GERMANY & AUSTRIA
Nativity Markets in Germany and Austria
This is the land of the Krippenvereine: clubs of enthusiasts who build nativity scenes all year and show them off during Advent, village by village. Munich holds Germany’s largest nativity market, confirmed for November 20 to December 24, 2026.
The word to search for, and the false friend
The nativity scene is die Krippe. The market where you buy figures, complete nativity scenes and building materials is a Krippenmarkt, or Kripperlmarkt in the homier Bavarian and Austrian version.
Watch out for Krippenmesse. It’s a real word, but it doesn’t mean a fair. In German, Messe means both “trade fair” and “Mass,” and here it means Mass: a Krippenmesse is a church service held in front of the nativity, common in Tyrolean parishes. Search for it and you’ll get Mass times.
A third word to know: Krippenausstellung, an exhibition. It’s by far the most common kind of event in German-speaking countries, and nothing is for sale.
Munich, the Kripperlmarkt
November 20 to December 24, 2026, confirmed by the City of Munich. It’s on the Marienplatz, around the Alter Peter (St. Peter’s Church), right next to the Christkindlmarkt but separate from it.
The city calls it Germany’s largest nativity market. You’ll find figures, complete nativity scenes and everything you need to build one. Open Monday to Saturday 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., Sunday until 8 p.m., and on December 24 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. only. Free admission.
Along with Barcelona and Bologna, it’s one of Europe’s three great nativity markets where you can really shop, and the only one of the three in a German-speaking country.
The Krippenvereine, a club tradition
This is what sets the region apart, and France has nothing like it. Bavaria, Tyrol, Salzburg and Vorarlberg have hundreds of local clubs (Krippenvereine or Krippenfreunde) whose members build nativity scenes all year, teach each other techniques and show their work during Advent, often in the parish hall, usually for free, sometimes with a blessing of the nativities. The same German-speaking love of the Krippe crossed the Atlantic with the Moravians and grew into the putz of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
Two things to know. First, every December there are dozens of exhibitions that no central calendar lists: the federations post theirs on krippe.at for Austria and krippen-bayern.de for Bavaria, so that’s where to look. Second, these exhibitions don’t sell anything: you go to admire the craft, not to take something home.
Tyrol and Salzburg
Tyrol has more nativity activity than anywhere else in Central Europe, and its tradition is the mountain nativity: rocks, wood, fir trees, an Alpine landscape instead of a Mediterranean village. The club exhibitions are mostly held on early-December weekends, in community halls, village after village. See the mountain nativity.
In Salzburg, the Krippenpfad (“nativity path”) runs from November 19, 2026, to January 1, 2027, on the Residenzplatz, in the middle of the Christkindlmarkt: nine nativity scenes in display cases, made by the nativity club of Grödig. It’s free and outdoors, and in twenty minutes you’ll see what makes the Alpine tradition different.
No date is guaranteed. This information comes from sources abroad that we can’t always double-check, and many cities only publish their schedule in the fall. Before you book a trip, check with the organizer.
Page current as of September 13, 2026.