Live from the Frankfurt Christmas Market

Frankfurter Weihnachtsmarkt – Our Frankfurt Christmas Market Visit:

Frankfurt Christmas Market at Römerberg

Once again, we start our series of German Christmas Market visits at the Frankfurter Weihnachtsmarkt. Naturally we’re excited to see what Germany’s financial powerhouse has in store for Christmas this year. The extensive Frankfurt Christmas Market stretches from the Roßmarkt to Friedrich-Stoltze-Platz, Paulsplatz, Römerberg and then to Mainkai.

Frankfurt Christmas Market

At the Frankfurt Christmas market, there are the familiar raft of stalls selling Christmas crafts, decorations and gifts for Christmas.

A big part of Christmas markets are the Christmas treats and regional specialities. Popular at the Frankfurt’s Weihnachtsmarkt are Bethmänchen, a delicate almond and marzipan biscuit, and Quetschemännchen, small figurines whose limbs are made of dried plums.

There are also plenty of stalls selling all kinds of chocolates, biscuits, cakes and the traditional heart-shaped chocolate lebkuchen. If you are sweet-toothed, beware!

Traditional heart-shaped Christmas Lebkuchen

Eating and drinking

A very common sight at the Christmas markets is this large circular grill with a few types of sausages and meat being grilled. Bratwurst is the quintessential German fast food and at the Christmas market huge quantities are consumed. Although we don’t eat meat, we quite enjoy watching the vendors grilling the sausages. With great skill, this guy manages to flip six sausages at a time.

Grilling bratwurst at the Frankfurt Christmas Market

For non-meat eaters like us, there are fish rolls and raclette. Handkäs fondue is very popular as well. And of course at Christmas time, glühwein takes over as the drink of choice.

One of the attractions of the Christmas market stalls is the creative decoration of the roofs. Very often the decorations give an hint of what the stall is about. One of our previous favourites was the singing moose. The moose is pretty cute but moose meat? I don’t think so!

Singing moose at the Frankfurt Christmas Market

There are hundreds of stalls at the market. In order to cover as much of the market as possible, we have a quick snack of raclette and glühwein and then start exploring.

Tony enjoying raclette at the Frankfurt Christmas Market

Römerberg Christmas Tree

At the Frankfurt historic centre, a giant Christmas tree, covered with thousands of fairy lights, towers over the square. The square, with its charming historical buildings make for an atmospheric location for a Christmas market. Near the tree, is a stand by the Frankfurt Tourist information. You can have your mail and Christmas cards specially postmarked with the Frankfurter Weihnachtsmarkt stamp. They don’t sell stamps here. All they do is take your mail and deliver it to the post office for the special stamps. We sent a few cards from here and hope that they will arrive on time.

Frankfurt Christmas Market stall

Some Events at Frankfurt’s Christmas Market include:

• St Nicholas pays a visit on December 6th at 5:10 pm on the Römerberg Stage
• Daily  – Glockenspiel at 9:05 am, 12:05 pm and 5:05 pm
• Advent Concerts – International Christmas
• Tower Horns from the Gallery of St Nicholas Church – 6:00 pm every Wednesday
• Special Rides on a Historic Steam Train (Dec. 14th & 15th)
• Grand Bell Ringing – The Frankfurt city church bell chime is a beautiful experience involving 50 bells from 10 churches on Nov. 30th (16:30) and Dec. 24th (17:00).
• Choir program (Nov. 29 – Dec. 12)

Pink Christmas Market

Frankfurt’s Pink Christmas Market (Rosa Weihnacht) is at Friedrich-Stoltze-Platz. This is a popular meeting place for the LGBT community, but people from all walks of life are welcomed as well.

Early Closing

On our first venture to the Frankfurt markets, we arrived after 8 pm and not long after we were surprised that some stalls had started to pack up. At 9 pm the whole market was shut. Yes, we had forgotten that in Frankfurt, the Christmas markets close early.

A bustling Frankfurt Christmas Market

The next evening we arrive a bit earlier to see the market in full swing, with crowds of people enjoying their food and drinks. At 8.30 pm we thought that there was no way the market would close seeing it was still bustling with action. But sure enough, by 9 pm, the stalls began shutting down. We asked the people at the hotel reception and they confirmed that the markets in Frankfurt do close at 9 pm. The young reception staff said that Frankfurt is a business centre and the focus of the town is business! The city centre seems pretty shut as well in the evenings.

Frankfurt Attractions

By day you can enjoy a walking tour of the city, explore Frankfurt’s historic architecture on Römerberg Square or enjoy a cruise on the waterways. See all Frankfurt attractions here.

Easy to get to

From Intercity Hotel Frankfurt where we are staying, it is a 15 minute walk to the Hauptwache. However to save time, we also have the option of catching the S-bahn. Hauptwache is just two stops away.

Frankfurt Christmas Market Dates:
November 25 – December 22, 2024

Opening Hours :
Mon-Sat  10:00 – 21:00
Sunday     11:00 – 21:00

Location:
Römerburg, Paulsplatz, Mainkai, Hauptwache, Friedrich-Stoltze-Platz, Roßmarkt

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