KaDeWe

Christmas Decorations at KaDeWe on Tauentzienstraße

KaDeWe is located at Tauentzienstraße 21-24, directly on Wittenbergplatz, where U-Bahn lines U1, U2, and U3 stop. From late November to early January, the Christmas market on Wittenbergplatz sets up its white pagoda tents between the department store and the U-Bahn station right outside the door. So, anyone strolling through the market will find themselves directly in front of the main entrance. The building also includes a multi-story car park on Passauer Straße with around 700 parking spaces and direct access to the sales floors.

The Kaufhaus des Westens was opened on March 27, 1907. Businessman Adolf Jandorf commissioned architect Johann Emil Schaudt with the design, and the store started with five floors and 24,000 square meters of space. In 1943, a major fire following a plane crash destroyed the building; reconstruction began in 1950, and all seven floors were restored by 1956. Following the most recent renovation, overseen by OMA architecture firm led by Rem Koolhaas, it now boasts over 60,000 square meters of retail space.

Christmas Ornaments and Decorated Trees on the Ground Floor

Each year, the store bases its Christmas decorations on a new theme. In 2025, the season ran under the title “The Most Joyful Season,” featuring floating holiday symbols in the beauty section just behind the entrance, motifs from large gift boxes, glowing stars, gingerbread men, and candy canes, as well as two decorated trees over five meters tall on the ground floor. In 2020, over 4,000 Christmas elements were hung throughout the store for the display, and it also featured the tallest tree in the store’s history at 7.5 meters, adorned with 1,500 glass baubles and 3,600 LED lights.

The decorations themselves can be purchased one floor up, in the interior design department, which features household items, porcelain, and table settings. One floor above that is the gourmet food department, where ingredients for the Christmas menu can be found. A figure from the store itself illustrates how busy it gets during these weeks: on ordinary days, more than 50,000 people visit, while during the Christmas season, up to 100,000 arrive. Since mid-2024, KaDeWe has been wholly owned by the Thai Central Group.