Triberg Weihnachtszauber
Happy New Year! When living in Europe, where to spend New Year’s Eve is always a difficult decision, so many places to visit. Last year we spent New Year’s Eve in Dusseldorf, Germany, which was a scary and exciting adventure. We had a 360-degree view of fireworks plus we were dodging fireworks on the ground. It is evident that Germany does not have the safety regulation like we have in the United States.
This year we decided to take a chance and spend New Year’s Eve in a small, but touristy town, instead of a big city. We spent only one night there, New Year’s Eve. As we drove into the town, we expected to find a huge crowd and traffic jams. Instead we found a parking spot right in front of the Triberger Weihnachtszauber entrance and maybe only a few 100 people. We knew something wasn’t quite right, but we decided to proceed further. From the website, we thought we could hike the largest waterfall in Germany before the Triberger Weihnachtszauber opened at 2pm, but we had no luck. All the entrances to the waterfall were blocked. So we waited for the Triberger Weihnachtszauber to open. There wasn’t much going on during the day, so we paid our 8 Euro fee and decided to return when it was dark.
So we did what any tourist would do, go shopping! The shops in Triberg are unique. After all, Triberg is where the cuckoo clock originated from. My favorite store is Haus der 1000 Uhren. Of course, this store is a chain throughout this area, but this shop is unique. The entrance has a huge cuckoo clock with a family of bears, one is climbing up and down the building. The thing I find unique about this store is the vast array of clocks they have to offer from modern to the typical, old German style. You can spend at least an hour in this store. Here are a few other places of interest:
- Hubert Herr cuckoo clock factory
- A wood carving shop a few stores from the Sparkasse bank. Look for “Holz”. The detail in the wood carvings is amazing, but be prepared to spend a substantial amount of money. One small Christmas tree ornament can run anywhere from 3 Euro to 100 euro.
- Heller Cafe Conditorei, a few stores down from Sparkasse bank. Their drink menu is impressive with Irish Coffee, a plethora of teas to choose from, hot chocolate( lecker!), cappuccino, etc. The raspberry tort and cappuccino cheesecake are scrumptious. Don’t forget the Black Forest cake.
- Landgasthof zur Lilie – great atmosphere, fast service, and wonderful desserts. They only serve German food. Sorry kids, no hot dogs or hamburgers. The food was good . The menu was small, but the desserts certainly made up for it. We had the apfel strudel, wasserfalle becher, and the crème brule, which so far beat any German dessert I have had so far.
- Other places of interest in or near Triberg.
After a day of shopping, we returned to the Weinachtszauber, which consisted of the most impressive Christmas lights in Germany. There were 750,000 lights and fire show to add to the glow of this small town. There are 5 shows a night next to the waterfall. You can take some spectacular photos of the Fire Glory show, waterfall, and Christmas lights. Although this is wonderful sight to see, I would not recommend coming here on New Year’s Eve. The last show ended at 9pm and then Triberg became a ghost town.
If I had to do this all over again. I would show up on the last day of the Weihnachtszauber when you can view the Grand Finale Fireworks show, the Alphornblaser, and the Fire Glory all in one day. New Year’s Day probably would work too since everything is open. It was busier New Year’s Day than New Year’s Eve. Who would have thunk it!
Also near Triberg in Schonachbach, is home to the largest cuckoo clock in the world at Eble Uhren-Park. On New Year’s day, we spent hours in the store looking at the various cuckoo and grandfather clocks. Here you will be able to customize and order your grandfather clock.
What about the fireworks, you ask. Not to worry. Fireworks are not regulated like they are in the United States and everyone is buying fireworks and celebrating the New Year. Anywhere you go in Germany, you are bound to see fireworks. In fact, we had our very own personal fireworks show right outside our window. The family that owned the guest house that we were staying at were setting off fireworks in the middle of the street. It wasn’t Dusseldorf, but it was still a blast!
