Berlin's traditional Christmas markets reflect city's growing diversity

Shirts designed by artist Paul Middleton are on display in a shop at the LGBTQ+ Christmas market Christmas Avenue at Nollendorfplatz in Berlin, Nov. 25, 2024. Christmas stars illuminate the top of the tents of the Christmas market at Bebelplatz in Berlin, Nov. 25, 2024.

The smells of mulled wine, roasted almonds and hot bratwurst are wafting through the air across the German capital again, as the city's more than 100 Christmas markets are opening their doors this week. But the annual tradition that Germans have cherished since the Middle Ages — and successfully exported to much of the Western world — has become a pretty diverse affair, at least in Berlin.