Gengenbach Advent Calendar
The largest Advent calendar in the world stands twelve minutes from here. Every evening at six, a window opens.
The town hall in Gengenbach has twenty-four windows. That is the whole trick. Every evening in Advent, at six o'clock sharp, one of them is lit – and when the last one joins in, the façade carries a painting made of twenty-four parts.
Down on the market square a few hundred people stand with mulled wine in hand and look up. It takes perhaps ten minutes. It is still the reason people drive to Gengenbach from all over Germany.
The 2026 calendar
This year's images are by the illustrator Olaf Hajek, on the theme of „Paradiese“ – paradises. His originals are shown at the same time in the Museum Haus Löwenberg, and it is worth going: you see the paintings up close rather than from forty metres below.
Because the town hall is currently under scaffolding, the façade is rebuilt at full size in front of it, with twenty-four real illuminated windows. The spectacle is unchanged.
- Window opening
- daily at 6 pm, from 30 November to 23 December 2026
- Afterwards
- the complete calendar stays lit until 6 January 2027
- Advent market
- 27 November to 23 December · Mon–Fri 2–8 pm, Sat/Sun 11.30 am–8 pm
- Stage programme
- weekdays from 5 pm, weekends from 3 pm, in front of the town hall
- Admission
- free
- Getting there
- about 12 minutes by car – or one stop by train from Biberach (Baden)
Arrive around half past four rather than just before six. You will still find a spot on the square, have time for a round of the Advent market, and will not be standing three rows back when the window opens.
And take the train. Gengenbach is one stop from Biberach, parking in the old town during Advent is a test of patience – and with mulled wine involved it is the better idea anyway.
The evening belongs to the calendar. The day is yours.
Twelve minutes of driving means you do not have to plan the whole day around it. Take breakfast slowly, walk up to the Geroldseck ruins, and set off in the late afternoon.
- Chrysanthema Lahr 24 Oct – 8 Nov
- Christmas Village, Vogtsbauernhof 3rd Advent
- Strasbourg Christmas Market 27 Nov – 24 Dec
- Riquewihr in Advent 27 Nov – 20 Dec
- Kaysersberg in Advent Fri–Sun in Advent
- Overview: Winter & Christmas markets