From the Himmelsleiter to the wooden pyramid

The waySix stops, five legs

The legs between the markets aren't just a way from A to B — they're part of the walk. That's why they stand here as equals beside the markets.

1. 1

   Lichtermarkt St. Lamberti

   See: the Himmelsleiter · Hear: the horn from the tower · Smell: roasted almonds

   The start. Blue pointed-roof huts at the foot of the late-Gothic St. Lamberti's church, in front of them Münster's great Christmas tree, usually around 20 metres tall. Up the tower climbs the light installation „Himmelsleiter" (heaven's ladder) by artist Billi Thanner — almost everyone takes the evening's first photo here. High above hang three iron cages from the year 1536, in which a single light has burned each night since 1987. Not Christmas decoration but a memorial — and part of what makes this square what it is.

↓ 4 minutes · through the Drubbel and across the Roggenmarkt

From the tower into the half-timbering

It starts behind the church, through the narrow Drubbel lane and across the Roggenmarkt. After a few steps it grows quieter, narrower and warmer — here many notice for the first time that they're in a real old town, not on an event site.

2. 2

   Kiepenkerl

   See: the Kiepenkerl · Hear: conversations · Smell: Westphalian cooking

   The smallest and most characterful of the six. Around the statue of the Kiepenkerl — the Westphalian travelling trader with the back-basket — stands a village of a few huts among the half-timbered houses. Here you eat what the region has to offer. Do the walk as a group of six and this is where you first lose someone.

↓ 4 minutes · across the Spiekerhof, down by the bridge to the Aa

Over the water, under the cathedral towers

The finest leg of the evening and the only one where it briefly turns dark. You cross the Spiekerhof and go down by the bridge to the Münster Aa — from the middle of the bridge you'll see the floodlit towers of St. Paul's Cathedral above the rooftops. Want a photo? Stop here, not on the market.

3. 3

   Giebelhüüskesmarkt

   See: the cathedral towers · Hear: silence in the church · Smell: fir greenery

   The quietest of the six. Its huts are modelled on the gabled houses of the Prinzipalmarkt — hence the Low German name, „little gables". Next door, inside the Überwasser church, the CityAdvent runs with changing art installations: two steps from the bustle, and suddenly you hear only yourself. The moment most people remember afterwards.

↓ 6 minutes · past the Spiegelturm and across the Domplatz

Past the cathedral, heading south

You walk past the Spiegelturm and across the wide Domplatz — to your left the floodlit towers of St. Paul's Cathedral — and through the Pferdegasse to the south. A calm, open transition before the way grows dense and narrow again.

4. 4

   Aegidii

   See: the pyramid · Hear: the chime · Smell: waffles

   The warmest moment of the walk — and it comes deliberately in the middle, not at the end. In the sheltered courtyard a six-metre wooden pyramid turns with its vane wheel, every thirty minutes the chime plays, and beside it stands a large nativity scene. For children a fairy-tale hunt is hidden: seven carved figures such as Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel and Puss in Boots stand at different stalls; collect a stamp at all of them and you get a children's punch at the „Big Bad Wolf" stall. From the Himmelsleiter to here is about 14 minutes on foot — the rest of the evening still lies ahead of you.

↓ 7 minutes · across the Rothenburg and the Marievengasse

From old to new

The longest leg of the walk — and the liveliest. It runs across the Rothenburg and through the shopping streets of the Marievengasse; whichever lane you take, it stays six to seven minutes. Here the tone shifts: from the most tradition-rich of the six markets over to the youngest. Travelling with children? This is where you take the break.

5. 5

   X-MS on Harsewinkelplatz

   See: the Kirschensäule · Hear: young music · Smell: regional fare

   A market of Münster for Münster, by Thomas Schütte's sculpture „Kirschensäule". Everything here is local, regional and sustainable — the only one of the six with a consistent concept. Looking for a gift you can't get online, you look here — the quiet counterpoint just before the grand finale.

↓ 3 minutes · through the Stubengasse

The short lane to the largest

The shortest leg of the whole walk. Through the narrow Stubengasse — and then Münster's largest market opens up. After the quiet courtyard at the Aegidii and the stroll past the shops, now, right at the end, comes the full bustle.

6. 6

   Rund um das Rathaus

   See: the canopy of lights · Hear: the carousel · Smell: everything at once

   The finale, because this is where most is going on. Around 90 stalls in the Town Hall courtyard on the Platz des Westfälischen Friedens — where the Thirty Years' War ended in 1648. Over it all hangs the canopy of lights, in the middle a nostalgic children's carousel turns. Anyone who's got this far has seen six markets and covered not a single metre by car. And if you like, you're back at the Lichtermarkt via the Salzstraße in five minutes — where the evening began.

No entry feefree4all — free for everyone

When to be whereWhat runs on a clock

A few things on this route happen at fixed times. If you want to catch them, plan the walk around them — that's the difference between a good and a special evening.

Not everyone has a whole eveningThree shorter routes

Or have your route built for you: tell us how much time you have, who you're with and what you're in the mood for.

Frequently askedAbout the walk