Elegant Christmas markets around URW shopping centres

Key Facts

Individual Christmas houses of different sizes with stylish interiors.
Indoor and outdoor sales areas and promotional opportunities
Seasonal presentation of gastronomic specialities, gift and decorative articles

Once a year, our centres are transformed into magical Christmas worlds. Customers are immersed in a special shopping experience where lights, glitter and fragrances put them in the Christmas spirit – an annual must for international customers. During November and December, the entrances to the shops are lit up with fairy lights, Advent decorations and Christmas tree ornaments. From the world’s largest Secret Santa tree to themed Christmas worlds and Disney-style Christmas parades, each of our Christmas markets offers unique highlights.

Westfield Centro Oberhausen – Three themed Christmas worlds as an international tourist attraction

The Christmas market at Westfield Centro Oberhausen has become one of the most successful in the whole of NRW. The traditional, cosy mountain Christmas market, the colourful Father Christmas village and the fairy-tale Secret Santa market have brought Westfield Centro’s visitor numbers to record levels. Every year, the around 145 huts of the Christmas markets lure visitors into three entirely different themed and authentic worlds. They extend around the mall from the entrance at Platz der Guten Hoffnung to Luise-Albertz-Platz.

The prominent location promises: no junctions or side entrances with weaker visitor frequency. But that’s not all: the accompanying and extraordinarily positive media coverage (including TV) guarantees great visitor interest – also internationally. Since 1996, the Westfield Centro Christmas Market has traditionally attracted tourists from all over North Rhine-Westphalia, the neighbouring federal states and even neighbouring countries such as Belgium, the Netherlands or England. In recent years, around 52 million guests strolled along the lovingly decorated stalls, including many tourist visitors who came to the Westfield Centro in around 32,000 coaches.

The Christmas market on the Westfield Centro Oberhausen promenade attracts an international audience with its culinary delicacies and Christmas decorations.

Ruhr Park in Bochum – Christmas world with festive Christmas parade and colourful entertainment.

Bochum’s Christmas paradise, conveniently located at the Bochum motorway junction (A40/A43), is an annual attraction for Christmas shopping for many families. The open-air passages of the Ruhr Park with their elegant twinkling fairy lights on the canopies of the shops provide the perfect stage: from the opening of the market in November, visitors can be enchanted by the Christmas parade and typical American carols – the ice princess, Father Christmas, Shoppy and her friends elaborately costumed in “Disney style” are a real highlight for young and old.

But “clear the stage” is the motto especially for gift articles. Seasonal brands and products can be found in festively decorated huts in the middle of the shops. Directly in the bustling arcades, which are visited by 10 million people every year, traditional wooden and porcelain decorations, exclusive smoked and grilled goods as well as fragrant mulled wine and roasted almonds set the mood for the most wonderful time of the year.

In addition to delicious treats, there are great handicrafts and hands-on activities, an ice skating rink and real reindeer to see – a new surprise every year. Shoppers who are eager to buy are especially happy about the stress-free gift shopping here: the Christmas market offers a wrapping service and the shops open their doors as early as 9 a.m. on all Advent Saturdays.

bochum 03.12.2016 ruhrpark - unexpected christmas — The festively decorated open-air arcades and elegantly lit huts of Ruhr Park Bochum help visitors get in the mood for Christmas shopping.

Weihnachten im Ruhr Park Bochum — In the Ruhr Park, the Disney-style parade with lifelike gingerbread men, the iconic seven dwarfs and other well-known fairy-tale faces is sure to spread Christmas cheer.

In front of the Paunsdorf Center Leipzig, little visitors enjoy a train ride through a frosty winter fairytale.

An indoor attraction: the carousel in the Paunsdorf Center Leipzig attracts numerous shopping enthusiasts to the mall.

The spectacular light installations and quaint Christmas huts in front of the Pasing Arcaden add to the cosy charm of the Christmas village in Munich's west.

Paunsdorf Center in Leipzig – Secret Santa tree and ice rink in a magical winter wonderland

The Paunsdorf Center is also very festive from mid-November onwards. This is when the mall in Leipzig’s east kicks off the Christmas season every year. The festive decorations and especially the world’s largest walk-in Secret Santa tree are reminiscent of a winter fairy tale come true. In the atrium in the middle of the centre, a 14-metre tree, including a tree house, rises into the air. A 20-metre-long ramp leads to the inside of the artificial tree. It is a hive of activity: In several small workshops you can watch elves at work.

Every year, there are also great activities that invite visitors to experience something special. In past years, life-size Playmobil figures provided a vividly arranged backdrop for a social media photo competition, and in the Christmas bakery, young and old alike could make and decorate delicious biscuits under professional guidance.

And once the children are taken care of, shopping-loving parents and grandparents plunged into the hustle and bustle in front of the centre. The spectacular and individually designed Christmas houses with culinary delicacies and unique gift articles attract numerous guests. Cosy huts invite you to linger. In addition to a children’s carousel and a miniature railway for the little ones, there is another visitor magnet in the P.C. car park: Here, thousands of visitors sled across the up to 660 square metre ice skating rink. In 2015, even the Leipzig Icefighters ice hockey team demonstrated their skills here on selected days and attracted sports enthusiasts in particular: The professionals showed interested visitors the basics of the sport.

Pasing Arcaden in Munich – The ” Santa Claus’ House” at the classic Christmas market

A village in the city: on Paseo Platz directly in front of the Pasing Arcaden, the Pasing Arcaden Christmas Village opens every year, a cosy little town of around 20,000 square metres in the middle of the hip metropolis. Visitors to the traditional market are particularly delighted by festive tree decorations and the oversized, spectacularly illuminated Christmas figures. In 2019, around 150 traders set up shop in the seasonal sales huts. They also used distribution and tasting events to introduce customers to their range of products from gingerbread to toys.

The village centre of one of the first Christmas markets in the west of Munich offers a unique highlight. The heated Santa’s House invites young and old to a relaxed get-together with a hot chocolate or mulled wine in frosty temperatures. The Christmas programme in the Santa house in particular increases visitor frequency: throughout the Christmas season, artists here enchant their audiences with festive sounds or a magician’s show. Craft fans can make their own decorations or gifts such as candle holders and Christmas cards from various materials in workshops.

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