Martinsmarkt, Neukirchen-Vluyn, 7th – 10th November

Saint Martin
To begin, I’d like to share a little about how Martinsmarkt came about. Saint Martin was a knight of the Holy Roman Empire in the 4th century AD. According to legend, he was riding along on horseback when he noticed a beggar by the roadside, cold, naked, and in need. Martin cut his cloak in half and wrapped the beggar in it. He was later sanctified for this act of kindness.

Today, St. Martin’s Day is celebrated in many German towns on the 11th of November with fireworks, re-enactments, and, of course, street markets. In Neukirchen-Vluyn, the Martinsmarkt is always held on the weekend closest to the 11th.

We arrived on the evening of Friday 7th November. Sally and I came by train from Berlin after a five-night excursion, so we couldn’t bring perishables, but we were loaded with marmalade. Our hosts welcomed us with a lovely evening meal, and it was wonderful to see friends again, some of whom had visited Buckingham for the walking weekend in early October.

Lorna was once again our Marmalade Queen, though we’ve agreed to share the workload more evenly next year. We had barely set up on Saturday when a very determined gentleman arrived wanting to buy ten jars of marmalade, complete with last year’s empty jars.

Our Twinning stall was ready before the 11am opening, manned by Lorna, her friend Christine, Isabella, Udo and Sally. We were well stocked with marmalade (with and without whisky), quince jelly, Christmas puddings, mince pies, Bakewell tarts and more. As always, the stall drew plenty of interest and gave us a chance to practise our German.

Another highlight of Martinsmarkt is the music in the Dorfkirche, organised by our good friend Rüdiger Eicholtz. Performers included a ladies’ choir from Ukraine, CHORact and the choir from Neukirchen-Vluyn, and I also played for an hour on Saturday afternoon.

I was amused to be described in a newspaper cutting as “der bekannte Gitarrist Udo Dölz aus der Englischen Partnerstadt Buckingham”, which made me think I’d better not play too many bum notes.

We were back on the stand on Sunday, though having sold plenty the day before and with duller weather, it was a little quieter. Once again, Lorna used her host’s kitchen to bake scones, which were quickly snapped up. Many Vluyners asked for clotted cream, though sadly that now has to be smuggled!

We all enjoyed ourselves and look forward to next year. Huge thanks to our hosts for looking after us so well.

Udo Dölz