We will be in Germany 3 weeks before the start of 2015 Christmas Markets.
Will we be able to see any decorations?
In what part of Germany will you be and when?
What date will you be here and where will you be?
The markets begin at various times, but mainly the 4 weeks before Christmas, which is Advent. Some will open a few days before this, but if you are talking about the beginning of Nov. or end of Oct. I doubt that cities will have many decorations up. I know they put the giant Christmas tree up in Frankfurt around the 6th of Nov. but it takes about a week to decorate it and they don't turn the lights on until opening night of the market, 25 Nov.. Street decorations will go up about the middle of Nov.
We will be cruising on the Rhine, starting November 10th, so I was hoping the decorating would have begun in a few of the villages.
You might be in luck! Here are some links to help pinpoint when specific markets start in 2015:
The stores will definitely be ready with Christmas goodies on sale. You can get your fill of traditional German gingerbread cookies, spekulatius and much more.
However, I do appreciate that the towns themselves are not cashing in on Christmas as much and usually don't start decorating until late November - in time for the first Sunday in Advent.
I laugh every year when the grocery stores start putting out their Christmas goodies to eat around the end of August. With no Halloween or Thanksgiving to use as boundary lines, they figure people are ready to eat Lebkuchen hearts, Domino Steine, or Speculatus by the end of summer. Dept. stores may have their Christmas decorations for sale by Oct.