27 Best German Christmas Decorations You’ll Love in 2021

If you’re looking for authentic German creations for your Christmas decor, this beautiful Christian Ulbricht shepherd nutcracker features the kind of handcrafted detail that will make it a guaranteed family heirloom. Made in Germany, this nutcracker stands more than 16 inches tall. He’s carrying a shepherd’s crook and wearing traditional garb, including a cape. Under one arm, he carefully cradles a cute little lamb. This nutcracker is stout and made of wood, so he’ll only need a dusting when you unbox him each Christmas. 

Another glorious option is the Christian Ulbricht toy peddler nutcracker. At 20 inches tall, this impressive nutcracker has an armload of tiny toys and it features a working smoker.

The German countryside is dotted with quaint little towns and villages that are worth visiting say the experts at Culture Trip.  If you can’t afford to travel to one this Christmas, perhaps recreate the ambiance with this lovely wooden snowy village decoration. Populated with small wooden villagers, the buildings and surrounding streets light up with a warm holiday glow thanks to the LED lights that are positioned perfectly. 

This decorative piece is almost 20 inches long and 15 inches tall. It would be lovely on a mantle or console table during the holidays. You might also like this wooden Christmas village with tiny skiers and snowmen that has a similar feel. There are a variety of snowy village wooden advent calendars as well, so if you want something that does double duty, you might consider one of those instead.

Do you remember being a little kid and watching a German Christmas pyramid? I was mesmerized by the heat of the candles causing the impeller to spin. I still can’t get over these cool German Christmas decorations, and we think every home needs one like this. It creates an intricate dance of light and shadow, while candles illuminate the tiny scenes inside, which also move. 

Stationery angels grace the top of this pyramid which is 18 inches in height. The German design features figurines that are handpainted in careful detail. It accommodates six tiny candles, and these ones would be a perfect choice. They were also made in Germany. 

The Christmas pyramid was created in the late 1700s as a less expensive alternative to a Christmas tree, according to The German Way, in the same region where wooden nutcrackers were developed. Who knew? 

When you’re wanting to decorate your home with the German version of the jolly old elf, there aren’t too many interpretations more beautiful than this German Santa designed by artist Jim Shore. The folk art design has been hand-painted in beautiful detail and this ornament is handcrafted in high-quality stone resin. Santa’s outfit shows a quaint Bavarian town on the front, as he holds a lovely cuckoo clock and beer stein, while he smokes a long curvy pipe.

This decorative piece is quite sizeable at 6.75 inches, so it’s well suited to a mantle or grouping of candles and greens. If you want the same design in a smaller size for your tree, you can get this one that’s just 4.75 inches tall.

If authenticity is what you’re after with your German Christmas decorations, this beautiful pyramid is as real as it gets. This pretty scene of deer in the snowy forest is handmade and comes from the Ore Mountains in Saxony, Germany. The carefully crafted jigsaw work is apparent in this pyramid, which holds four candles in bases that look like carved tree trunks. This piece is one that will live on in your family for generations, so it’s well worth the extra investment.

If you’re looking for something a bit smaller and less elaborate, but one that still offers the same sweet forest feeling, this German pyramid is also made by the same artists and craftspeople.

What sweeter way to celebrate the holidays than with some German Christmas decorations that are reminiscent of the famous boys’ choirs throughout Austria and Germany? These cute wooden ornaments were designed in Germany and handpainted to reflect the innocent voices singing carols and hymns from the choir loft. They’re in traditional choir robes and hats, and they hang from a festive red chord.

These German guardian angel ornaments are also handpainted in white and gold, and because they are fairly tiny at just 1.4 to 2 inches in height, they’re perfect for smaller or more tightly packed Christmas trees. A similarly designed set features Mary and Joseph along with four nativity angels.

If you thought Kris Kringle was simply another name for Santa, you’d be wrong. It’s actually a derivation from the German Christkindl” or Christ Child, according to History.com. This German version of Santa is beautifully die cast in this iron coin bank that offers your child an interesting way to save money at a time when spending is at an all-time high. 

At nine inches tall, this coin bank is handpainted with faux aged, distressed details. It would make a wonderful part of anyone’s Christmas tradition to bring it out at the holidays as part of a larger display. 

Cuckoo clocks are one of the most coveted souvenirs for travelers to Germany, according to TripSavvy, and it’s no wonder. They’re adorable, especially if they have that Bavarian look and feature Christmas-like themes. This clever cuckoo clock is created in the classic chalet style, with a walnut wood dial and clock hands, along with a tiny walnut bird that chimes out on the half-hour and hour.

This clock is hand decorated and features a sweet scene of firewood, a sled, fir trees and more in front, along with beautifully painted details. It only needs to be reset once a week by pulling the chains until the pinecone weights are at the top. Made in Germany, this genuine cuckoo clock would make a lovely Christmas gift that could stay up throughout the year.

The Summer Meadow Chalet Cuckoo Clock is another striking German-made timepiece, and if you’re shopping on a budget, the Black Forest Chalet Cuckoo Clock would be a more affordable option.

When you’re looking to extend your German decoration theme to the outdoors, this six foot inflatable nutcracker would be a perfect addition to your porch or front yard. This majestic nutcracker is internally illuminated with four white LED lights that add a soft glow to those dark winter nights. He comes ready to install in minutes thanks to a self-inflator that plugs into any standard outlet.

If your home has a particularly tall entryway, you might want to consider this eight foot tall inflatable nutcracker instead. And you could still decorate your yard with a life size nativity as well.

While it sounds a bit frightening, there are some areas in Germany where tradition says Knecht Ruprecht or Krampus travels with Nikolaus on the 6th of December to punish all the bad boys and girls. Yikes! This somewhat frightening Christmas ornament depicts the horned beast with a bag full of naughty children on his back.

While it likely makes for a great conversation piece at Christmas it might not make the best gift unless you’re giving it to a teen who can appreciate its intent. If you’re really a Krampus aficionado, get this 7.5 foot Animatronic Krampus for your front porch.

If you were giving this ornament to someone as a gag gift, you might want to package it with this Krampus Is Coming to Town tee shirt. That’ll be guaranteed to deliver laughs.

There’s no question about it, setting the tone for your holidays with German Christmas decorations has to start with your tree. This authentic looking wooden cuckoo clock ornament is adorable and is a handmade piece directly from craftspeople located in the Ore Mountains in Saxony. The painstakingly handpainted design includes deer, fir trees and pinecones.

For a more playful take on the cuckoo clock, this little German ornament features a snowman and fawn. It’s also handmade in Germany. The Kurt Adler Deer Cuckoo Clock Ornament features the majestic buck bursting from the clock rather than a cuckoo.

If you’re looking for a truly unusual decoration that will absolutely fascinate all the kids, this German lumberjack incense smoker is going to draw them in. This cute guy looks like he’s just coming in for the holidays. Carrying wood, an axe, and his saw, he’s wearing traditional lederhosen. His natural fur beard is seriously touchable, and when burning incense, he looks as though he’s blowing out smoke from his pipe. This clever incense smoker was handcrafted in the Erzgebirge village of Olbernhau, Germany. 

The Christmas Gome Smoker is another great addition to your holiday collection, as is this Santa Incense Smoker.

Snow globes are especially popular during the holidays, and this Nutcracker snow globe from the San Francisco Music Box Company has an added surprise.  Once wound, it plays The Nutcracker Suite, music that’s synonymous with the Christmas season. With three soldiers inside the globe, and four more standing guard around the ornate base, this decor piece is intricately hand-painted and carefully detailed, so it will fascinate every person who picks it up to give it a shake. 

The Nutcracker Ballet Musical Glitter Dome features Clara and the Nutcracker around a Christmas tree. The base is highly detailed with scenes from the Nutcracker Ballet and it also plays music from the same. 

Beer steins are synonymous with Germany and if you’ve ever visited, you’d know that beer is endemic to the German culture. This beautiful Hallmark Keepsake ornament is dated 2019 and features the classic stein with an impressive stag on one side surrounded by a pine bough and holly leaf wreath. On the other side, a bear and bird’s nest are in a twig wreath. 

Hallmark has another Keepsake beer stein ornament featuring two toasting stags with another on the lid lift. This one is also dated 2019. You can still get the dated beer stein ornament from 2017 as well.

Whether you use this beautiful German beer mug for decoration, or you opt to hoist a few holiday toasts with it, it will be a beautiful addition to your German-themed decorations. This ceramic mug is just one of four in the Seasons of Germany beer stein collection. With highly detailed embossed artwork around the sides, it features a lovely winter scene with a snowy Bavarian village in the center. 

Get the other Seasons of Germany steins to match as they all look beautifully festive – one each representing Spring, Summer, and Fall. 

An bright and cheery wooden Advent calendar is one of this holiday decorations that you’ll use year after year, from the time your kids are small until long past when they’ve grown. This brightly painted Advent calendar features four famous nutcrackers – Princess Clara, the Mouse King, the Nutcracker Soldier, and Herr Drosselmeyer all characters in Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite.

With 24 drawers in which you can hide tiny treats and candy, this Advent calendar might be on you’ll hand down through the family one day. Another wooden Advent calendar features a beautifully detailed Bavarian village on top along with an LED lighted scene in the center.

This adorable Mouse King nutcracker is absolutely a perfect addition to your German Christmas decorations, but the story of the Mouse King goes back to 1810 and the written works of E.T.A. Hoffmann, the original author of The Nutcracker, according to historians at NPR. While the Mouse King has a little darker and scarier side, this nutcracker is undeniably adorable and not scary at all. 

Standing on a wedge of cheese, the Mouse King is decked out in royal regalia and holds a sword which of course has a chunk of cheese perfectly impaled. At 14 inches tall he’ll make a commanding presence on a coffee table or your mantle.