Nuremberg Christkindlesmarkt

The Nuremberg Christkindlesmarkt (Nürnberger Christkindlesmarkt) is an annual Christmas market held during Advent on the Hauptmarkt, the main square of the old town, and in the squares and streets nearby. It is counted among the largest Christmas markets in Germany, with around 2 million visitors a year.

The 2026 edition is confirmed for 27 November to 24 December, in Nuremberg, Bavaria. The market is run by the City of Nuremberg through its market office, which describes it as a small town of wood and cloth where tradition still takes priority before Christmas.

The Christkind opens the market by reciting a prologue from the Frauenkirche balcony, an occasion that draws a large gathering to the Hauptmarkt.

According to the city's market office, the stalls carry a wide, traditional range of Christmas goods and gifts. High-tech items and war toys are deliberately left out.

The origins of the market are unknown. The oldest known evidence is a softwood box held by the Germanic National Museum in Nuremberg, whose inscription mentions something sent to the Kindles-Marck in 1628.

The market opens with a prologue delivered by the Christkind from the Frauenkirche balcony. Friedrich Bröger wrote the text for the first market after the war, in 1948, and it has been revised several times. Since 1969 the Christkind has been chosen every second year from local girls aged 16 to 19; before that the role was played by an actress.

Since 1998 a market of Nuremberg's sister cities has also been held on Rathausplatz, with stalls offering local specialities from those cities.

The city's market office describes the air at the market as filled with the scent of gingerbread, cinnamon, Nuremberg sausages, roasted almonds and mulled wine.

The same office presents the market as a little town of wood and cloth on the Hauptmarkt, where tradition still comes first in the run-up to Christmas.