up pretzels and drink mulled wine when you can buy everything for less, just a few steps away?
Result ? At that time, in terms of restaurants and hotels, onion soup gave way to grimace soup. And the more the years go by, the more painful the winters become for Alsatian hoteliers and traders.. A reaction was therefore needed to prevent the Christmas market from falling into oblivion, and this arrived at the beginning of the 1990s.
The birth of Christmas Capital
It is 1991. Catherine Trautmann has been serving her first mandate at the head of Strasbourg for two years, Racing is struggling in the 2nd division [avant d’aller gagner un barrage épique face à Rennes en mai 1992, ndlr]and the Christmas market is seriously showing off. At that moment, a man named Jean-Jacques Gsell, regulatory assistant, came up with a bright idea: we must completely review the copy of the event to restore Strasbourg’s image.
From 1991, we found a “Christmas Route”, which reinvested the square in front of the cathedral, connecting it to Place Broglie by a decorated “path”. It works pretty well, but it’s not enough, so Strasbourg takes everyone by surprise the following year and simply proclaims itself Christmas Capital in 1992. Wary of being denied priority over the origin of the baguette flambé, she jealously registers the brand.
The City is also pulling out all the stops; after all, we must succeed in resolving the problem of the absence of overnight stays and crowds in Strasbourg restaurants and hotels during the Christmas period, a very slow season.. Thus, as soon as the brand was registered, thousands of tour operators [les influenceurs de l’époque, ndlr] are approached to promote the destination. And it works: from 1995 and 1996, one million visitors were reached. Strasbourg once again shines with its most beautiful Christmas lights.
It was also in the mid-1990s that other traditions were established. Always with the idea of developing the event, and particularly internationally, the City decided to invite a foreign country in 1994. But above all, the same year, she decides to bring back a beautiful baby over 30m high to install it on Place Kléber. A symbol of renewed vigor, it revives a very Alsatian tradition since we find decorated fir trees from the 16th century, the same period as the birth of the Christmas market. The Christmas market, never without my beautiful tree!
A Christmas capital that has succeeded in its marketing coup
Today, Strasbourg Capital of Christmas is a real success in every way. Already in terms of attendance: if it has continued to climb, that of the year 2023 broke all records with 3.3 million visitors. For the record, attendance is measured by Alsace Destination Tourisme (ADT); it uses Orange’s Flux Vision service which, thanks to data transmitted by our smartphones, precisely measures the use of several given areas. To see if the year 2024 will break the record.
Then, from an influence point of view, here again, Strasbourg is a hit. Many cities in France have adopted the reflex of a Christmas market in the city center, while the Strasbourg event was exported to Japan, Russia and the United States. In addition, it has often been voted the best Christmas market in the world, even if Colmar has stolen the crown several times.
Finally, obviously, from the economic side, it is a triumph. In 2018, there was talk of 300 million euros spent by 2 million visitors on the Christmas market. We’ll let you do the calculation for 3.3 million tourists, but the revenue is still major for the local fabric. In one month, some establishments can achieve around 15% of their annual turnover. At the same time, when we see how prices are inflated during this period, we understand why.
At any rate, Strasbourg Capital of Christmas has now succeeded: today, when we think of Christmas, we think of Strasbourg. And it is one of the great victories of Jean-Jacques Gsell, who died in October 2023. While the event was not far from falling into oblivion, Strasbourg managed to revive it. And it is now experiencing growing success.
A Christmas capital that seeks more authenticity
With the brand now established, we must now work to make it more authentic. Because with this popular success necessarily comes shopping center reflections in the open air. If the subject monopolized the debates during the 2020 municipal elections, Strasbourg has been fighting for a long time to make its market less mercantile. Already in 1927, the town hall was obliged to regulate the sale because it could no longer bear the fact that there were, between two figurines and three bredele, tons of jewelry, greeting cards… and even goldfish!
It was then in 2010 that another step was taken, with Roland Ries deciding to ban churros and paninis from the event, declaring that: “ The market is not a fair, much less a barnum. » In 2022, other products were banned from sale, launching a controversy of an absurdity rarely reached in Strasbourgwhich, ironically, at that point morphed into barnum.
This search for authenticity is now one of the cardinal points of the ecological municipality, which works from year to year to make the Capital of Noël more accessible to Strasbourg residents. Among other measures of energy sobriety, eco-responsibility and solidarity, this year, the municipality will begin to rate the different chalets exhibiting at the Christmas market on 5 different criteria.
A way to regain control of what is offered on the various stalls and chalets, with a rating that will be authentic from 2025. 32 years after his birth, Strasbourg Capital of Christmas is a dashing thirty-something which never ceases to shine, and even less to evolve.
