Frankfurt Christmas Market: The Nikolaus Tree to the Roßmarkt Wheel

You are on the Römerberg, in the middle of Frankfurt's Christmas market. The building with the three stepped gables is the Römer, the city hall since 1405. In front of it stands this year's tree: a 27-metre spruce named Nikolaus, about 50 years old and 6.7 tonnes, a gift from the village of Wald-Königsleiten in Austria's Pinzgau. The name comes from the three golden balls of St Nicholas on the village coat of arms. St Nicholas is also the patron of the Alte Nikolaikirche, the old church on the south side of this square, whose carillon plays at 9:05, 12:05 and 17:05 each day. Dates change every year. This season the market runs from 23 November to 22 December 2026, Monday to Saturday from 10:00 to 21:00 and Sunday from 11:00 to 21:00. From 24 November the artists' Christmas market fills the Römer halls, daily from 12:00 to 20:00. Look out for Bethmännchen, the little marzipan cakes with three almonds. Walk north off the square onto the Paulsplatz and stand in the market, facing the round red-sandstone church.

This is the Paulsplatz, the next square of the same market. The round church in red sandstone is the Paulskirche. In 1848 the first freely elected German National Assembly met here. This season, from 24 November, it also holds the artists' Christmas market, daily from 12:00 to 20:00, and until 18:00 on 20 December. The stalls and a carousel fill the square between the church and Braubachstraße. The hours are the same as on the Römerberg. Dates change every year. This season the market runs from 23 November to 22 December 2026, Monday to Saturday from 10:00 to 21:00 and Sunday from 11:00 to 21:00. Until 23 November you are simply on the Paulsplatz. Walk east along Braubachstraße, then through the lane Hinter dem Lämmchen, to the Hühnermarkt in the new old town.

The Hühnermarkt is the small square at the heart of the Neue Frankfurter Altstadt, the new old town. Between 2012 and 2018 the city rebuilt this quarter on ground cleared after the air raids of March 1944: 35 houses, 15 of them after historical models. The fountain and the statue in the middle commemorate the poet Friedrich Stoltze, who was born near here. That is not the same place as Friedrich-Stoltze-Platz, a few minutes north, where the pink market stands. There are no stalls on this square on the 2026 orientation plan. You are walking between two markets: behind you the Römerberg and the Paulsplatz, ahead the cathedral and the children's market on the river. Continue a few steps east along the lane called Markt, onto the Domplatz, and look up at the cathedral tower.

The tower above the Domplatz belongs to the Kaiserdom St. Bartholomäus, in red sandstone, 95 metres high. The Gothic tower was begun in the 15th century and finished in the 19th. For centuries this was the church where emperors of the Holy Roman Empire were elected and, from 1562 to 1792, crowned. This walk stays outside, on the square. If you want to go in, check the cathedral's own hours at the door. The market does not fill the Domplatz the way it fills the Römerberg, but the children's market on the Mainkai is only a short walk downhill, and on 28 November and on Christmas Eve the cathedral's nine bells join the city's Advent ringing. Walk south off the square, down Weckmarkt and Krautmarkt, to the river. The children's Christmas market stands on the Mainkai, east of the Iron Bridge.

You are on the Mainkai, on the north bank of the Main, east of the Eiserner Steg, the iron footbridge. This is the children's Christmas market, which had its first season in 2025 and has been enlarged this year. There are workshops, a carousel and a Christmas ship on the water, with a short programme of stories and music. The stalls follow the same dates and hours as the rest of the official market. Dates change every year. This season the market runs from 23 November to 22 December 2026, Monday to Saturday from 10:00 to 21:00 and Sunday from 11:00 to 21:00. Just west of the bridge, on the facade of the Historical Museum, a projected Advent calendar opens a new door at 17:00 each evening. From the north end of the bridge you can see the cathedral upstream and the high-rises downstream. Walk back north for about eight minutes, through the old town and up Neue Kräme, to the Liebfrauenberg. You will pass the Römerberg again on the way.

This is the Liebfrauenberg, a small square on the old route between the Römerberg and the Hauptwache, with the Liebfrauenkirche, the Church of Our Lady, on the north side. Neue Kräme, the short pedestrian street you have just walked up, links this square with the Paulsplatz and the Römerberg. The official stall ribbon picks up again just west of here. The church's five bells join the city ringing on 28 November and on Christmas Eve. Dates change every year. This season the official market as a whole runs from 23 November to 22 December 2026, Monday to Saturday from 10:00 to 21:00 and Sunday from 11:00 to 21:00. Walk west along Bleidenstraße or Sandgasse to Friedrich-Stoltze-Platz, about two minutes away, where the stalls are painted pink.

Friedrich-Stoltze-Platz is the square of the Rosa Weihnacht, the Pink Christmas. The wooden huts here are decorated in pink and rose, with hot cocktails and homemade soups among the usual winter food. Visit Frankfurt also describes the square as a meeting place for the city's LGBTQ+ community. It is part of the official market, with the same dates and hours. Dates change every year. This season it runs from 23 November to 22 December 2026, Monday to Saturday from 10:00 to 21:00 and Sunday from 11:00 to 21:00. The square is named for the same Friedrich Stoltze whose fountain you saw on the Hühnermarkt; this is a different place, a few streets north-west. Walk north, one short block, onto An der Hauptwache, and stand in the market with the little baroque guardhouse and St Catherine's church in view.

You are on An der Hauptwache, the meeting point Frankfurters still name when they arrange to meet in town. The small baroque building in red Main sandstone, with a steep hipped roof, was built in 1729 and 1730 as the city's main guardhouse. On the south side of the square stands St. Katharinen, the Lutheran church. Across the street to the east, the Zeil is Frankfurt's main shopping street; the Christmas stalls stay on this square, not down the Zeil itself. Dates change every year. This season the market here runs from 23 November to 22 December 2026, Monday to Saturday from 10:00 to 21:00 and Sunday from 11:00 to 21:00. There is usually a carousel among the stalls. Walk west off the square onto the Roßmarkt, and stand in the market near the Christmas pyramid, with the high-rises behind the stalls.

The Roßmarkt has been part of the official Christmas market since 2021, and it is the western end of the ribbon. On a clear evening the stalls sit directly under the towers of the banking quarter, which is why this end of the market feels different from the Römerberg. In the middle of the square you will find the large Frankfurter Weihnachtspyramide, a walk-in Christmas pyramid with Glühwein, and a Ferris wheel. The Gutenberg monument stands on this square as well. Dates change every year. This season the Roßmarkt market runs from 23 November to 22 December 2026, Monday to Saturday from 10:00 to 21:00 and Sunday from 11:00 to 21:00. This is the end of the recorded walk. The Hauptwache S-Bahn and U-Bahn station is about three minutes back the way you came.