Will be traveling to Germany late Spring 2016. Frieburg, Munich, up the Romantic Road to Rothenberg, Heidleburg. Side trips to Strasbourg, France and Salzburg and Vienna, Austria. Looking for wonderful shops to find locally made Christmas ornaments/decorations especially German nutcrackers or smokers. Any suggestions? Thank you.
Posted by
Danville, VT
12040 posts
All of the merchandise in the Käthe Wohlfahrt stores is made in Germany. There's a store in Heidelberg and 3-4 in Rothenburg alone, where the company has it's headquarters.
Posted by
Washington DC Region, USA
7049 posts
You can even get Kathe Wohlfart items online - there are outlets in the US too.
Posted by
Frankfurt/Tampa Bay
6 posts
Not a bad idea to buy them beforehand (or afterwards) online and have them shipped to your home. Depending on shipping costs and personal preference, this will save you a lot of weight in your luggage. Imagine all the chocolate you can bring instead ;)
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23270 posts
We were in Germany over Christmas a couple of years and hit one of the Kathe Wohlfart's stores pretty hard. We arranged for them to ship the items to our home in the US. The VAT savings paid for the shipping. The stuff arrived shortly after we returned home in great ship. They had packed it very well. My recommendation would be to have them ship it.
Posted by
Oberpfalz, Germany
1294 posts
Best place for Smokers, Christmas Pyramids, Schwibbogen etc. is in the Erzgebirge (old East along the Czech border, Ore Mountains). Towns like Seiffen and Annaberg-Buchholz. Unfortunately they are on the opposite side of Germany you plan to visit. I assume Kathe Wohlfart has products from this region as the region is famous for them. There are shops online from this region too. A few examples:
Posted by
Germany
868 posts
One of the biggest online shops I know:
http://www.Erzgebirge-Palast.de
I also had a look at the Käthe Wohlfahrt shop. Their selection is smaller, and it looks like they also produce their own nutcrackers and smokers, which look overly sweet and kitschy to me. Stick to products with the label "Echt Erzgebirge", which are handmade and from the Ore Mountains, where all these Christmas toys come from.
Too bad you can't see this part of the country. No Käthe Wohlfahrt shop beats Seiffen.