FRA/rap> Fraport AG (the owner and manager of Frankfurt Airport) is proud to present its 31st International Christmas Market for an entire month until December 26. This perennial favorite of travelers, visitors and staff alike is held at the Airport Gallery on the mezzanine overlooking the check-in counters in Departures Hall B, Terminal 1. The International Christmas Market is open daily from 10:00 until 19:00 hours (until 16:00 on Dec. 24) – the only Christmas market in Germany that stays open on Christmas Day and Boxing Day (December 25 and 26).
More than 60 booths offer a wide selection of traditional German and Alpine Christmas decorations, wreaths and miniature Christmas trees, candles, wooden toys, precious stones and minerals, jewelery and hand-painted silk by local artists, as well as delicious food specialties such as Dresden Christmas Stollen (fruit cake) and Rothenburg baked snowballs. International handicrafts and gifts are offered from China, India, Mexico, Russia and several African countries such as South Africa and Madagascar. Even wellness gifts such as magnet jewelery and Chinese Qigong balls are available. It’s the perfect place to find something different to take home with you and to enjoy some Christmas cheer.
Special events and exhibitions can also be enjoyed at FRA’s International Christmas Market. For example, an exhibition of outstanding design objects created by furniture craftsmen from the German state of Hesse are on display. The Fraport Travel Service is presenting its comprehensive China program, and visitors have a chance to participate in a contest while admiring an exhibit of giant Chinese porcelain vases. A Chinese “noodle maker” will demonstrate the fascinating culinary art of Chinese noodle making and cooking.
For the young folks, St. Nicholas will be making a special landing at Frankfurt Airport’s International Christmas Market on December 5, from 15:00 to 17:00 hours. The school orchestra of Frankfurt’s Carl-Schurz-Schule will present afternoon concerts on two Saturdays, December 9 and December 16, from 15:00 to 16:00 hours. Choral music will also emanate throughout the terminal halls on various days before and on Christmas Day. Moscow’s Art Academy Choir will sing on December 11, from 15:00 hours. A men’s choir from Belarus will perform on December 12, from 13:00 hours and again on December 25, from 15:00. “Musica Querbeet,” a women’s choir from Obertshausen near Frankfurt, will sing on December 18, from 14:00 hours.
Terminal 2’s Circle of Bears:
During the festive season and until the end of January 2005, airport visitors can enjoy a separate exhibition titled “United Buddy Bears – The Minis” at Terminal 2’s Sky Line station. Some 100 bears (about one meter high) are arranged in circular formation to symbolize tolerance and understanding among the peoples of our fragile planet. The unique design of each bear provides colorful information about the specific country, serving as a basis for better understanding. Together with the symbolism of the circle, the bears promote love, peace, friendship, tolerance and international understanding.
Fraport’s exhibition is presented in conjunction with the United Buddy Bear campaign (Buddy Bär Berlin GmbH, www.buddy-bear.com) – a traveling exhibition of larger bear brothers (two meters high) that represent 120 member states of the United Nations. Many of the artists who participated in the United Buddy Bear campaign have created “The Minis” that you can admire during the next two months at Frankfurt Airport. Launched in Berlin, the big bears are now on their world tour. The exhibition has visited Kitzbühl (Austria), Hong Kong and is now in Istanbul, Turkey. In 2005, the big bears are scheduled to visit Tokyo, Seoul and Sydney.
You can also bring this colorful circle of bears into your own home or office. Frankfurt Airport’s Zimmermann souvenir shops (“Pens +++” in Departures Hall A and “Gifts +++” in Transit B near Gate B42) sell the catalog of the complete United Buddy Bears collection as well as miniatures of the Buddy Bears from different nations of the world.
For More Information, Please Contact:
Fraport AG Frankfurt Airport Services Worldwide
Robert A. Payne, B.A.A. – Manager International Press
Press Office (Dept. UKM-PS), Corporate Communications (UKM)
60547 Frankfurt am Main, Federal Republic of Germany
Tel.: +49 69.690.78547; Fax: +49.69.690.60548;
E-mail: r.payne@fraport.de