Markt

Markt is a German noun meaning market, marketplace, or fair. In everyday usage it can refer to a place where goods are bought and sold, or to the broader concept of a market as an economic system, such as the goods market, labor market, or financial market. In many German-speaking towns the central public square is called a Marktplatz, and weekly or seasonal markets are held on the Markt or Marktplatz.

Historically, the term is linked to town rights. In medieval and early modern Central Europe, towns could be granted a Marktrecht (market rights), enabling regular markets and fairs that contributed to local commerce and growth. The word Markt is cognate with Dutch markt and the English market, reflecting shared Germanic roots for public commerce.

In toponymy, Markt appears in several place names to indicate historic market rights. Notable examples include Marktoberdorf and Marktredwitz in Bavaria, and Markt Schwaben in Upper Bavaria. The shorter form Markt is also part of longer names and historical districts.

Today Markt remains common in German usage as both a concrete place and a metaphor for a market economy, and it appears in many compound terms such as Wochenmarkt (weekly market) and Marktwirtschaft (market economy).