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Advent begins November 29

The Almanac

Christmas markets

Wooden stalls, hot spiced wine and lights in the town square. The oldest market depends on what you count.

A watercolor of a snowy city square with market stalls, small fir trees for sale, a horse statue and people in winter coats.
A Christmas market in Am Hof, Vienna, watercolor by Karl Wenzel Zajicek, 1908. Public domain. Credits
When it is kept
From late November
Where it fits in the year
Advent

Dresden’s Striezelmarkt is first mentioned in 1434, when Elector Friedrich II of Saxony allowed a one-day market on the Monday before Christmas, mainly for meat for the Christmas meal. It is named for a Christmas cake that is now called Stollen.1,2 Which market is the oldest depends on what you count as a Christmas market. Bautzen claims an older start, in 1384, for a meat market before Christmas.2

Vienna’s own city page says the often-told 1296 date is when Duke Albrecht I renewed city rights that allowed some fairs, but none of them were Christmas fairs. A Christmas market has been held at Am Hof from 1843.3,2 Strasbourg’s city site says its Christkindelsmarik, the "market of the Christ Child", was founded in 1570 and is one of the oldest in Europe.4 In October 2025 the city of Nuremberg said its Christkindlesmarkt is 350 years old, not 400. A wooden box long read as 1628 is dated 1678.5

The Christkind is a young woman with a gold crown who opens the Nuremberg market, and a local girl is chosen for the part every two years.6 The Christkind is a gift-bringer that grew up in Protestant areas as another choice beside St Nicholas.7 Chicago’s Christkindlmarket began in 1996 and moved to Daley Plaza in 1997.8

Disputed

It is often said that Martin Luther invented the Christkind. A University of Hamburg article calls the idea disputed and not proven.7

Sources

  1. Striezelmarkt, Wikipedia
  2. Christmas market, Wikipedia
  3. Christmas market history, City of Vienna
  4. Place du Chateau, Christkindelsmarik, City of Strasbourg
  5. Press release on the age of the Christkindlesmarkt, City of Nuremberg, October 23, 2025
  6. Nuremberg Christkindlesmarkt, Wikipedia
  7. The Christkind, University of Hamburg
  8. Christkindlmarket, Chicago, Wikipedia