Kaufhaus des Westens
Kaufhaus des Westens, or KaDeWe, is the second largest department store in Europe, exceeded only by Harrods in London. KaDeWe offers hundreds of well-known brands and over 380,000 individual items. The company employs around 2,000 people that serve the near 50,000 guests that visit each day.
The current store has seven floors that add up to 60,000 metres of selling space. Each level provides different types of goods, everything from women’s clothing to gourmet food. Perhaps the most unique space is the winter garden on the top level. The one of a kind experience at Kaufhaus des Westens is well worth a trip whilst staying in a Berlin apartment.
Kaufhaus de Westens was founded in 1905 by Adolf Jandorf. The store opened two years later in March 1907 in a 24,000 square metre building built by architect Emil Schaudt on Berlin’s Tauentzienstraße, a major shopping avenue.
The ownership of Kaufhaus des Westens changed in 1927 to The Hertie Company, which caused problems come World War II, as much of The Hertie Company was under Jewish employment. The Hertie Company was indeed responsible for much of the expansion of KaDeWe, but was unable to carry out its full development plan during the war. Violence left the building with severe damage.
After much reconstruction, the reopening of the first two floors of Kaufhaus des Westens in 1950 drew in thousands of visitors. The department store became a symbol of prosperity and economic power in West Berlin. It took six more years for the full building to open. Further expansion occurred in the seventies and again in 1996 when the building was expanded to its current size with the addition of an additional floor and a restaurant.
Operating hours at Kaufhaus des Westens are Monday through Thursday from 10:00am to 8:00pm, Friday from 10:00am to 9:00pm, and Saturday from 9:30am to 8:00pm. Guests should take the Metro to Wittenbergplatz station from their self-catering apartment in Berlin and spend a day shopping and exploring the Kaufhaus des Westens.
