A Holiday Fixture, Atlanta Christkindl Market Strives for Even Greater Impact in Seventh Year

Over the last three years, the Atlanta Christkindl Market has settled into Buckhead Village shopping district, seasonally transforming a barren parking lot into a German Christmas wonderland.

Now in its seventh year overall, the market, with its 60-plus traditional wooden booths, has become a fixture in the city’s holiday landscape, but it’s still working toward reaching the loftier goals of its founders.

The original vision sought to raise money for the German-American Cultural Foundation, which underwrites German language instruction and other initiatives important to the some 20,000 German-heritage Georgia residents.

But it was also envisioned as a cultural unifier, a place where diverse crowds from all over the city could come and experience outdoor magic similar to the Christmas markets that grace the town squares of Germany, offering food, toys and treats like gluehwein (mulled wine) and lebkuchen (gingerbread) in a cozy, connected setting.

Marco Foelske, a Hilton hotels general manager who has taken over the market’s operations this year, said that in the three years since it came to Buckhead, local residents and Buckhead Village shoppers have made up the bulk of visitors.

This year, the foundation has sought to rectify that by advertising not only online, but also on MARTA buses running to Tucker, Decatur and the northwestern corridor up toward Cobb. That’s helping draw new crowds from all over the city, Mr. Foelske told Global Atlanta.

“This year is the first year where the diversity aspect really comes into play,” he said.

The market has also taken out physical billboards around Atlanta while targeting potential attendees with ads on Instagram, TikTok and Facebook, where the market has 22,000 followers.

Those efforts seem to be paying off as the market bustles with Christmas approaching.

The guest experience remains largely unchanged from previous years — photos with Santa, a calendar featuring carolers and musical performances by groups from around the region, Käthe Wohlfahrt’s tent stocked with authentic German Christmas ornaments, and what Mr. Foelske calls “European and German delectables” from a variety of vendors, sometimes blending local and international. Sweet Auburn Barbecue, for instance, is providing this year’s brats, cheese sausage, kraut and German potato salad.

Importantly, hot chocolate and German mulled wine (gluehwein) continue to flow, and guests can enjoy waffles from Delicious Belgian, pretzels from Different Twist and crepes from Lucia Crepes they peruse merchandise booths offering jewelry, crafts, clothing, soap, teas and much more from permanent and popup vendors under the shadow of a 50-foot Christmas tree. Admission remains free — payments are processed by individual vendors.

Local organizations and companies also support the market by purchasing and distributing Christkindl market dollars, gift certificates designed as red bills that work the same as cash at vendor booths.

Diversifying revenue is important as organizers hope to sustain an event they see as vital to both showcasing and supporting cultural exchange with Germany, Mr. Foelske said.

“Making an event is nice, but you really want to end up making some money,” he said.

Perhaps demonstrating that the concept has matured in metro Atlanta, another Christkindl market has sprung up in the suburbs, with Roswell hosting its first in a wooded setting at historic Bulloch Hall. Proceeds from that event will support the local Rotary Club.

Some supporters of the German business community are happy to see it catching on.

“We’re all about ‘the more, the merrier’ when it comes to supporting exchange and the ability to drink a good gluehwein,” said Teri Simmons, immigration and global mobility practice chair at Arnall Golden Gregory LLP, a board member at the cultural foundation who has been a leader in promoting German-American exchange in Atlanta.

Even with that addition, Atlanta still lags Chicago, which organizers studied before pursuing the concept here back in 2016. Home to a larger German community, Chicago now boasts three.

For information on vendors, parking, MARTA access (free shuttle from Buckhead and Lenox stations) and more, visit www.christkindlmarket.org.

To learn more about the work of the German-American Cultural Foundation to support German language instruction, cultural exchanges and more, click here.

The market runs through Christmas Eve.