Dresden’s Striezelmarkt was founded in 1434.
The market began as a one-day event on Dresden’s Altmarkt, held on the Monday before Christmas during the reign of Frederick II, Elector of Saxony. Its original practical purpose was to let Dresden residents buy meat for their Christmas meal after the pre-Christmas fasting period. The 1434 date comes from the earliest documentary reference to the market.
The name Striezelmarkt comes from Striezel or Strutzel, an older name for the baked good now widely associated with Dresden Stollen, or Christstollen. As the market developed, it attracted bakers, craftsmen and traders from Saxony, the Ore Mountains, Lusatia and Bohemia.
Today the Striezelmarkt lasts throughout Advent and is known for wooden ornaments, nutcrackers, candle arches, smoking figures and a large Christmas pyramid. Its traditions reflect Dresden’s links with the Ore Mountains, where mining communities developed woodcarving as an important craft. The market is often described as one of the world’s oldest Christmas markets, though claims about the absolute oldest depend on how “Christmas market” and documentary evidence are defined.