KaDeWe

Berlin's most famous trademark department store is KaDeWe (Kaufhaus des Westens) or department store of the West. It is Berlin's shopping paradise, a favourite, easy to spot landmark on Wittenberg Platz. With 60,000sqm, the equivalent of nine football fields, 380,000 articles, 40,000 visitors a day, this is the legendary, largest department store on the continent. The KaDeWe has survived the turmoil of 20th century German history unscathed. Beginning its commercial life in 1907, the store was a constant Berlin presence, its highs and lows reflecting those of the city. From World War I to the Golden Twenties consumer metropolis, the Depression and Nazi years and World War II - the Cold War and the 1950s "Wirtschaftswunder" and finally German reunification in 1989. Through all the turbulence, KaDeWe retained its aura, somewhere between consumer temple and Berlin institution intact. The store's 100th anniversary was a grand occasion celebrated in its 500sqm foyer with a gigantic cake. Amongst guests and celebrities was Berlin's Mayor, Klaus Wowereit.