Bronner's Christmas Wonderland (stylized BRONNER'S CHRISTmas WONDERLAND) is a retail store in

Frankenmuth, Michigan Frankenmuth ( ) is a city in Saginaw County, Michigan, Saginaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 4,987 at the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census. The city is surrounded by Frankenmuth Township, Michigan, Frankenmuth To ...

, that promotes itself as the "World's Largest Christmas Store". Designed with an Alpine

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

(see

chalet A chalet (pronounced in British English; in American English usually ), also called Swiss chalet, is a type of building or house, typical of the Alpine region in Europe. It is made of wood, with a heavy, gently sloping roof and wide, well-su ...

), the building is in size with landscaped grounds covering . Outside the entrance are three outdoor

Santa Claus Santa Claus (also known as Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle or Santa) is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring gifts during the late evening and overnight hours on Chris ...

's and a

snowman A snowman is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic snow sculpture of a man often built in regions with sufficient snowfall and is a common winter tradition. In many places, typical snowmen consist of three large snowballs of different sizes wit ...

. Inside the store, there are approximately 800 animated

figurine A figurine (a diminutive form of the word ''figure'') or statuette is a small, three-dimensional sculpture that represents a human, deity or animal, or, in practice, a pair or small group of them. Figurines have been made in many media, with cla ...

s. Some 100,000 lights illuminate Bronner's Christmas Lane. Michigan designated Bronner's as an "Embassy for Michigan Tourism" in 1976. Bronner's employs over 500 people during the holiday season (between October and Christmas). Founded in 1945 by Wally Bronner, Bronner's Christmas Wonderland is visited annually by over two million people, with the weekend after

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in October and November in the United States, Canada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Germany. It is also observed in the Australian territory ...

being the busiest of the year with over 50,000 visitors. Its inventory exceeds 50,000 items, including

Christmas ornament Christmas ornaments, baubles, globes, "Christmas bulbs", or "Christmas bubbles" are decoration items, usually to decorate Christmas trees. These decorations may be woven, blown (glass or plastic), molded (ceramic or metal), carved from woo ...

s, artificial

Christmas tree A Christmas tree is a decorated tree, usually an evergreen pinophyta, conifer, such as a spruce, pine or fir, associated with the celebration of Christmas. It may also consist of an artificial tree of similar appearance. The custom was deve ...

Christmas lights Christmas lights (also known as fairy lights, festive lights or string lights) are lights often used for decoration in celebration of Christmas, often on display throughout the Christmas season including Advent and Christmastide. The custom ...

Nativity scene In the Christian tradition, a nativity scene (also known as a manger scene, crib, crèche ( or ), or in Italian ''presepio'' or ''presepe'', or Bethlehem) is the special exhibition, particularly during the Christmastide, Christmas season, of ar ...

s, Christmas decorations, collectibles, and similar goods. Each year, approximately 600,000 glass ornaments, of

garland A garland is a decorative braid, knot or wreath of flowers, leaves, or other material. Garlands can be worn on the head or around the neck, hung on an inanimate object, or laid in a place of cultural or religious importance. In contemporary times ...

, 150,000

postcard A postcard or post card is a piece of thick paper or thin cardboard, typically rectangular, intended for writing and mailing without an envelope. Non-rectangular shapes may also be used but are rare. In some places, one can send a postcard f ...

s and 86,000 light sets (nearly of light cords) are sold. Bronner's has the exclusive right to sell Precious Moments Christmas-themed figurines. With the government of

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

's permission and in keeping with the German theme of Frankenmuth itself, Bronner's built a replica of the Oberndorf, Austria, ''Silent Night Memorial Chapel'' in 1992 as a tribute to the Christmas hymn "

Silent Night "Silent Night" () is a popular Christmas carol, composed in 1818 by Franz Xaver Gruber to lyrics by Joseph Mohr in Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria. It was declared an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO The United Nations Educati ...

". Wally Bronner, 81, died on April 1, 2008. Bronner's was vandalized on Christmas Day in 2010, with some 75 store displays damaged or destroyed. Five men pleaded guilty to the crime, which involved an estimated $40,000 in damage. In 2018, there were over 350 decorated Christmas trees inside and products from 70 countries in the 320,000 square foot building. Irene Bronner died on October 16, 2022, at the age of 95.

References

External links

Bronner's website

{{coord, 43, 18, 50, N, 83, 44, 13, W, display=title Buildings and structures in Michigan Buildings and structures in Saginaw County, Michigan Tourist attractions in Saginaw County, Michigan Christmas in the United States Christmas economics Retail companies established in 1945 1945 establishments in Michigan Christmas organizations Companies based in Frankenmuth, Michigan