The story
Stuttgart Christmas Market in Stuttgart
Stuttgart's Christmas market traces a market privilege to 1507 and appears in city records by 1692, growing into one of Germany's largest, spread from the central Schlossplatz across Schillerplatz, Karlsplatz and Marktplatz with roughly 300 stalls and an estimated 3.6 million visitors each year. A distinctive annual rooftop-decoration contest among stallholders turns the market's own stall canopies into a judged attraction.
Stuttgart's Christmas market traces a market privilege back to 1507, when Duke Ulrich of Wurttemberg granted the town the right to collect stall fees at its annual fairs, and the market itself appears in city records by 1692, described even then as a traditional Stuttgart event.