Community Foundation Christmas Market at the Old Church Square

Bürgerstiftung Gütersloh — Civic Engagement in the OWL City

The Bürgerstiftung Gütersloh is a community foundation established in 2002 that promotes voluntary and civic engagement in Gütersloh. Gütersloh — a city of 100,000 inhabitants in Ostwestfalen-Lippe (North Rhine-Westphalia, home of the Bertelsmann Group) — has a well-developed foundation and club landscape. The Bürgerstiftung Gütersloh itself is located at Alter Kirchplatz 12, right in the historic city center.

Concept of the Charity Market

The annual Community Foundation Christmas Market is programmatically special: it is not a classic commercial Christmas market with mulled wine stands run by professional showmen, but a charity market for non-profit organizations. The foundation primarily allocates stalls to clubs, schools, non-profit initiatives, and service clubs from Gütersloh. They sell handmade items (Advent wreaths, jams, cookies, wood crafts, knitwear, etc.) and culinary specialties — and use the proceeds for their own projects.

The Old Church Square and the Apostelkirche

The venue is the Old Church Square with the historic Apostelkirche — a Protestant church in a central location in Gütersloh's old town. The area is surrounded by half-timbered houses, which give the market a particularly festive atmosphere. The market covers a manageable area — about 30 stalls, well-organized, no mass crowds like at the large Christmas markets in the OWL metropolises (Bielefeld, Paderborn).

Program — Simple and Honest

The program follows the simple character of a charity market: stalls of the participating organizations with their handmade items for sale, mulled wine and punch from the food stalls, Advent atmosphere through lighting and musical contributions (choirs, brass band, individual musical groups that maintain the Apostelkirche tradition). The Bürgerstiftung itself only coordinates the organizational aspects — the program design is up to the clubs.

What the Proceeds Support

Each participating organization keeps the proceeds from its stall for its own projects. Thus, the market supports a variety of non-profit initiatives in Gütersloh: youth work by sports clubs, educational projects by schools, social initiatives by service clubs, non-profit aid projects. The Bürgerstiftung itself does not seek direct income — it uses the market as a platform to make the city's voluntary engagement visible.

Location and Travel

The Old Church Square is located in the middle of Gütersloh's old town — a few minutes' walk from Berliner Straße, the main shopping street. By train: Gütersloh Hbf is served by RE 6 (Magdeburg-Cologne) and RB 75 — ICE stop on important lines. From the station to the Old Church Square on foot: approx. 10 minutes. By car: A 2 exit Gütersloh, A 33 exit Bielefeld-Süd. Parking available in the surrounding city parking garages.