Three hours in line for a ball. “It’s the unique side of the object, what it also represents, this know-how, that interests me,” confides Ahmed, in his fifties, while waiting. By purchasing a Meisenthal Christmas bauble, you are helping to perpetuate this heritage, which is important. » His objective? Buy a Christmas bauble from the Moselle glassmaker in a chalet at the Strasbourg Christmas market.
A little further in the line, Julien and his friends are ironic. “It’s like at Social Security, they give you a little green and white ticket to queue. ” Never mind. On this cold morning, the worry of the hustling and waiting crowd is to arrive in time to buy one of these exceptional glass Christmas baubles. In front of the chalet, an endless line formed. Depending on the model, even if it costs between 26 and 33 euros each, there will not be something for everyone.
Very popular, some balls are even resold by individuals on second-hand online sites at astronomical prices. Up to 260 euros each! So in this period of declining purchasing power, who are these visitors waiting in the cold to obtain one of these decorations?
To find out, we must first talk about the balls in question. Here, no Made in China, no industrial manufacturing, but real artisanal know-how, that of blown glass, coming directly from the International Center for Glass Art (CIAV) located in Meisenthal in Moselle. “We dreamed of these luxury balls,” explains this New York couple. It's the French gift we wanted to bring home, that is if we don't break it during the trip. »
Family tradition
Meisenthal's glass balls come in different colors and are designed by a new designer every year. For the 2024 edition, it is the German Mark Braun, sensitive to the issues linked to global warming, who imagined the “Kaktus”, with “knocked-out” shapes. A vintage highly sought after by visitors, even willing to pay a few euros more to have it in red. Demand is such that the CIAV only sells one per family.
That doesn't discourage Virginie, who is ready to queue several mornings. This 62-year-old from Lyon buys them for her mother, “a loyal Meisenthal for many years” one for each of her five brothers and sisters, as is their family tradition. “Mine are suspended like a mobile, above the table, it’s magnificent,” explains the one who hastens to show us a photograph of her creation.
The danger comes from children and cats
A little behind in the queue, Jean-Paul, “came for the beauty of this local object, this know-how”, has been waiting for more than an hour. What he wants is to get one. It doesn't matter the color or model. Thirty euros for a Christmas bauble, isn't that a bit expensive? “It’s handmade, so I don’t think so, no,” he says. A judgment shared by Marie and Lison, two Alsatian design students: “When you see the work done behind it, having visited the site, the process, it’s worth it. »
Jean-Paul's Meisenthal Christmas bauble will join those acquired in previous years. But for him, there is no question of hanging them on the tree. “Too fragile, I have small children and cats, I don’t know what’s worse,” he jokes. So they will be used for decoration, “just for Christmas”, placed in a vase “with an LED light behind to highlight them. But my wife takes care of that. I'm just a retiree waiting in line. »
A little further on, Juliette, in her fifties, also uses it as decoration. Usually, she gets her supplies directly from the glassmaking site in Meisenthal, even “if there is a queue there,” she assures us. And we can't even reserve one for them online before February! » But this year, she is waiting. “The first day, here in Strasbourg, there was even a four-hour queue… I can't do that. » But motivated by the balls which “are always beautiful” and particularly “the Kaktus” which she judges “sublime”, she has resigned herself to being patient on this weekday when there are a little less people, to complete his collection.
Nearly 10,000 balls sold in one month
Coming from Normandy to join her lover Guillaume for a few days in the self-proclaimed “Capital of Christmas”, Marion had never heard of the Meisenthal balls. But she is ready to pay around thirty euros for this “must have”, especially for “the pink Kaktus”. “It’s a way to mark the occasion and have a souvenir of our Alsatian weekend. » In this endless queue, we also find Anne-Lise, a Breton who came to Strasbourg for work, commissioned by her parents and who intends to leave with several models of balls. “My parents have a beautiful collection that they hang on sconces during Christmas. It's very pretty. » The tourist is very specific in her purchasing wishes. “I am not here for Kaktus, but for Stella, Arti or Piaf. »
This Christmas 2024 “promises to be as important as last year”, according to the management of the glass center. Both for older models and for the Kaktus. “In 2023, 9,600 balls, all models combined, were sold at the Strasbourg chalet, including more than 4,000 Stella, the name of the 2023 ball. The quantities will be almost identical this year. »
