The Paderborn Christmas market is open from November 24th to December 23rd on Fridays and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and on all other days from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Businesses selling handicrafts and Christmas items as well as rides are free to close the business at 8 p.m.
The Christmas market will be closed on November 26th because of the Sunday of the Dead.
This year the shopping Sunday on the 1st of Advent is also open for shopping. On December 3rd, the shops will be open from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.
A special highlight of the Christmas market this year will once again be the approximately 20 meter high Paderborn Christmas pyramid on the market square. With a total of six levels, it is one of the largest walk-in Christmas pyramids. The pyramid, made of real wood in the Westphalian half-timbered style, invites visitors to the lower two accessible levels. Hand-carved Christmas figures rotate on the four rotating levels above. The highlight is the copper tip with oversized, illuminated and movable wings.
The Paderborn horse carousel, which is over a hundred years old, and the Paderborn Ferris wheel on Marienplatz welcome you on a journey back in time.
From here you can enjoy a unique view of the town hall, which this year will once again be the largest Advent calendar in the region.
Every day a window in the magnificent Weser Renaissance facade is opened and reveals one of the 24 Christmas motifs painted by children from Paderborn elementary schools.
Right next to the town hall, the little guests of the Christmas market can also go on a “journey to winter land” in the children’s carousel.
This year, the living nativity scene will be at the market church again, which will be set up and looked after by the Paderborn association “Lebendige Krippe eV” with a new concept.
An ox and two sheep will be seen in the manger. The animals currently live together on a farm and are also cared for and cared for by the animals' owner during the Christmas market season. The association is in constant communication with the district veterinary office and the German Nature Conservation Association has also approved the overall concept.
Thanks to energy-saving LED technology, the atmospheric lighting in the city center will once again provide a Christmas atmosphere. The magnificently illuminated cathedral with its 92 meter high tower will shine in the center of the market and cathedral square. The Sternengasse with around 60 stars and two lettering lights the way from the cathedral square to the historic town hall, where the festively decorated tree will once again become an eye-catcher during the Christmas season. Anyone approaching the Christmas market from the direction of Westerntor will find the well-known light elements on their way through Westernstrasse that ensure a festive glow of lights.
In addition, Christmas music and choir concerts in the town hall get you in the mood for the festival. The traditional Christmas singing with the cathedral tower brass , for which the largest choir in the city's history once again gathers on the market square, will take place on December 22nd from 6 p.m.