Ordinary Ledger: €4.60 a mug of Glühwein, six cents more than last year, and a Christmas tree that costs €25 to €33 a metre

The Christmas markets have not all opened yet, but the first price list has. A mug of classic red Glühwein, without the deposit, costs €4.60 on average across Germany this year, according to the Coupons.de price comparison reported by CHIP on Thursday¹. Last year it was €4.54; in 2023 it was €3.94¹. The most common price found was €4¹.

Desk arithmetic: that is 6 cents, or about 1.3%, more than last year, and 66 cents, or about 17%, more than three years ago. The headline writers will find “record prices” in it. The ledger finds a price that has nearly stopped climbing, after two years that did most of the damage.

Where you drink matters more than when. The south is dearest at €4.81 on average, the west and north both €4.57, the east cheapest at €4.47¹. Braunschweig, Gotha, Görlitz, Magdeburg, Ludwigshafen and Wismar start at €3.50; in Munich it is mostly €5 to €7.50, and at Berlin’s Gedächtniskirche up to €7.50¹. Desk arithmetic: the cheapest mug and the dearest are €4 apart, about six times the whole rise since 2023. Stall holders point to pitch fees, staff, energy, security and ingredients¹.

The tree is the bigger item. A running metre of Nordmann fir, the most popular tree, should cost about €25 to €33 this season, up from €23 to €30 last year, the Association of Natural Christmas Trees said². Desk arithmetic: a two-metre tree therefore runs to about €50 to €66. The reasons given are production, staff and logistics costs and a shrinking supply, as growers cut back or stop altogether². About 16 million natural trees are sold in Germany each year, roughly 80% of them home-grown².

For you. Smaller markets away from the big tourist squares are usually cheaper, and not every stall charges the top price; it is worth walking past two before you buy at the third¹. Buyers are choosing smaller trees of 1.50 to 2 metres, the growers say, partly because flats are getting smaller². The season will cost what it costs. It costs less if you read the price board first.