Nothing brings people together for Christmas like a fat bratwurst, a dark beer and apple strudel.

All day Saturday the Germanic food, music, dance and the holiday traditions of a Christkindlmarkt — a German Christmas market — took over downtown Mesa at Main Street and MacDonald Streets in Mesa.

The market signified the first time the tradition has been celebrated in Arizona, and members of the German community say it could mark the beginning of a higher awareness of German culture in Phoenix.

Wolfgang Klien, president of the nonprofit organization Arizona Center for Germanic Cultures, coordinated the event.

“[It’s] like a little window into the Germanic culture,” he said. “A lot of [German] people have immigrated to different countries all over the world. Many have come to live in Arizona, and they’re bringing their traditions with them.”

Started in 2005, the Arizona Center for Germanic Cultures acts as a cultural education organization.

Klien envisions a specific place for German culture in Phoenix, much like the Irish Cultural Center and the Chinese Cultural Center. His organization plans to build a $10 million German culture museum and education facility. The plan lacks proper funding or a specific location, but community events like the market help raise funds and awareness to get the project going, Klien said.

“At this point, we’re really spreading the word about our organization,” he said. “We’re in the preplanning stages only. It’s a long term project for sure.”

Margarita Hoffmann, vice president of the Austrian Society for Arizona, said a cultural center would benefit Phoenix by providing a central location for the German community to congregate.

“It would make it so much easier,” she said. “A cultural center where we all — German, Swiss, Austrian — could come together and meet.”

The Christkindlmarkt tradition spans almost all German-speaking countries in Central Europe, including Austria, Germany and Switzerland, Klien said.

Originally a secular celebration marking the shortest day of the year, the holiday was used by Germanic people to lighten spirits during the long winter. They would come out not only to buy festive cookies and beer, but items they use in daily life too.

The Christian portion of the celebration became associated with the market because the two celebrations fell so close on the calendar.

It became tradition for a young girl to appear at the festival and proclaim the significance of Christmas and bring good wishes to the people of a particular town. This child became know as the Christ child — or Christkindl in German.

Sarah Johnson, a 14-year-old girl of German descent, played the part of Saturday’s Christkindl, reading the proclamation in both English and German.

St. Nicholas arrived immediately after the proclamation to fill children’s shoes with candy — an old German tradition closely related to hanging stockings.

“This is a very long standing tradition — over 500 years,” Klien said. “It has now become so popular that it has been exported to the United States.”

Food played a large part at Saturday’s festival. Vendors sold bratwurst, gingerbread cookies, gulasch soup, and gluehwein — a hot-spiced, mulled German wine made popular by Christkindl celebrations — as the smell of warm apple strudel wafted down the street.

George Caramanna, an ASU anthropology senior with a minor in German, came out to sell food and volunteered at the event.

He didn’t neglect tradition, wearing a traditional costume from southern Germany called a tracht. In wool socks, green suspender-shorts, a white shirt, green vest, and a green hat complete with German-American flag pin, Caramanna made a scene.

“I found out [about the festival] from being heavily involved in the German department,” he said. “We’re closely knit.”

Caramanna said a German cultural center would certainly help raise awareness but said events like the market still count.

“For the most part, as long as we were able to create a group and hold events like this, we’re doing our job,” he said.

Reach the reporter at channing.turner@asu.edu.