A video published on the website of French broadcaster France Info claiming that Christmas markets were “modernized” by the Nazis in the 1930s has sparked widespread outrage. The clip, intended to trace the history of these markets, was swiftly removed after being criticized for its misleading and provocative content.
The video description said “Did the Nazis create the Christmas markets? No, but they largely brought them up to date in the 1930s.” In the video France Info argued that the regime used the markets to promote “made in Germany” products and as a propaganda tool. However, linking the traditional European festival to Nazism drew immediate backlash online.
Claude Chollet, president of the media watchdog Observatoire des Journalistes et de l’Information Médiatique (OJIM), commented: “I thought it was a joke, a parody. I’m stunned. I see a goal in it, knowing that Christmas markets are part of a traditional European family festival.”
The controversy comes amid other European debates over the cultural framing of Christmas. Berlin will host a ‘Decolonizing Christmas’ tour at the Friedenskirche Charlottenburg. The initiative, supported by the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion, aims to highlight what organizers describe as “colonial and discriminatory images” in the Christmas story.
Christmas markets have also been under attack throughout Western Europe this year, with nativity scenes hollowed out and destroyed, and market-goers assaulted.
