Shopping Sundays in Advent 2026
Pick a state: the tool shows which of the four Advent Sundays the state act allows and which towns have released them already.
Time left until First Advent Sunday 2026, 29 November 2026
30days23hrs0min0sec
Advent Sundays 2026 in North Rhine-Westphalia
4 of 4 possible
Only one Advent Sunday town-wide; one per district, two at most in total.
| 1. Advent, Sun 29 November | possible, with a limit |
| 2. Advent, Sun 6 December | possible, with a limit |
| 3. Advent, Sun 13 December | possible, with a limit |
| 4. Advent, Sun 20 December | possible, with a limit |
| Date | Town | Area | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sun 6 December | Aachen | Stadtbezirk Mitte (Innenstadt innerhalb des Grabenrings und angrenzende Bereiche) | 13-18 Uhr |
| Sun 6 December | Aachen | Stadtteil Burtscheid | 13-18 Uhr |
| Sun 13 December | Aachen | Stadtbezirk Brand | 13-18 Uhr |
| Sun 13 December | Bergisch Gladbach | Ortsteil Stadtmitte (laut Lageplan) | 13-18 Uhr |
| Sun 6 December | Bielefeld | Stadtbezirk Brackwede | 13-18 Uhr |
| Sun 6 December | Bielefeld | Stadtbezirk Heepen | 13-18 Uhr |
| Sun 13 December | Bielefeld | Stadtbezirk Mitte (Innenstadt) | 13-18 Uhr |
| Sun 20 December | Bochum | Stadtbezirk Mitte, Teilbereich Bochum-Innenstadt | 13-18 Uhr |
| Sun 20 December | Duisburg | Bezirk Mitte (Duisburger City) | 13-18 Uhr |
| Sun 20 December | Düren | Innenstadt (gemäß Einzelhandelskonzept) | 13-18 Uhr |
| Sun 29 November | Düsseldorf | Innenstadt (Stadtmitte, Altstadt und Carlstadt) | 13-18 Uhr |
| Sun 6 December | Düsseldorf | Stadtteile Benrath, Eller, Kaiserswerth, Oberkassel und Pempelfort (laut Lageplänen) | 13-18 Uhr |
| Sun 29 November | Essen | Stadtteil Altenessen | 13-18 Uhr |
| Sun 29 November | Essen | Stadtteil Borbeck | 13-18 Uhr |
| Sun 29 November | Essen | Stadtteil Kupferdreh | 13-18 Uhr |
| Sun 29 November | Essen | Stadtteil Steele | 13-18 Uhr |
| Sun 29 November | Essen | Stadtteil Werden | 13-18 Uhr |
| Sun 13 December | Essen | Essener Innenstadt | 13-18 Uhr |
| Sun 13 December | Essen | Stadtteil Rüttenscheid | 13-18 Uhr |
| Sun 29 November | Gelsenkirchen | Stadtteil Gelsenkirchen-Horst | 13-18 Uhr |
| Sun 6 December | Gelsenkirchen | Stadtteil Gelsenkirchen-Altstadt | 13-18 Uhr |
| Sun 29 November | Gütersloh | Ortsteil Isselhorst | 13-18 Uhr |
| Sun 13 December | Hamm | Stadtbezirk Hamm-Mitte (Innenstadt) | 13-18 Uhr |
| Sun 13 December | Iserlohn | Stadtteil Letmathe (Innenstadtbereich, Fußgängerzone Hagener Straße) | 13-18 Uhr |
| Sun 29 November | Krefeld | Krefeld-Hüls (zentraler Versorgungsbereich) | 13-18 Uhr |
| Sun 29 November | Krefeld | Krefeld-Uerdingen (zentraler Versorgungsbereich) | 13-18 Uhr |
| Sun 13 December | Krefeld | Krefeld-Innenstadt (zentraler Versorgungsbereich) | 13-18 Uhr |
| Sun 6 December | Cologne | Innenstadt | 13-18 Uhr |
| Sun 13 December | Cologne | Stadtteil Porz-Mitte | 13-18 Uhr |
| Sun 29 November | Leverkusen | Stadtteil Wiesdorf | 13-18 Uhr |
| Sun 6 December | Leverkusen | Stadtteil Opladen | 13-18 Uhr |
| Sun 6 December | Leverkusen | Stadtteil Schlebusch | 13-18 Uhr |
| Sun 29 November | Lünen | Teilbereiche Lünen-Mitte und Lünen-Nord (u. a. Langestraße, Marktstraße, Willy-Brandt-Platz, Münsterstraße) | 13-18 Uhr |
| Sun 20 December | Marl | Einkaufszentrum in Marl-Mitte (laut Lageplan) | 13-18 Uhr |
| Sun 13 December | Moers | Moers-Mitte | 13-18 Uhr |
| Sun 29 November | Mönchengladbach | Stadtteil Rheindahlen-Mitte (Mühlentorplatz, St.-Helena-Platz, Kleiner Driesch u. a.) | 13-18 Uhr |
| Sun 13 December | Mönchengladbach | Stadtteil Gladbach (Hindenburgstraße zwischen Europaplatz und Alter Markt, Bismarckstraße u. a.) | 13-18 Uhr |
| Sun 13 December | Mönchengladbach | Stadtteil Rheydt (Hauptstraße, Markt, Marktstraße, Friedrich-Ebert-Straße u. a.) | 13-18 Uhr |
| Sun 29 November | Neuss | Innenstadt | 13-18 Uhr |
| Sun 6 December | Oberhausen | Stadtteil Schmachtendorf | 13-18 Uhr |
| Sun 13 December | Oberhausen | Neue Mitte (Einkaufszentrum an der Centroallee) | 13-18 Uhr |
| Sun 29 November | Paderborn | Innenstadt innerhalb des Inneren Rings | 13-18 Uhr |
| Sun 6 December | Paderborn | Stadtbezirk Schloß Neuhaus (Residenzstraße, Schloßstraße, Bielefelder Straße, Hatzfelder Platz) | 13-18 Uhr |
| Sun 13 December | Recklinghausen | Altstadt (innerhalb des Walls) | 13-18 Uhr |
Prepared by Radif Partners · Method · acts and ordinances checked on 29 October 2026
Advent is when the sixteen states differ most. Saxony, Berlin, Brandenburg and Saxony-Anhalt allow all four Advent Sundays, within limits: Berlin bars Christmas Eve on a Sunday, and Brandenburg allows no more than two days within four weeks. North Rhine-Westphalia allows only one Advent Sunday town-wide, Thuringia either the first or the second. Bavaria and Rhineland-Palatinate bar only the Advent Sundays in December; in 2026 the first Advent Sunday falls on 29 November 2026 and is therefore possible there. Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Saarland allow only the first Advent Sunday in December. Baden-Württemberg, Bremen, Hamburg, Hesse, Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein bar every Advent Sunday. That Advent is no free pass was decided by the Federal Constitutional Court in 2009, when it struck down Berlin’s rule opening all four Advent Sundays. The table below shows the position for 2026 state by state.
The four Advent Sundays of 2026 in every state
| State | 1. Advent Sun 29 November | 2. Advent Sun 6 December | 3. Advent Sun 13 December | 4. Advent Sun 20 December |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baden-Württemberg | no | no | no | no |
| Bavaria | yes | no | no | no |
| Berlin | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Brandenburg | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Bremen | no | no | no | no |
| Hamburg | no | no | no | no |
| Hesse | no | no | no | no |
| Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania | yes | no | no | no |
| Lower Saxony | no | no | no | no |
| North Rhine-Westphalia | yes, limited | yes, limited | yes, limited | yes, limited |
| Rhineland-Palatinate | yes | no | no | no |
| Saarland | yes | no | no | no |
| Saxony | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Saxony-Anhalt | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Schleswig-Holstein | no | no | no | no |
| Thuringia | yes, limited | yes, limited | no | no |
“Yes, limited” means in North Rhine-Westphalia that a whole town may release only one of the four Sundays, and in Thuringia that only the first or the second qualifies. In Brandenburg and Saxony spacing rules cap the number even though each single Sunday is allowed.
2027: the first Advent Sunday in November
In 2027 the first Advent Sunday is 28 November 2027 and the fourth 19 December 2027. Because the first again falls in November, it remains releasable in Bavaria and Rhineland-Palatinate. Christmas Eve 2027 is a Friday and plays no part in the Sunday rules.
| State | 1. Advent Sun 28 November | 2. Advent Sun 5 December | 3. Advent Sun 12 December | 4. Advent Sun 19 December |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baden-Württemberg | no | no | no | no |
| Bavaria | yes | no | no | no |
| Berlin | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Brandenburg | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Bremen | no | no | no | no |
| Hamburg | no | no | no | no |
| Hesse | no | no | no | no |
| Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania | yes | no | no | no |
| Lower Saxony | no | no | no | no |
| North Rhine-Westphalia | yes, limited | yes, limited | yes, limited | yes, limited |
| Rhineland-Palatinate | yes | no | no | no |
| Saarland | yes | no | no | no |
| Saxony | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Saxony-Anhalt | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Schleswig-Holstein | no | no | no | no |
| Thuringia | yes, limited | yes, limited | no | no |
Check an Advent Sunday in your state
Bavaria, Sunday, 29 November 2026
Can be released
| Maximum per year | 4 |
| Opening hours | between 10:00 and 18:00, 5 hours at most |
| Possible Sundays 2026 | 44 / 52 |
| Who releases | the municipality, by ordinance |
More on the states with the most Advent dates: Saxony and Berlin. The 2009 judgment in full: Federal Constitutional Court, judgment of 1 December 2009, 1 BvR 2857/07 (Advent Sundays in Berlin).