West Berlin - Kurfürstendam, Breitscheidplatz
WITTENBERGPLATZ, KADEWE, TAUENTZEINSTRASSE

The area around the avenue Kurfürstendamm and the square Breitscheidplatz was the city center of West Berlin, and still is the center of the west part of Berlin. In this area, just west of Tiergarten, you can find large de luxe hotels, large department stores, brand stores, cinemas, some skysrapers, restaurants, churches and a lot of traffic. Much of it you couldn't find in the East, but today it is equal since the wall is there no more.

Breitscheidplatz:

This square, part of the Charlottenburg district, is where you find Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedäschnichtkirche (ruin church currently under reconstruction), Europa-Center, Zoofenster, department stores and some futuristic monuments. This is also where the famous avenue Kurfürstendamm begins. The place was heavily bombed in 1943, and was rebuilt in 1947. It then took the new name Breitscheidplatz after Rudolf Breitscheid, a social-democrat who was killed in the concentration camp. The gate to the famous Tiergarten zoo is closed to Breitscheidplatz.

Breitscheidplatz, looking towards Kurfürstendamm and Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche.

Breitscheidplatz with World fountain, Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche and Zoofenster.

Zoofenster, a brand new skyscraper that includes a Waldorf Astoria Hotel. It is 118m tall.

The entrance of Waldorf Astoria Berlin.

Zoofenster has 32 floors and was bult between 2008 and 2012.

Zoofenster seen from Breitscheidplatz. It stands at the site where the Romanisches Café, a famous meetingplace for artists, was before the bombings.

Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche is a memorial church on the west part of Breitscheidplatz. The octagonal modern tower to the right is part of the church. the church itself is occasionally hidden behind the skyscraper like white scaffolds to the right. Behind it is a ruin church that was partly destroyed in 1943 bombings, but it was currently under refurbishment unfortunately (August 2012) so the beautiful church couldn't be seen behind the scaffoldings.

Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche was built in 1895. Before it was bombed the height was 113m. The new tower to the left was added in 1961 and was designed by Egon Eiermann. Its octagonal shapåe and the blue toned glass make it a very rare church.

Beneath the ruin church (right, under repair) and the added tower (left).

This is how the ruin church looks normally.

Commerzbank's circular office building.

The modernist World fountain at Breitscheidplatz, just in front of Europa-Center, on a hot summer day.

Europa-Center, containing a shopping center and the 86m tall highrise with the revolving Mercedes-Benz logo on the top. It was built in 1965 and became a symbol of the capitalism in the west in contrary to the communism in the east.

The revolving Mercedes logo on top of the 86m, 21-storey highrise in Europea-Center, a famous symbol for West Berlin's commercialism. It was the first highrise built in Berlin.

Saturn electronics department store in Europa-Center.

Europa-Center looks sometimes a bit empty, but there are around 100 stores and 2 courtyards.

Inside Europa-Center. The "Clock of Flowing Time" (Uhr der fließenden Zeit) in the western courtyard portrays the passing of hours and minutes in twelve-hour cycles. Globules of coloured water flow up and down a tower through a system of communicating tubes in such a way as to display the current time. The system is emptied every day at 1am and 1pm and the cycle begins again. Source:Wikipedia

Peek & Cloppenburg 's (P&C) postmodern department store at Breitscheidplatz.

A yellow double decker stops ast Breitscheidplatz.

Berlin sculpture and Europa-Center seen from Taunzienstrasse.

Wittenbergplatz and Tauntzienstrasse:

This futuristic "Berlin" sculpture between Breitscheidplatz and Wittenbergplatz can be seen in many travel books. During my visit in 2012 it was hidden behind construction works unfortunately. It was made to celebrate the 750th anniversary of Berlin in 1987. The twists represent the turmoil of the city; separated but still linked.

Kaufhaus des Westens, KaDeWe, the famous 8-storey department store in West Berlin, is located on Tauntzienstrasse at Wittenbergplatz, near the beginning of Kurfürstendamm.

KaDeWe is the second largest department store in Europe. It has 60 000 m². There is a winter garden restaurant on the top. It is part of the Schöneberg district, at the border to Charlottenburg. The famous architect Emil Schaudt designed the store, and it opened in 1907. Much of the store was destroyed in the 1943 bombings, but it partly reopened in 1950 and fully open in 1957.

The entrance of KaDeWe. Just when I was about to enter the department store, the guard told me it was about to close, and I never had the opportunity to get back.

Wittenbergplatz, part of the Schöneberg district, looking towards Breitscheidplatz in the Charlottenburg district, and the beginning of Ku-damm.

The historic architecture of the Wittenbergplatz U-bahn station.

Kurfürstendamm:

Kurfürstendamm, often dubbed Ku'damm, is the most important avenue in West Berlin. It reminds of Champs-Elysées in Paris and features fashionable brand stores and luxorious hotels. It begins at Breitscheidplatz in the Charlottenburg district and borders the Wilmersdorf district.

Stores like H&M and Zara can be found on Ku-damm.

Ku'damm is the Champs-Elysèes of Berlin.

Sightseeing tours from this old Barkas, a popular van in the DDR.

Karstadt department store in Ku-damm.

Swissôtel and Hôtel Concorde, 2 new de luxe hotel with sweeping design at Ku-damm.

Hôtel Concorde Berlin.

Café Kranzler, a classic Berliner café for artists, and Neues Kranzler Eck, a modern glass building with a mall.

Neues Kranzler Eck, a striking modern shopping mall in glass designed by Helmut Jahn, at Kuf-damm.

BMW store.

Ku'damm Karree, a 102m 23-storey tall office building from 1974, behind Maison de France.

Ku-damm is the boulevard that was known for all the de luxe shopping and commercialism in the west.

An egg shaped sculpure at the intersection Uhlandstrasse/Ku-damm.

Europa-Center and Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche (under repair behind hte scaffolds), seen from Breitscheidplatz at Kurfürstendamm.

Savignyplatz.