Chic Destinations

Germany’s Christmas Markets

The aromas of freshly baked lebkuchen (gingerbread), sizzling bratwurst, roasted almonds and spicy glüwein hang in the frosty air and church choirs sing carols by candlelight in market squares. Few places are more festive at this time of year than Germany’s winter markets.

Lights twinkle from Christmas trees topped with stars or angels, and rows of stalls sell wooden toys, scenes of the Nativity and other yuletide handicrafts. German ‘oompah’ music can often be heard, accompanied by happy squeals from people on the carousels, fairground rides and Ferris wheels, or from those skating on temporary ice rinks. Everyone is wrapped up against the cold, with scarves and gloves and woolly hats, ready for the appearance of Father Christmas.

Winter markets originated in Germany, although the sights, sounds and smells of a traditional Christkindelsmarkt are now as much a part of the festive season in other countries as they are in Germany. There are hundreds of Christmas markets across Europe and the number is growing every year. Winter Wonderland in London’s Hyde Park and Winter Wonders in the Grand-Place in Brussels are two of the more recent additions and are worth a visit if you’re at nearby Bicester Village or Maasmechelen Village, respectively.

But the German markets are extra special – some with traditions going back as far as medieval times. Most German towns have a Christmas market and several of our Chic Outlet Shopping® Villages are within easy reach of some of the biggest and best. Perhaps the best-known Christmas market is the one at Nuremberg, a centre for toy making that lies halfway between Wertheim and Ingolstadt Villages. The city’s festive market dates back several hundred years and for the past few decades has been opened by the Nuremberg Christmas Angel – a local girl with long blonde curls, who wears a white and gold dress and a gold crown, and who acts as a representative for the market. A ‘Little town of wood and cloth’ is erected in the main market square, where sweets, Christmas tree ornaments and other local arts and crafts can be bought. Other specialities include Nuremberg Plum People – little figures made from prunes – and glass Christmas decorations, which originated in southeast Germany.

To the west of Nuremburg is the picturesque Franconian town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber, which takes celebrating Christmas pretty seriously; along with its annual Reiterlesmarkt, the town is home to the German Christmas Museum and Käthe Wohlfahrt Christmas Village, the largest Christmas shop in Europe. The town is a good place to pick up decorations including candles, nutcrackers, marionettes and traditional German Christmas pyramids. Another Rothenburg speciality is a ‘snow ball’, a snack made by frying sweet dough and covering it in powered sugar.

Cologne is another German city with a reputation for putting on fabulous Christmas celebrations – so much so that more than two million visitors come to enjoy its winter markets each year. The city, which is near Maasmechelen Village, has eight or nine separate markets each year, the main one set in front of the city’s famous twin spire cathedral. Another, the Medieval Christmas Market, includes a live retelling of the Nativity story.

But like all of Germany’s markets there’s something for everyone, young and old – and visiting is a great way to experience one of the loveliest celebrations of the year.

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