The Christmas Market in Hildesheim has a beautiful setting in the market square in the centre of town, surrounded by delightful timber-framed houses. In 2019, the market opens on 25 November and closes on 29 December. Opening hours every day are 11am to 8pm and the market is closed on December 24th and 25th, with reduced opening hours between December 26th and 29th. In total, the market has 65 stalls.

View of the Van der Valk Hotel Hildesheim from the Christmas Market.

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A rebuild Market square

The town centre of Hildesheim was destroyed by bombing in the spring of 1945 and has been re-built, restored, pulled down and modified since the war. The town centre and market square have now been restored back to their original appearance from before the war, and you can enjoy a wonderful parade of charming timber-framed facades, even though not every building has been re-built in this style.

The building on the right in the photograph is the only one to be re-built using the traditional timber framing techniques, and contains only wooden pegs and no nails or screws in the construction. The building houses a restaurant with several function suites, serving traditional German cuisine.

Street lights with red stocking hats and illuminated trees

When the Christmas Market is open, all the street lights in the area are adorned with red stocking hats and the market has plenty of huge Christmas trees illuminated with fairy lights. The largest tree is over 10 metres tall and is decorated with more than 7,500 LED lights.

The twinkling lights illuminating the Christmas trees in and around the market provide the perfect festive feeling. The town hall nearby also has an indoors Christmas Market with a great range of arts and crafts.

The charming, old-fashioned merry-go-round keeps the young children amused, and the Christmas songs played instead of the normal merry-go-round music enhance the joyful Christmas spirit.

For older children, and adults, there is a large Ferris wheel. Both the Ferris wheel and the merry-go-round are very popular, so be prepared to wait in line.

A Christmas Market filled with delicious aromas and flavours

Many people come to the Christmas Market to meet friends, have a festive time with family or just get outdoors in the winter air to discover the Christmas spirit, which is very much present with the sounds, aromas and not least flavours of the Christmas Market! Sausages, fried potato cakes, Glühwein, cakes, gingerbread hearts and fruit on lollipops dipped in chocolate are all classical features of a Christmas Market, including in Hildesheim.

Stay central in Hildesheim at the Van det Valk Hotel

If you plan to visit Hildesheim and the Christmas Market, the best and most central place to stay is at the Van der Valk Hotel Hildesheim, facing directly on to the Christmas market and photographed below.

How to get to Hildesheim

To visit Hildesheim, we recommend a flight to Hanover then continue by train or car. We can also recommend a round-trip to all or some of the nine historical towns in the state of Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen), including Hildesheim.

READ ABOUT MORE CHRISTMAS MARKETS IN GERMANY:

Christmas Markets in Germany – Hamelin
Christmas Markets in Germany – Goslar
Christmas Markets in Germany – Göttingen

My visit to the Goslar Christmas Market was a part of the #CitybreakGermany campaign arraned in collaboration between Ferielandet Tyskland and NordicTB. All opinions are as always my own.