Nuremberg Named Europe’s Top Christmas Market as Season Plans and Revisions Roll Out

Time Out places the Nürnberger Christkindlesmarkt at No. 1 in its Europe Top 20, with other German entries including Aachen and Düsseldorf. Nuremberg’s market is scheduled for 28 November to 24 December, opening with the Christkind’s traditional Prolog from the Frauenkirche. The Nürnberg city archive and the Germanisches Nationalmuseum say the oldest preserved evidence reads 1678, not 1628, shifting anniversary calculations by about 50 years. Operational changes mark the season: Hamburg-Rahlstedt’s Winterterrassen is canceled permanently, and Dortmund’s Schloss Bodelschwingh market pauses for two years, with a new “Landweihnacht” at Hof Menken in Castrop-Rauxel debuting on the first Advent weekend. After criticism of last year’s look, Dortmund organizers say the 2025 tree will drop the red‑white stripe motif and add more decorations, with the traditional angel topper anticipated to return.