Choirs of children sing carols in front of the church and church bells peal. The text and the opening ceremony remain virtually unchanged. The Christchild's Market in Nuremberg has survived until the present day mainly as a market for the sale of toys and other presents for the Christmas festival. The market stalls are decorated with branches of fir and lit by lanterns. As it has always been, the larger part of the items sold are Christmas decorations, toys, arts and crafts articles, Christmas cribs and candles.
Shoppers make their way between the red-roofed stalls, looking, tasting, purchasing.
Visitors may pause at the nativity scene at the center of the Hauptmarkt, large wooden figurines depicting the Christmas story. Since 1948 it has become the custom, late one afternoon during advent, for schoolchildren carrying home-made lanterns, to walk from the market up the hill towards the castle in an impressive procession and then to watch the Christmas story being acted out before them. Christmas Markets in Germany, Austria and Switzerland . The Christmas Tree and links to ornaments, decorations and gifts found at Christmas markets.