Hefty Christmas Gains

For many Germans, visiting the Christmas market is a highlight of the Advent season. From Flensburg to Frankfurt and from Kassel to Kiel, around 2,500 markets set up shop each year.

They may be fun and festive, but the markets also mean big bucks. It is estimated that each of the 160 million visitors spend an average of 31.14 euros ($41.29) a piece on spiced wine, candied almonds, roasted chestnuts and small gifts during the approximately four-week-long season.

That adds up to a total of 4.85 billion euros spent at the markets, reported the German Center for Tourism (DZT) this week.

Germans are apparently not the only ones who enjoy the Weihnachtsmarkt experience. Only around half of the visitors live near the market itself, while nearly 49 percent travel to their favorite Christmas market destination.

Nuremberg's Christkindlesmarkt and the Striezelmarkt in Dresden are among the best known and most traditional of the markets, while those located at centuries-old castles like Wartburg in Eisenach or Glücksburger Schloss on the Baltic Sea offer a more medieval flair.