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Love and Nutcrackers at The Christmas Sleigh
Love and Nutcrackers at The Christmas Sleigh
By Jan Mercker
Dieter Rausch came to Middleburg for love. He stays for its sense of community.
As Rausch’s beloved shop, the Christmas Sleigh, celebrates 20 years in Middleburg, its charming, soft-spoken owner quietly serves up nostalgia and cheer with a twinkle in his bright blue eyes.
On a crisp fall day, stepping into the Christmas Sleigh is a soothing shot of holiday warmth, with a cozy vibe, the smell of German holiday incense and festive tunes.
“The first time, people look for Wow!– and the store is Wow!” he said. “This is what my customers tell me. This is one unique store.”
Rausch opened the shop in 2002 with his late wife, Linda Tripp, who had moved to Middleburg after her brush with fame and scandal during the Clinton presidency.
“It’s a story of love,” Rausch said.
They met in Germany as children. Tripp’s mother was German, and she made frequent trips to Frankfurt to visit family. The couple rekindled their romance when Rausch came to Middleburg for a visit in 2000 and opened the shop in 2002, inspired by a visit to Williamsburg.
“You couldn’t find a German store in the United States like this,” Rausch said. Rausch was stunned at the number of items made in China at U.S. holiday shops. He and Tripp wanted to specialize in authentic German and European products, and downtown Middleburg was the perfect spot. Linda Tripp died of cancer in 2020, and Rausch keeps the shop going in her memory–and as a celebration of his childhood in Germany.
The Christmas Sleigh hits its peak season in the fall but does a bustling business year round. Along with holiday items, he stocks a back room full of gorgeous authentic clothing from Germany, Italy and Austria, including dirndls and lederhosen for kids and adults.
The shop draws tourists but also regional regulars, some of whom drive several hours as an annual holiday pilgrimage.
“I have clients who come every year to buy a nutcracker,” Rausch said.
And nutcrackers fill the shelves with infinite variations, including this year’s popular “Wizard of Oz” themed figures. The Christmas Sleigh caters to collectors with popular lines like Wilhelm Schweizer pewter figurines with fairytale themes and Wendt & Kuhn wooden figurines featuring the brand’s popular angel orchestra. High-end wooden advent calendars let gift-givers choose their own treats for each day. (Rausch recommends jewelry, but chocolate will do).
Brightly colored handmade glass ornaments from Germany and Poland fill the shelves, including a special Middleburg fox ornament Rausch had commissioned in Germany.
Among his personal favorites are traditional German incense burners. The Räuchermännchen (or smoking men) create sweet-smelling smoke with holiday aromas and help the nutcrackers keep bad luck at bay. It’s a blast from the past for Rausch for whom, like many of us, Christmas brings the bitter, the sweet and plenty of memories.
“My mother stayed weeks in the kitchen to make the Christmas stollen,” he said. “When I think of [the incense], it’s the smell of Christmas.”
Details: The Christmas Sleigh is located at 5 E. Washington St. in Middleburg and open daily from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, go to thechristmassleigh.com.
