Karstadt, Berlin

Karstadt Hermannplatz

Rebuilding and extension of the department store Karstadt am Hermannplatz, Berlin – Neukölln. The building for the Karstadt Group was designed by its house architect Philipp Schaefer and built from 1927 to 1929. The building’s body towered over Hermannplatz by 32 meters. Another 24 meters, the two towers towered on Hermannplatz. These in turn were each crowned by a 15 meter high column of light. The building, with its shell-lime façade and vertical layout, was reminiscent of what was then high-rise architecture in New York. The vertical structure was particularly evident in the dark by the light strips on the building and the pillars of light on the towers.

During the war, most of the building was destroyed. A small part of the department store on the street Hasenheide was preserved. The sale started again in late July 1945. Rebuilding began in 1950. The architect Alfred Busse designed a four-storey building, which connected to the preserved part of the building and was built until 1951 at the Hasenheide corner Hermannplatz. Based on this construction, the building was enlarged in the following decades. The last enlargement to date took place in the year 2000 and went hand in hand with a comprehensive revision of the entire appearance. Architects commissioned with the extensions were Helmut Kriegbaum, Jürgen Sawade and Udo Landgraf.