Christkindlmarket Chicago: How It Started and What to Know
Chicago's German-style Christmas market started at Pioneer Court in 1996 and moved to Daley Plaza a year later. Its history, the famous mugs, and tips for visiting.
When the wooden huts go up in Daley Plaza and the smell of glühwein and bratwurst drifts across the Loop, the Chicago holiday season has officially started. Christkindlmarket has become one of the biggest and most popular holiday markets in the country.
A Nuremberg tradition comes to Chicago
The market is modeled on the famous Christkindlesmarkt in Nuremberg, Germany, one of Europe's oldest Christmas markets. The German American Chamber of Commerce of the Midwest brought the idea to Chicago and held the first Christkindlmarket in 1996 at Pioneer Court, along Michigan Avenue.
Moving to Daley Plaza
The next year, in 1997, Mayor Richard M. Daley asked that the market move to Daley Plaza, across from City Hall and under the Picasso. That year it drew more than 750,000 visitors, and Daley Plaza has been its home ever since.
Daley Plaza in summer 1984, long before the market huts, from the hellgin founder's family photos.
More locations
The market has grown beyond the Loop, adding locations in Wrigleyville and in suburban Aurora in recent years. Check the market's website for each location's dates and hours.
The mugs
The souvenir boot-shaped and yearly mugs are a Chicago collector's item. Many families buy one every year, and older years trade hands online. Buy your hot drink in the mug and take it home.
What to eat and drink
Glühwein (hot spiced wine) and hot cider, bratwurst, potato pancakes, pretzels, stollen and other German treats. Lines get long on weekend evenings.
Tips for visiting
- Go on a weekday, ideally earlier in the day. Weekend evenings are packed; one survey even called it among the most crowded holiday markets in the country.
- Take the CTA. Parking in the Loop in December is expensive and slow.
- Bring cash and cards, and dress for the cold.
- Pair it with the lights: the Millennium Park tree, the Magnificent Mile lights and the State Street windows are all nearby.
Christkindlmarket usually opens in mid-to-late November. More Chicago traditions: dyeing the river green and Marshall Field's under the clock.
Photo: Chicago (32210687928).jpg) by MinJae Kim, CC BY 2.0.