Frohnau Parish Advent Market (Johanneskirche)

A Berlin Advent Market of Quiet Tones

In the far north of Berlin, beyond the Tegeler Forst and the Heerstraße cemetery, lies the district of Frohnau — a planned garden city from the 1910s, one of Berlin's greenest and quietest residential areas. The center of the district is Zeltinger Platz with the Johanneskirche, a listed Protestant church in the Heimatstil (homeland style). It is here that the Evangelische Kirchengemeinde Frohnau (Protestant Parish Frohnau) hosts its own small Advent market every year on the 1st Advent Sunday — a parish event that does not compete with, nor wishes to compete with, the large Berlin Christmas markets.

What Makes the Market Special

• Arts and Crafts and Advent Wreaths: tied in the parish, often weeks before Advent Sunday
• Quince Products: Frohnau specialty — quince jellies, quince liqueurs, quince syrup
• Surprise Packages: small gifts from the parish community
• Homemade Cake in the café and for takeaway
• Mulled Wine: to avoid waste, visitors are asked to bring their own cups
• „Junges Blech Frohnau": the parish brass ensemble plays to kick off the event on the church steps
• Children's Program: puppet theater, fairy tale room, cookie baking
• Advent Singing: 4:00 PM in the Johanneskirche with candlelight

Frohnau — Berlin on the Outskirts

Frohnau was planned in 1910 as a Gartenstadt (garden city) based on the model of English Garden Cities — one of the few districts in Berlin that was never built as a tenement quarter. Today, Frohnau is a quiet, middle-class residential town in the Reinickendorf borough, popular with families and older Berliners. The Advent market in front of the Johanneskirche fits this character: respectable, friendly, without large commercial structures.

Difference from the "Big" Frohnau Christmas Market

Important to know: there are two different Advent formats in Frohnau. The Adventsmarkt der Kirchengemeinde described here (1st Advent Sunday, half-day, parish market character) is independent and should not be confused with the Kunsthandwerklicher Weihnachtsmarkt Frohnau (Arts and Crafts Christmas Market Frohnau) in early December, which is larger and has a different character.