Christmas Village at the Vogtsbauernhof
Three days of Christmas among 400-year-old Black Forest farmhouses – fire bowls, lanterns and early darkness.
The Black Forest Open Air Museum Vogtsbauernhof is open from March to early November. Then it closes for the winter – except for one single weekend in December.
On those three days wooden chalets stand between the old farmhouses, fire bowls burn, lanterns hang in the barn doorways. No piped music, no plastic reindeer. It smells of woodsmoke and fir, and when darkness falls early you get a fairly precise sense of what Christmas looked like here two hundred years ago.
What to expect
Craftspeople and regional producers in the chalets, music on two stages – from strings to Dixieland –, an open Christmas workshop for children, puppet theatre, and Saint Nicholas on the grounds on Sunday afternoon. A free shuttle bus runs between the museum and Gutach on all three days.
One thing that is often missed: the historic buildings themselves are closed during the Christmas village. To see the farmhouses from the inside, come back during the season.
- Date
- third Advent weekend, Friday to Sunday. The museum confirms the exact 2026 date at short notice – please check vogtsbauernhof.de beforehand.
- Admission
- €5 for adults, free for children and young people up to 17 (as at the last edition)
- Shuttle bus
- free, between the museum and Gutach – Fri from 5 pm, Sat from 3 pm, Sun from noon
- Getting there
- about 30 minutes up the Kinzig valley
- More
- vogtsbauernhof.de
Friday evening is the quietest of the three days and the most atmospheric, because it is already dark when you arrive. Dress warmer than you think you need to – the museum grounds lie in the valley and it gets properly cold.
An evening out, not a day out
From Prinzbach it is half an hour. You can take your time on the grounds and still be back for dinner.
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