Niederich boasts a typical quaint, small town German Christmas market - but there is something that makes it quite unique. Come Sunday, there will be many English voices at the rural village square. An international choir has been coming for the past six years to sing traditional English Christmas carols at the Niederich Christmas market. For expats who live in the Bonn area, it’s a chance to hear some familiar Christmas songs and sing along to lyrics they know.

It’s not a coincidence that an English-speaking choir is singing at the village Christmas market. Joanne Junglas, who was born in Manchester, grew up in Lancashire, England, worked in Scotland, and eventually landed in Germany had a little something to do with it. She has lived in the Bonn area since 1989 and in Niederich for the past 12 years. Her husband, Michael is German - from Bad Godesberg and they have a son and a daughter. For the English/German family, bringing different traditions together under one roof is nothing new.

A chat with a neighbor was what led to the choir eventually coming to Niederich. Having lived for so long in the village, Junglas recalled that there used to be a “trumpeter who played from an upstairs window in one of the houses opposite the square”. She said she was talking with a neighbor one day, mentioning she worked at Bonn International School (BIS) and how good it would be if the school band were “playing at the Christmas market to have the opportunity to really experience a real German village and be part of a local traditional Christmas market.”

This idea was taken to the village association and they agreed to try it, inviting the school to perform. It turned out that the band didn’t have enough time to prepare, but a few other musicians from the school could perform - two trumpeting brothers, Thomas and Henry and a singer-songwriter with guitar, Geena. Tanya Talbot, conductor of the International Voices Choir, graciously brought her diverse and enthusiastic group to the market to sing. In the first several years, the full choir performed in the small space but last year and this year, it’s the Chamber Choir. The full Choir has around 70 members, while the Chamber Choir boasts around 50 members who will sing in Niederich this year.

Torsten Reisp, co-chair of the village association said about the choir, “They were very well-received” and he found them “personally very good.” That’s why they are invited back every year. He adds that they are one of the smallest markets to boast such a choir. “Niederich is one of the warmest and most friendly places to perform. They always ply us with free glühwein and food... I'm not sure this improves our performance, but it certainly predisposes us to go back each year.

The market is small, filled with local stalls and only open for one day, so it has a very special atmosphere,” explains Tanya Talbot. She said she feels a “great deal of affection for this lovely event” and adds that the German locals at the Christmas market have heard the songs so many times that they now sing along. Her view is that the choir brings an international flavor to the market.

“I think it is lovely that a little local club organizes one of the sweetest Christmas markets in the area with open fires, glühwein heated over an open fire and stands selling locally made produce,” says Joanne Junglas. She has opened her doors in the past years to the choir and local friends, bringing together many different people in the spirit of community and Christmas.

It’s approximately a half hour drive from Bonn to get to Niederich and when you get there, parking is wherever you can find it on the side of the street. Driving into Niederich on Werthovener Straße, one is sure to spot the village square with all the activity. The Christmas market is put on by the local village association every year; it will take place this year on Sunday, Nov. 27 from 11 a.m. - 7 p.m. For those wanting to hear the International Voices Choir while sipping on glühwein, they will be performing at 1:30 p.m.