Christmas walks in Dresden

Walk Dresden's Christmas markets by day and evening, from the Striezelmarkt on the Altmarkt to the Advent market in front of the rebuilt Frauenkirche. First held in 1434, the Striezelmarkt is often called Germany's oldest documented Christmas market.

Its name comes from Striezel, the old word for the fruit loaf now known as Dresden Stollen. On the Saturday before the second Sunday of Advent the city holds a Stollen festival, when a giant Stollen weighing several tonnes is paraded through the old town and cut on the market square. Above the stalls turns a wooden Christmas pyramid more than 14 metres tall.

The market is the best place to see the woodcraft of the nearby Ore Mountains: nutcrackers, incense smokers, candle arches and many-pointed Herrnhut stars. Look also for the Pflaumentoffel, a small chimney sweep made of dried prunes. Beyond the Altmarkt there is a smaller market on Neumarkt and a medieval-style market in the stable courtyard of the royal palace.

Dresden city guide and walks →All Christmas walks →