Yes, it’s almost Christmas! Time to get your Father Christmas robe on and get heavenly inspired.

I love Advent and Christmas, Heini and I stay up until midnight every year on 24 December with wonderful roast goose and red wine to ring in the feast of festivities at midnight mass. On Christmas Day we go to friends or family for Christmas lunch and of course there is the Christmas tree decorated with dozens of mementos, making for a very special atmosphere.

Christmas is the Christmas Market and the nativity play, family, friends, joy and love and all things that warm you…. and during Advent we find all this at the traditional Christkindlsmarkt in Baden-Baden, which offers an enchanting backdrop with a picturesque Black Forest setting.

Baden-Baden is a city rich in history, architecture, gastronomy and culture. At Christmas, the city’s already pretty streets and squares come to life with the Winter Wonders events…

Christmas Market programme: shows, music and skating fun

This year’s programme will once again take place daily on the concert shell, which has been converted into a sky stage. The spectrum of atmospheric Christmas music ranges from gospel, classical and brass music to pop and jazz.

Ice skating in the Eisarena Baden-Baden. The ice arena on Augustaplatz will also be open to visitors again. Visitors can enjoy ice skating until 8 January 2023.
Monday to Thursday 12 to 8 p.m. / Friday and Saturday 12 to 10 p.m. / Sunday 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Christmas Eve, 24 December until 3 p.m. / New Year’s Eve, 31 December until 3 p.m.
From 21 December 2022 to 8 January 2023, the Ice Arena will be open daily from 11am.

New this year is the use of eco-ice, which looks and glides like ice but is not ice and requires no water or electricity. This unique material from a Swiss company is also used by professional athletes worldwide for their training.

There will also be plenty on offer for children at the Baden-Baden Christmas Market. This year, a carousel and a giant children’s wheel will be amongst the attractions. Those who listen to the beautiful Christmas stories in the fairy tale street can buy their favourite story right next door and take it home with them. There will also be a nativity scene exhibition.

In addition to the elegant colonnade shops and the chic city centre, visitors can expect a variety of delicacies as well as unusual arts and crafts, Christmas decorations and nativity scenes as they stroll past the festively decorated huts to the smell of mulled wine and gingerbread.

If you’re looking for a gift at the Christmas market, you’ll find plenty to choose from at the numerous exhibitors, who will impress you with their variety and great offers.

The culinary offerings of the Christmas stalls

A very special highlight at the Christmas Market in Baden-Baden this year are the “Gourmet Igloos”. You will find them on the path between the Casino and Kaiserallee in Kirchenfensterallee.

Photo © Valentin Behringer

Photo © Valentin Behringer

In addition, no one will miss out on the wide range of food stalls – whether sweet or hearty, there is something here for every appetite. In addition to Black Forest sausage specialities and Allgäu cheese, stalls with Italian, Austrian and Hungarian specialities make a culinary journey to neighbouring countries possible. There are also stalls with wines and distillates from Baden and Feuerzangenbowle.

Those in the mood for something sweet will be spoilt for choice. In addition to crêpes and fresh waffles, candied nuts, chocolate fruits and oven-fresh biscuits and chestnuts will be on offer. If you’re looking for something hearty, you’ll find tarte flambée or fresh dinners from the wood-burning oven, as well as tarte flambée salmon and meat skewers.

When?

Christmas market from 24.11.2022 – 06.01.2023

Daily 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
24 December 2022 11 am to 3 pm
1 January 2022 1pm to 9pm

The 6th December is St Nicholas Day. St. Nicholas, the bishop of bishops: whether Christian or non-Christian, on St. Nicholas Day believers and non-believers celebrate the charitable actions of St. Nicholas. In many countries St. Nicholas Day even has the status of an official holiday and in countries including Russia, Croatia and Serbia, St. Nicholas enjoys the highest social esteem right up to the present day.

Where?

Kurpark in front of the Kurhaus
Kaiserallee
76530 Baden-Baden

Where to stay

Some of the best places to stay in Baden-Baden

What else to do?

Check out the Festspielhaus, or maybe enjoy a posh afternoon tea in the Brenners Park Hotel & Spa.

Normally, people like to look back at the end of the year. With the transition from autumn to winter, from the end of the year to the new beginning of expectation, from darkness to the hoped-for light, attitudes and relationships to life change. We live in Advent between waiting and rushing off, but what comes, and especially what can come, is something promising and inviting. I wish you and your family a happy Advent and holiday season and a busy Father Christmas!

All photos courtesy and © Sabine Noelle-Wying