The Nuremberg Christkindlesmarkt 2026: dates, prices, what to eat

Christkindlesmarkt Guide editorial team · updated 21 September 2026 · 5 min read

The Christkindlesmarkt runs from 27 November to 24 December 2026. What the city has already confirmed, what is still open, what the three specialities cost — and which other markets belong to the season.

The dates are already fixed

Unlike many other Christmas markets, the City of Nuremberg publishes its dates well in advance. The Christkindlesmarkt on the Hauptmarkt runs from Friday 27 November to Thursday 24 December 2026. The city's official site already carries the 2027 dates as well (26 November to 24 December).

The dates follow a fixed rule: the market begins on the Friday before the first Sunday of Advent and always ends on Christmas Eve. The first Sunday of Advent in 2026 falls on 29 November, so the Friday before is the 27th — rule and official date agree. If you are planning a trip for 2027 or later you can work from the rule, but have the date confirmed before you book anything.

It is open daily from 10:00 to 21:00. The one exception is the final day: on 24 December the market closes at 14:00. This is the mistake day-visitors make most often — they plan Christmas Eve as a full market day and find the stalls being packed away at lunchtime.

The opening and the Christkind

The opening is the one moment worth timing your trip around: Friday 27 November 2026, 17:30. The lights around the Hauptmarkt go out, and from the gallery of the Frauenkirche — the balcony above the main portal — the Nuremberg Christkind speaks the Prologue, the traditional opening verses. Then the market comes on.

The Christkind is not a background fairy-tale figure but a real role taken on by a young woman from Nuremberg: blonde curls, a gold crown, a white-and-gold robe. She opens the market and appears through the season at the market, at the Sternenhaus and at the children's Kinderweihnacht.

One widespread claim needs correcting here: the Christkind is not chosen by a children's vote. According to the city's official page the selection is made by a jury of representatives from the media, the Staatstheater Nürnberg, the city's market office, the communications and city-marketing department and the tourism authority — together with the previous Christkind. The term is two years. For 2025/26 — and therefore for the 2026 season — it is Nora Falk, chosen on 24 July 2025.

What it costs: the three specialities

First the important part: there are no official prices. Every trader sets their own, and they change every year. The figures below come from the regional press and are labelled with the year they refer to — they are a guide, not a price list.

Mulled wine cost about €4.50 a mug in the 2025 season, unchanged from 2024. On top of that comes a €5.00 deposit on the mug, which you get back when you return it — or you keep the mug as a souvenir. Berry mulled wine was €5.00, children's punch €3.50 to €4.00. A shot of rum or amaretto added about €2.00 in 2024.

Nuremberg Rostbratwürste are barely a finger long, grilled over an open fire, and carry more than 700 years of tradition according to the city. The standard portion is called Drei im Weggla — three sausages in a bread roll — and cost roughly €4.50 to €5.00 in the 2024 season.

Lebkuchen has been baked in Nuremberg for some 600 years. The quality version is Elisenlebkuchen, with a high proportion of nuts; vegan versions now exist too. In 2024 the price was around €4.50 per 100 g, with the more elaborate varieties well above that.

The Feuerzangenbowle at the Fleischbrücke is, according to the city, the largest in the world. The city does not publish a price for it.

The market is not only the Hauptmarkt

If you only walk the Hauptmarkt you have seen about half of it. Three more markets are a few minutes away on foot and have their own dates:

• The Markt der Partnerstädte on the Rathausplatz, two minutes north, with stalls from Nuremberg's twin towns. 27 November to 23 December — a day shorter.
• The Nürnberger Kinderweihnacht on Hans-Sachs-Platz: noticeably calmer, built for children, and the only market open until 30 December. Closed on 25 December; 26 to 30 December from 11:00 to 20:00.
• The Original Regional market around St Sebaldus church, for producers from the metropolitan region, also until 23 December.

Then there is the Nürnberger WinterDorf with its big wheel on Jakobsplatz, which follows a quite different logic: it opens on 12 November 2026 and runs to 9 January 2027. If you only reach Nuremberg after Christmas, there is still something there when the Hauptmarkt has long been packed away. Entry is free; a ride on the big wheel costs €6, or €4 for children.

One date is a single evening only: the Lichterzug on Thursday 10 December 2026, a lantern procession of Nuremberg schoolchildren from the Hauptmarkt up to the imperial castle, led by the Christkind — in 2026 for the 76th time.

A warning for planning: the Handwerkerhof at the Königstor is often listed as a Christmas market. It is not. It is a year-round courtyard of craft workshops — and it is closed at Christmas and New Year, of all times.

What is still open

Not everything is confirmed, and we would rather write down what is missing than invent it:

• The figure of 168 huts and 180 traders is given by the city for the 2025 season. No figure is available for 2026.
• For the Sternenhaus the dates are fixed (28 November to 23 December 2026), but the venue and opening hours had not been published as of September 2026.
• Whether the stalls accept cards is stated neither by the city nor by any reliable source. Bring euros in cash and the question answers itself.
• For Original Regional the official page gives only the end date, not a start.

Common questions