Weihnachtszeit in Berlin

An extensive photo essay on Christmastime in Berlin (When is Blogger going to stop me from posting so many pictures? The amount of space they give is awesome!):

A store by my apartment. Still not sure what they sell, but it looks like a disco from the outside.











The Swarovski Christmas tree in the main train station


















A ton of angels walking down the street. If Germans had sororities, I would imagine their members to do stuff like this.









A nativity scene at the Gendarmenmarkt Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas market)












This is why I love Germany!













I don't blame them for dressing like this, it was FREEZING!












At the entrance to the Gendarmenmarkt Christmas market. Ignore the crazy hair--this weather has given me lots of hat head and other unflattering photo hair.











An Advent windmill-thing at the Finnish Christmas market in the Kulturbrauerei in Prenzlauer Berg. Advent is big here--you wish people a happy 1st/2nd/3rd/4th Advent depending on what Sunday it is.















An over-zealous Christmas gnome fan lives in this apartment in Prenzlauer Berg.












The Christmas market at Potsdamer Platz, complete with sledding hill!













The gorgeous Christmas tree in front of the Brandenburg Gate. If you can't already tell, Berlin has no qualms about having Christmas decorations everywhere. I never once saw anything related to Hanukkah or the upcoming Muslim holiday on Thursday (I believe it's Eid in Arabic, something like Bayram in Turkish)












My team and our hastily built gingerbread house at the Humboldt Christmas Stammtisch. With me are a Hungarian and a French Belgian, plus two Americans (another Fulbright teacher and a guy who studied ling with me at Harvard).









A toy soldier on Kudamm


















This is closer to the German idea of what St. Nicholas would look like (not a fatso like in the U.S.).
















A huge Advent calendar at the Marriott. Germans love Advent calendars. I just wish there were huge amounts of chocolate in those bags!















Santa and a Christmas tree, made completely out of Legos, at the Sony Center.












The Christmas market in the Schlossplatz, along Unter den Linden across from Humboldt. I assume this is the biggest.











A sign on the Staatsoper for Der Nussknacker (the Nutcracker), which I had the fortune of seeing!


















An ice skating rink on Unter den Linden, just outside the building where my classes meet.












All the trees are decorated down Unter den Linden!