Marktplatz

The Marktplatz is the beating heart of Esslingen's old town, a well-proportioned square surrounded by half-timbered houses and historic public buildings. The Altes Rathaus, built between 1430 and 1586, is the dominant structure: its Renaissance facade is adorned with decorative gables, gilded ornamentation, and an astronomical clock that displays the time, date, and lunar phases.

The square is also a working market space: a farmers' market takes place here on Tuesday and Friday mornings. At Christmas it hosts the famous Mittelalter- und Weihnachtsmarkt, the medieval market that runs alongside the usual Christmas stalls and draws crowds from across the Stuttgart region. The juxtaposition of the two Gothic churches — the Protestant Stadtkirche and the Catholic Frauenkirche — gives the square an unusual architectural symmetry.

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Esslingen's Marktplatz is framed by two Gothic churches facing each other across the square — the Stadtkirche St Dionys and the smaller Frauenkirche — an arrangement found in few other German towns. The Altes Rathaus on the east side of the square is a Renaissance masterpiece completed in 1586 with a colourful astronomical clock and facade gilding that still turns heads. Every year in November and December, the square transforms into a medieval Christmas market, one of the oldest and most authentic in Baden-Württemberg, with costumed traders and open fire pits.

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