In the recent post Medieval festivals proliferate and a true medieval market dies, we talked about the spike in medieval themed markets in Germany and about the decline of one truly medieval market. The location of the rural site was ideal for transport before the advent of the motor vehicle but not in a time in which freeway access and "adequate" parking count. For details, see that post.
Another phenomenon we discussed earlier was the desire to bring order to what was perceived as a jumble of stands and booths. The re-making of London's Camden Town market serves as a poster child. These days, it is nothing more than a tourist trap with decent food stands.
A third phenomenon we have believe to have observed over the years is a loss of diversity of markets once dominated by a regional or local trade or craft.
Imagine, for example, a pumpkin festival with no pumpkins, an apple festival without apples, and so on.
Granted, times do change, new products appear, old ones go away. The music played there evolves, the food gets more diverse, and so on. Market and crafts fair operators in the U.S. have seen their share of struggles, but we feel that they have been more successful in adapting to the changes.
And we believe to have seen enough of these events around here to conclude that German towns have not generally mastered the transition well. One recent trip was to a Bulbs and Onion market, and what we found was sprawling market without any onions and a single flower bulb stand - out of several hundred vendors.
Why did we go?
Because German friends told us it was a fun event, and because the web site of the town did not show pictures of what it hailed as the "traditional" market.
Of course, we did not expect to see and "all bulbs and onions" market. You wouldn't expect a large variety of onions as a cash crop in the Germany of 2015, would you?
In our - not necessarily expert opinion - much of the German problem is a management issue. The "traditional" markets are still almost exclusively organized by the town administration as a side job between enforcing parking tickets and keeping the town greens pretty.
In the U.S., on the other hand, small towns outsource the event planning and management to professionals who will select vendors by themes and variety.
How do you avoid a boring market event?
The answer is simple: if there is no photo gallery on the web, you might not want to go.
Where can I find vintage stuff?
On the web, but if you live in Germany and have time, you want to look for flea markets or swap meets in small towns. They are run by professional organizers and take place mostly on super market and mall parking lots on Sundays - German super markets and malls are closed on Sundays.
One final tip
Don't bring lots of cash to these events. That's not a pick pocket warning but a friendly reminder that you may buy way more than you can take back to the U.S. or any other far away country.
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