Money-Makers

Artisan Leo Überbacher has traveled nine hours to the Christmas market in Bonn to sell the wooden religious statues from his hometown Ortisei Val Gardena in Alto Adige in northern Italy. It's much easier these days than it was for his ancestors, who used to walk to France to sell their wooden nativity statues.

Überbacher began to learn his trade at age 14. The skills were passed down through the generations. He may be retired now, but he still enjoys helping his fellow craftsmen by painting the statues. Selling them at the markets is a chance to travel outside his hometown.

"It's nice to have a change, to see and meet different people," he said.

Alto Adige's wood carvers, like many stall holders, begin preparing for the Christmas markets in summer. At the same time, in forests across Germany, bees are busy making the honey that Hermann Mehl later sells at the markets.

Mehl has been keeping bees for over 20 years and has been selling his honey products at the Christmas markets for 12 years.

"Beekeeping started as a hobby and I had lots of fun with it and then I started to go professional," Mehl said as he dipped strings of candles into beeswax.

There's not a bee in sight at his market stall, though there's plenty of honey, honey wine and yellow, beeswax candles that he said are all good sellers.

"It's a good business and this year it appears to be a good year," Mehl said.

Überbacher isn't so confident.

"Last year we were really happy with what we did, but this year it seems people want to spend less and save more," he said. "Around 10 years ago, people would buy without asking the price, but now they always ask the price."

Most stall holders at the Bonn Christmas markets weren't so keen to comment on how much they earn. Like most small business people, stall holders don't reveal publicly how much they earn. But the fact that there are more stalls this year, 170 in total, and that many stall holders have returned to Bonn, is an indication that there is money to be made in Germany's Christmas markets.

"If it wasn't worth it, we wouldn't be here," Überbacher said.

Holiday jobs

The Christmas markets also provide holiday jobs, especially for students. Food science graduate Mathias Rumpel, a student, has worked at the markets for the last five years.

Rumpel sat strumming a guitar, surrounded by a collection of instruments from all over the world: Tibetan water bowls, Thai wooden frogs that croak when stroked, xylophones made by handicapped children, wooden German-made flutes and plenty of bells, maracas and whistles to liven up any Christmas gathering.

"A lot of customers like to buy the small shakers and bells and tambourines for children," he said. "Percussion instruments are more difficult to sell because people don't come to buy professional instruments, but having such instruments on display is good for the stall's reputation."

The stall is also good for his employer's regular business -- a music shop in the northern German town of Hameln.

"Having stalls at the Christmas markets is very important to my boss because it would be hard for his store to survive without them," Rumpel said.

The Christmas markets are also an easy holiday job for student Cora Dieckmann. This is her first year working at the markets and she's selling a somewhat unusual product -- handmade bird feeders.

"So far it's been really nice because people really like the things and that makes them easy to sell," Dieckmann said. "I enjoy going to Christmas markets, so it's a good job for me."

Training for Christmas

According to Rolf Rau, who has two stalls at the markets, the work provides valuable job training for young people. He has two 21- and 22-year-olds who are completing three-year event management traineeships with him.

Rau has been doing the markets for four years, "because it is basically a learning experience for the boys," he said. "In the summer we have a lot of work to do, so this is a good time for them to practice their skills. To sell something is the most difficult thing in the world."