WILMA Shoppen

WILMA Shoppen: The Shopping Center on Berlin’s Oldest Pedestrian Zone

WILMA Shoppen is located on Wilmersdorfer Straße in Charlottenburg, in one of Berlin’s oldest pedestrian zones. The building was opened on September 26, 2007, then still under the name Wilmersdorfer Arcaden. It was built by mfi AG and Ivanhoé Cambridge for approximately 200 million Euros, incorporating the gutted building of the former SinnLeffers department store into the new construction. Inside, a roughly 180-meter long, semicircular shopping street extends over three levels, making orientation easy. Since September 2007, the sculpture Wilma, which later gave the center its name, has sat on the roof. The connectivity is excellent: The U-Bahn station Wilmersdorfer Straße is on the U7, Bismarckstraße on the U2, and the S5 and S7 stop at Charlottenburg station. Bus lines 309, M49, X34, and X49 also stop in the immediate vicinity, and those arriving by car will find 300 parking spaces in the multi-story car park with an entrance on Schillerstraße.

Market Hall, Citizens’ Office, and a Center for the Neighborhood

After about two years of renovation during ongoing operation, the building received its current name on November 12, 2020. The old name was too long and geographically misleading, as the center is in Charlottenburg and not in Wilmersdorf. With the renovation, the facade and store layout were renewed, and around 20 new lease agreements were signed, including Decathlon as an anchor tenant on approximately 3,000 square meters. Today, around 100 shops are spread over 32,100 square meters of retail space, from Edeka, dm, and Müller for daily needs to H&M and Marc O’Polo, as well as Thalia and Douglas. The centerpiece of the new concept is in the basement: a market hall of over 1,000 square meters, where food and gastronomy come together, including Fish-Klub, Burgerzimmer, and PAT-A-TAT. Furthermore, WILMA Shoppen is not just a pure shopping center. The building houses an external office of the Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf Citizens’ Office, several doctor’s offices, and a fitness studio. Around 6.7 million people visited here in 2024 alone.