Retail therapy at KaDeWe

Comfort Shopping at KaDeWe: Seven Floors Where Nobody Asks Why

The Kaufhaus des Westens stands on Tauentzienstraße in Schöneberg, directly above the Wittenbergplatz underground station. Adolf Jandorf opened it on March 27, 1907, back then in the independent city of Charlottenburg. In 1943, a plane crashed into the upper floors, the building burned out and was rebuilt in stages until all seven floors were completed in 1956. Today it covers around 60,000 square meters, and the building is considered the largest department store on the European mainland.

For a bad day, this size is the real advantage. You can wander around for hours without running into anyone you know, and without anyone wanting to know why you’re trying perfume on a Tuesday afternoon. Brands are distributed on a shop-in-shop basis, from Hermès to Chanel and Dior to Tiffany.

Beauty Lounges, Alterations Studio, and The Sixth Floor

Things get more specific on the third floor. This is where the Beauty Lounges are located, where treatments from international skincare brands such as Dermalogica, La Prairie, or Shiseido can be booked directly with the respective brands. One floor down is Laila Laouva’s alterations studio, which customizes and individualizes garments. At customer service on the fifth floor, there is a free cloakroom and luggage storage, and a guided store tour for up to ten people can also be requested there, although this is subject to a fee.

The most famous part of the building is the sixth floor, known by everyone simply as The Sixth. This gourmet floor features around 35,000 products, plus counters and restaurants ranging from oyster bars to wine selections. Sitting alone at a counter up there doesn’t stand out, as many people do it. Purchases of 500 Euros or more are shipped free of charge within Germany, so you don’t have to carry bags home.