Weihnachtsmarkt Gives Every Day of Its Weekend a Different Ticket, and All of It Goes to the Sophienburg

The Sophienburg Museum & Archives opens its Christmas market tonight, Thursday, November 19, with a Gala at the New Braunfels Convention & Civic Center. The market itself then runs Friday through Sunday, November 20 to 22, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. General admission is $15.

Each day has its own ticketed event with its own start time and crowd, and most of those tickets include a pass to the market floor. You can shop on the $15 ticket alone. The add-on events are how the Sophienburg turns that weekend into what it calls its biggest annual fundraiser.

Tonight's Gala Comes With the Whole Weekend

The Gala runs from 6 to 9 p.m. tonight. It includes dinner, a full bar, live music from the Dirty River Boys, and shopping with more than 60 artisans and vendors before the market opens to the public. The dress code is "business casual, holiday chic."

The Gala ticket also gets you into the market on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. If you like to scout the booths on the first night and come back later for the ornament you kept thinking about, that matters. The Downtown New Braunfels event listing has the same details.

Everything happens at the Civic Center, 375 S. Castell Ave. The Sophienburg describes the market as "a German-style Christmas Market with a Texas Twist," with German collectibles and ornaments, decorations, specialty items, gifts, apparel and antiques.

Friday Through Sunday, Each Morning and Afternoon Has Its Own Event

After the Gala, the add-on events take turns through the weekend. No two of them overlap.

Each event is aimed at a different part of the day. The Brunch is a Friday-morning outing, and its ticket covers the rest of the day on the market floor. Kaffeeklatsch takes its name from the German for "coffee chatter." This year's class has guests build a seasonal arrangement with butterscotch poms and chrysanthemums and take it home. It is recommended for ages 16 and up.

Saturday morning is set up for families. A Breakfast With Santa purchase covers one seated child and one standing adult. Any other adults in the group need a $15 market ticket. In practice, the Santa breakfast is a market ticket with a different starting point.

Saturday afternoon's Mahjong session is open play, so you need to already know American Mahjong. Players bring their own NMJL card because only a few extras will be on hand. For newer players, Serving Up Mahjong of New Braunfels also runs a Mahjong 101 course. The Holiday Tea on Sunday afternoon closes the weekend with tea sandwiches, scones with jam, desserts and pots of loose-leaf tea.

Tickets for every event, including general admission, are sold through the Sophienburg's Weihnachtsmarkt ticket page.

The Newest Additions Came From Local Hosts

The two afternoon events are recent additions. The Herald-Zeitung reported that Mahjong and an afternoon English tea both debuted at the 2025 market. Mahjong was hosted by Serving Up Mahjong and 4 Blondes Mahjong. The tea was hosted by Austin English Tea Company.

According to the same Herald-Zeitung story, Serving Up Mahjong grew out of Amanda Reed's love of games. Reed is a former teacher who learned Mahjong about a year before the 2025 market. She told the paper why she accepted the invitation:

"This was right up my alley knowing it would be able to help the Sophienburg Museum and the local heritage in New Braunfels, and add in Mahjong and add in fun holiday spirit, it was a no-brainer, absolutely yes."

The tea's route to the market started locally too. The Herald-Zeitung reported that Sarah Olano, who started Austin English Tea Company in 2011, worked with Gruene Tea Haus on an English tea. There she met an event coordinator, and that connection led to the Sophienburg and an invitation to Weihnachtsmarkt. Olano told the paper, "I love how much people talk out there and how they pass on things and you can quickly become known for something when it's a small town."

Both of this year's afternoon events are back on the 2026 schedule, Mahjong on Saturday and the Holiday Tea on Sunday. Each new event gives one more group of people a reason to buy a ticket.

The Market Began in Half a Ballroom in 1988

The current layout is built up from a small start. The Sophienburg says its first market, in 1988, used only the ballroom half of the Civic Center. The museum describes that first year as "a rousing success" and says the market has "grown and expanded through the years" while keeping the Christmas traditions "handed down from our German ancestors."

Today the market has more than 60 artisans and vendors and fills the Civic Center for three days, plus the Gala night before. The Herald-Zeitung's November 2026 events roundup lists it for November 20 through 22, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., among the month's holiday events.

The market also lands in a busy stretch of the local holiday calendar. It follows November's Wurstfest road closures, and Thanksgiving week starts the day after it closes, followed by Bulverde's Thanksgiving weekend events and Gruene's big holiday Saturday on December 5.

Where the Proceeds Go on West Coll Street

According to the Sophienburg, every dollar from the market supports museum operations and educational programming. The museum ties the event to its mission of "Creating Connections and Enriching Lives through the Power of History."

The museum is at 401 W. Coll Street. It is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and closed Sunday and Monday. Archives research is by appointment. Admission is $10 for adults, $5 for students 13 to 18, and $3 for children 6 to 12. Members and children under 6 get in free.

The museum's current exhibit gives you a reason to stop by on a weekday after the market weekend. The Herald-Zeitung reported that Old Glory Stories, an exhibit of New Braunfels flags and the museum's related collection, would stay on display through spring 2027. The Civic Center is where you buy the ornaments, and the museum on West Coll is where the money goes. You can see more of what goes on around town in our New Braunfels neighborhood guide.

Whether you're at the Gala tonight or just picking up a $15 ticket on Saturday, the team at Sunrise Realty Group enjoys seeing New Braunfels traditions like this one keep growing. If you've ever wondered what your own New Braunfels home might be worth before next year's market, get your instant home valuation and we'll walk you through the numbers.