Nuremberg Christkindlesmarkt

A town of wood and cloth

About 180 traders sell from 168 wooden stalls with red-and-white striped fabric roofs on the Hauptmarkt and the Rathausplatz, which gives the market its nickname, the “little town of wood and cloth”. The goods are kept deliberately traditional: Nuremberg Lebkuchen gingerbread, fruit bread, gold-foil angels called Rauschgoldengel, nativity scenes, tree decorations, candles and toys. There are also Zwetschgenmännla, little figures made from dried plums, and visitors warm up with Nuremberg grilled sausages and mulled wine. Market officials check the design of the stalls — plastic fir garlands are not allowed — and since 1981 the city has awarded prizes to the most attractive ones.

Around the main market there are a market of Nuremberg’s twin towns on the Rathausplatz, held since 1998, and a children’s Christmas on the Hans-Sachs-Platz, with a trail of nativity scenes linking the two.

The Christkind

The market is opened by the Nuremberg Christkind, a young woman who speaks a prologue from the balcony of the Frauenkirche over the square, secured by a rope as she does so. The text was written for the reopening in 1948 by Friedrich Bröger. Since 1969 a new Christkind has been chosen every two years with a public vote; candidates must be from Nuremberg and between 16 and 19 years old.

Since at least 1678

No one knows exactly when the market began. The oldest evidence is a small pinewood box in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum, whose base records that it was sent “to the Kindles-Marck” in 1678, and the name Christkendleinsmarck appears in a city history of 1697. The market lost importance at the end of the nineteenth century and moved several times before returning to the Hauptmarkt in 1933, when the Nazi city government revived it and used it to polish Nuremberg’s image. It was not held during the Second World War and returned in 1948. It used to open on St Barbara’s Day, 4 December, but because of the crowds the opening was moved in 1973 to the Friday before Advent.