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The most famous Christmas market in Germany brings smiles to faces of young and old


The first Christmas market in Nuremberg after the Second World War took place in 1948

Nuremberg-Christmas-market

Every year on Hauptmarkt square in the heart of Nuremberg, the most famous Christmas market in Germany brings smiles to faces of young and old. On the Friday before the first Advent Sunday, which this year falls on 28 November, the Nuremberg Christkindl (Christmas Angel) ceremoniously opens the market with a prologue delivered from the gallery of the Church of Our Lady. More than two million people are once again expected to visit before the market closes on Christmas Eve. There are around 180 wooden stalls in total. Each one is lovingly decorated and protected by a red-and-white awning made of cloth, hence the nickname for the market: “the little town of wood and cloth”.

Traditional festive wares

Some 200 purveyors offer festive goods that are unashamedly traditional: Nuremberg gingerbread, fruit bread, cakes, cookies and confectionary, classic yuletide items such as tinsel angels, Nativity scenes, tree decorations, candles, toys and Christmas arts and crafts. The Nuremberg Zwetschgenmännle, figures made of prunes and nuts, are one of the most popular souvenirs, but no Christmas market would be complete without Nuremberg rostbratwurst and glühwein to keep hunger and the cold at bay. Nuremberg Christmas market has a team of people responsible for the general theme and design. Thanks to its traditional character, the market has set the standard to which other Christmas markets aspire. It is also one of the oldest Christmas markets in Germany. The seasonal hustle and bustle on Nuremberg‘s Hauptmarkt square can be traced back as far as 1628, when the Christkindlesmarkt first appeared in records.

The Christmas Angel in the flesh

The first Christmas market in Nuremberg after the Second World War took place in 1948, three years after the fighting ended, in the completely ruined old quarter. Friedrich Bröger, the artistic director of the theatre and son of the workers‘ poet Karl Bröger, wrote a prologue to commemorate the occasion. This has been read out by the Nuremberg Christmas Angel ever since, albeit in versions that have been revised and adapted several times over the years. The Christmas Angel is always played by local girls between the ages of 16 and 19. It is no easy task: the chosen girl hardly has a minute to herself in December with more than 150 appointments to keep in old people‘s homes, kindergartens and charitable institutions. Now, visitors flock to the market four times a week to see the latest angel resplendent in her costume and curly blond wig as she presides over the children‘s Christmas. She also visits other Christmas markets in Germany, makes media appearances and generally serves as an ambassador for the Christmas market and the city..

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