Dresden Striezelmarkt | Dresden Christmas Market

DRESDEN STRIEZELMARKT IS THE LARGEST OF THE CITY’S CHRISTMAS MARKETS:

Dresden Striezelmarkt

There are many Christmas markets in Dresden (including a Medieval Christmas Market), but the largest of them all is the Dresden Striezelmarkt. The Dresden Striezelmarkt is also Germany’s oldest Christmas Market. This year (2019) marks the 585th anniversary of this historical Christmas market and we’re glad that we’ll be there to enjoy the festivities.

Dresden Striezelmarkt by night

The Dresden Striezelmarkt takes its name from the striezel or stollen which Dresden is famous. One of the main events of this month-long Christmas market is the Dresden Stollen Festival. No visit to a Dresden Christmas Market is complete without tasting some of its famous stollen. We happen to like this Christmas cake and Dresden is where we stock up on stollen supplies – read our Buying stollen in Dresden.

Stollen at the Dresden Striezelmarkt

The Striezelmarkt takes place is Old Market Square in the heart of Dresden, and each year over 700,000 visitors come to enjoy this Christmas event.

Plenty to see and do

There’s plenty to see and enjoy at the Dresden Striezelmarkt and it takes more than one visit to cover the whole market. If you have children in tow, there are some fun rides for kids such as the two-storey carousel. Kids can enjoy rides on their favourite animal, be it a tiger, horse or dragon. Or, you can enjoy views of the Christmas market from the top of the ferris wheel.

The Striezelmarkt is romantic and atmospheric by night, however a day-time visit gives quite an different and interesting experience. This is when you can see the incredible efforts put in by stallholders to decorate their stalls. The decorations reflect the specialities of the stalls. Some of the elaborate decorations include bakers at work, a vineyard scene, nativity scene and Santa having a bath! We rather like the colourful elves enjoying food and drinks on the roof of a food stand.

Stall decorations at the Dresden Striezelmarkt

Christmas Market Treats

Dresden’s bustling Striezelmarkt, has all the ingredients of a traditional German Christmas market. With the aroma of gingerbread cookies, roasted almonds, deep-fried dumplings and mulled wine wafting through the crisp winter air, hunger pangs can strike quite quickly. But don’t worry, you won’t go hungry here as there are plenty of traditional hearty snacks like roast beef, bratwurst and knobibrot available.

Food Stall at the Dresden Striezelmarkt

Christmas Shopping

The Dresden Christmas market is the place where locals come to stock up on festive foods, as well as to do some of Christmas shopping. Amongst the many market stalls are the popular Christmas woodcraft from the Erz Mountains. This is where the colorful nutcrackers and German incense smokers (Räuchermann) are produced. You can also buy beautiful hand-made tinsels, winter accessories, hand-made candles and more.

Hand-made candles at the Dresden Striezelmarkt

Christmas Market Events

There is a range of activities at the Dresden Christmas Market with over 100 events spread over the month-long Striezelmarkt, the main events being:

Opening Ceremony and Ecumenical Service
Dresdner Pfefferkuchenfest or Gingerbread Festival which includes the coronation of the new Gingerbread Princess
Dresden Stollen Festival – the highlight event of the Dresdner Striezelmarkt
Dresdner Pflaumentoffelfest
Pyramid Festival
Dresdner Schwibbogenfest
Dresden Christmas tree decorating
Seasons Greetings from a city to be announced

Where to Stay

If you like the idea of staying in the midst of of the Striezelmarkt, the NH Dresden Altmarkt puts you in the midst of the Christmas markets. There are many other excellent hotels in the heart of Dresden Old Town (Altstadt) including: