KaDeWe

KaDeWe

The KaDeWe – Department Store of the West

The KaDeWe is not only the second largest luxury department store in Europe (approx. 60,000 sqm sales area), but also the most visited sight in Berlin after the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag.
The department store carries the finest, most expensive goods for women, men, children, household and interior design on eight floors. Brand-name products from Versace, Prada, Gucci, Hugo Boss, Karl Lagerfeld, Chanel, Ravensburger, Steiff, Teufel, Samsung or Rolex and Cartier await luxury-hungry shoppers.
Those who prefer to indulge in noble pleasures go directly to the gourmet floor on the sixth floor, which is world famous.
KaDeWe is also known for its comprehensive customer service, which ranges from free gift wrapping to luggage porter services and childcare.

History of the store

When Jewish merchant Adolf Jandorf began planning KaDeWe in 1905, he and six other department stores were already catering to the demands of “ordinary people.” Now he longed to offer something for Berlin’s upper class, whom he wanted to lure to a new consumer palace by selling exquisite goods, some of which were unknown. He commissioned architect Johann Emil Schaudt to build the store and opened his “Kaufhaus des Westens” on March 27, 1907, on Tauentzienstrasse at the convenient Wittenbergplatz. (Which, by the way, was voted one of Berlin’s 30 most beautiful subway stations in 2022!)
As early as 1927, Hermann Tietz OHG took over Jandorf’s company and with it KaDeWe. The group was taken over by the National Socialists in 1933.

expropriated. Subsequently, the ownership changed several times until today.

The department store was rebuilt and expanded several times during its existence. Only in November 2022, the last major reconstruction was declared finished and celebrated in time for the 115th birthday of the house with a first-class party. Especially the escalators in noble new wood cladding inspire architecture fans since the end of 2021.

Location in Schöneberg

In 1907, Wittenbergplatz was still located in the then independent city of Charlottenburg, which – like Schöneberg – was incorporated in 1920. During the Berlin territorial reform of 1938, many district boundaries were straightened, so that the KaDeWe location counted from this time to Schöneberg.

Visitor volume

The department store recorded the largest number of visitors shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989: On some days, up to 200.000 former GDR citizens flooded the posh oasis in search of the treasures that had been kept from them for so long and that symbolized the exquisite West Berlin lifestyle for them. In 2022, an average of 30,000 visitors were recorded daily. During the Christmas season, there are sometimes as many as 100,000.

Opening Hours and Directions From Hotel Schöneberg, you can reach KaDeWe – Tauentzienstrasse 21-24 – by bus (Richard-von-Weizsäcker-Platz to U Kurfürstenstrasse) and train (U1 to Wittenbergplatz) in about 20 minutes.

Opening hours: Mon-Thurs 10.00-20.00 Fr 10.00-21.00 Sat 10.00-20.00 The various restaurants of the house are open longer, sometimes until midnight.