Christmas in Basel, much like in the rest of Switzerland, is a magical time. Once the famous Herbstmesse has finished, the St Petersplatz carousel packed away, and the last mässmogge devoured, all attention turns to the season of goodwill. There are many opportunities to immerse yourself in the festive spirit, from switching on the city’s lights and the accompanying festive Stadtlauf to the Christmas markets that fill the city squares with people and tempting aromas. As a family, we quite often throw ourselves in 100%, and one of the many non-negotiables is a visit to Johann Wanner’s Christmas shop. We simply call it the Christmas shop, but in fact, as you will see written above the beautifully decorated (of course) store window, it is actually a “Weinachtsbaumschmuckausstattungsspezialgeschaef” (Christmas tree decorations specialty shop to you and I!) Not easy to say, especially if you’ve been enjoying the market gluhwein before your visit!
Tucked away in the old town along the quaint and picturesque Spalenberg, sandwiched between a specialty cheese shop and a cupcake cafe, what started as a small antique store 50 years ago has evolved into the world’s largest dealer and manufacturer of handmade Christmas balls (baubles). All the ornaments are hand-blown by their skilled teams based in Eastern Europe.
Every Spring, Johann (who is now in his 80’s) and his team start to design 200 new ornaments to add to the year’s collection, so visitors will often see topical decorations depicting the goings-on of the previous 12 months. In previous years, he has even been hired to decorate international hotels, luxury yachts and even Hollywood movie sets. He is very tight-lipped about his individual clientele, but it rumour has it he has decorated the trees of Buckingham Palace, The White House and The Vatican (plus many other celebrities in between). Mr Wanner, a local celebrity himself, even drives around town in a silver Rolls Royce with the licence plate X-MAS. But don’t let all this razmataz fool you. For us and many others that make visiting his shop a yearly tradition, it’s the magic you feel when you open the door that keeps people coming back year after year.
Ok, I admit it. It was only a couple of years ago that I worked up enough courage to take my two ‘energetic’ boys into their beautiful shop. Take two small children with a penchant for creating chaos out of thin air, drop them in a decades-old Christmas shop that is full of fragile glass ornaments and before you know it, anyone with the surname Arnstein has been banned for life. No, thank you! So I usually choose a day pretty close to the big day to head into the city alone and spend some time wandering amongst the glitter and sparkle, trying to select an ornament for each family member. Ornaments are arranged by colour, type and theme, so for me (a photographer fond of all things organised and symmetrical ), it is a pure visual feast for the eyes: whether you want a Matterhorn or a musical instrument. A British bus or a brown bunny. Everything is there. Last time I visited, I even spotted Donald Trump hanging on a tree (I’ll stick with Santa, thanks).
Our special ornaments take pride of place at the very top of our tree each year. Ok, yes, this deliberate placement significantly reduces the chances of one getting smashed as a small boy races past or the tree gets hit mid-fire through a nerf battle, but I do love seeing them all up there shining away, each one a memory of times gone by. We have a football, a mountain dog, an FC Basel football boot, a wrapped sweet, a Polizei car and many more. Once the twelves days of Christmas have come to an end, I carefully and diligently wrap them up in their original packaging, all ready for next year.
So if you ever find yourself in Basel in December (or any other month, come to that!), make sure you find some time to amble up through the cobbled streets of the old town to visit this very special festive emporium. Opening the door feels like stepping back in time, and if you’re lucky, maybe you will be served by Switzerland’s very own Father Christmas himself!
