Berlin's Christmas markets debut with a 30-meter Stollen cake spectacle

Berlin (dpa) – Natascha Ochsenknecht (61) loves getting her mixing bowl out. "I really am the baker in the family," the TV personality—known for "Diese Ochsenknechts" ("The Ochsenknechts")—told the German Press Agency in Berlin. There, alongside her mother, Bärbel Wierichs, she sliced into a roughly 30-meter-long Stollen cake at a Christmas market near the Humboldt Forum.

Ochsenknecht also makes pralines, cookies, coconut macaroons, and nut brittle. "I bake a lot—I even bake whole cakes just for myself," she said. Just last week, she whipped up a lemon cake. She first discovered her passion for baking as a child.

"I'm Just a Sweet Person"

"I'm just a sweet person," Ochsenknecht said with a laugh. She simply enjoys standing in the kitchen and baking. Her advice for beginners? Start with simple recipes—like a basic sponge cake, she suggested.

Berlin's Christmas markets, including the winter market at the Humboldt Forum, opened on Monday. Visitors could sample slices of the record-breaking Stollen—billed by organizers as the longest in Berlin—with proceeds going to charity.