Europe Travel Blog

Dresden has the oldest Christmas market in Europe, dating back to 1434. The market specialises in traditional crafts, with beautiful items of woodcarving, indigo-printed cloth, pottery, and filigree lace available. As in many German Christmas markets, hot spicy mulled wine and gingerbread are also highly popular with the market goers. You can also get some pretty neat decorations for your Christmas tree, with delightful advent stars and pretty blown-glass decorations for sale. The Dresden Christmas Market runs from 27th November to 24th December.

The market is one of the older ones, dating back at least to 1434 when it was first mentioned, and it may well have been on the go for some time before that, making it probably the oldest Christmas market in Germany. Going back such a long way, the market is really steeped in tradition, and the highlight is the Stollen Festival, which is held on the second Sunday in December. Stollen is a delicious German fruitcake, which is very popular at Christmas time. In the 16th century, the local Stollen bakers would ceremonially carry their cakes through the town to the castle, where they would present them to the local prince, the lucky man. The prince, being of generous heart, and aware of his own good fortune, would cut them with a very long knife and philanthropically hand out pieces to the poor. The way this is done nowadays is that one giant 3,000 kg Stollen is paraded around Dresden as part of the festival, being looked after by a beautiful “Stollenmädchen”.

So if you love a bit of history and tradition, Dresden probably provides the ideal Christmas market for you - especially if you love stollen too.

Filed under: Shopping, Christmas markets, Food, Germany