“What’s open on Christmas Day in Frankfurt?”, I have just been asked. After having done some research on this, I can tell you, “Not much.”

Most museums are closed (except for the Jewish Museum), the ice-skating rink is closed, and shops and markets are closed. A leisurely stroll through Sachsenhausen and along the Main River are all I could recommend. The Frankfurt Tourism Office is closed on 25 December as well.

If you have a 10-layover at the Frankfurt Airport, you might be better off staying at the airport.

If you like organ music, you could try visiting a church in the morning (service often starts at 10 a.m.).

As with most local families, we are always home on Christmas Day. We usually have international family over for the holidays. We cook turkey (American style) and have our share of drinks (German style). Once we are stuffed on food, we might take a walk around the neighborhood, which qualifies us then for a late afternoon nap. If it snows on top of all that bliss, we could not ask for more.

Christmas Day is very quiet family day in Germany.