Provenance
The Christmas markets date back to late medieval sales fairs and markets that gave citizens the opportunity to buy meat and winter supplies at the beginning of the cold season. In the 14th century it became customary to allow craftsmen such as toy makers, basket makers or confectioners to set up stalls at the market. Since about the first half of the 20th century, the markets have become an integral part of pre-Christmas customs and have spread throughout the German-speaking world.

Typical Christmas Market
A typical Christmas market consists of numerous sales stalls in front of an audience-effective scenery on streets and squares of a place. For the catering Christmas bakery products and regional specialities (e.g. gingerbread), various sweets (e.g. roasted almonds, hot chestnuts) as well as warm meals are offered. Warm drinks (e.g. mulled wine, mulled must and punch) are usually served. Furthermore, sales stands for handcrafted Christmas articles (e.g. nativity scenes) or decorations for the Christmas tree (e.g. glass balls, Advent stars) are an integral part of Christmas markets.
At larger Christmas markets, goods are mainly offered by professional market drivers. However, there are also markets whose proceeds go to charitable purposes and which are organised by associations which often sell products they have made themselves.