The market stands on the Marienkirchhof, the paved yard on the north side of St Mary’s (Marienkirche, 1250–1350), the mother church of Baltic Brick Gothic, with the Rathaus beside it and the city’s main Christmas market on the Markt a hundred metres away. The 2026 dates are Monday 23 November to Wednesday 23 December 2026, as published in the Lübeck tourism office’s list of the season’s markets. In 2025 it ran 24 November – 23 December, open Monday to Thursday 11:00–21:00, Friday and Saturday 11:00–22:00 and Sunday 11:30–21:00, according to the event listings for that season. Entry is free.
The tourism office describes it as a medieval time-travel in the middle of the Christmas bustle: craftspeople demonstrating long-forgotten skills — coppersmiths, silversmiths, pewter casters and others — at wooden stalls, walk-acts and musicians in historical costume, medieval music and mulled wine. Its visual trademark is the Roter Sternenhimmel, a canopy of hundreds of red paper stars strung above the yard, lit with candles after dark. Listings name the Lübeck events company Zeytreise as the organiser.
Lübeck calls itself the Christmas city of the north, and the tourism office lists eleven markets for 2026: the main Lübecker Weihnachtsmarkt on the Markt and Breite Strasse (23 November – 30 December), the fairy-tale forest beside St Mary’s (23 November – 30 December), the maritime market at the harbour (23 November – 29 December), the craft market in the Heiligen-Geist-Hospital of 1286 (27 November – 6 December) and others. The historical market is the only one done in period dress; combined with the craft market in the medieval hospital hall, it makes the most medieval evening in the city.
Lübeck is about 45 minutes from Hamburg by train, and the Marienkirchhof is a ten-minute walk from the station through the Holstentor. The market opens on the Monday before the first Sunday of Advent and closes on 23 December, so 22 November – 23 December 2027 is expected.
