Fodor's Expert Review Kurfürstendamm

Charlottenburg Street

This busy thoroughfare began as a riding path in the 16th century. The elector Joachim II of Brandenburg used it to travel between his palace on the Spree River and his hunting lodge in the Grunewald. The Kurfürstendamm (Elector's Causeway) was transformed into a major route in the late 19th century, thanks to the initiative of Bismarck, Prussia's Iron Chancellor. Even in the 1920s, Ku'damm (as it's commonly known) was still relatively new and by no means elegant; its prewar fame was due mainly to its rowdy bars and dance halls, as well as to the cafés where the cultural avant-garde of Europe gathered. Almost half of its 245 late-19th-century buildings were completely destroyed in the 1940s, and the remaining buildings were damaged to varying degrees; what you see today is either restored or newly constructed. Although Ku'damm is still known as the best shopping street in Berlin, many of its establishments have declined in elegance and prestige over the years. Nowadays you'll want... READ MORE

This busy thoroughfare began as a riding path in the 16th century. The elector Joachim II of Brandenburg used it to travel between his palace on the Spree River and his hunting lodge in the Grunewald. The Kurfürstendamm (Elector's Causeway) was transformed into a major route in the late 19th century, thanks to the initiative of Bismarck, Prussia's Iron Chancellor. Even in the 1920s, Ku'damm (as it's commonly known) was still relatively new and by no means elegant; its prewar fame was due mainly to its rowdy bars and dance halls, as well as to the cafés where the cultural avant-garde of Europe gathered. Almost half of its 245 late-19th-century buildings were completely destroyed in the 1940s, and the remaining buildings were damaged to varying degrees; what you see today is either restored or newly constructed. Although Ku'damm is still known as the best shopping street in Berlin, many of its establishments have declined in elegance and prestige over the years. Nowadays you'll want to visit just to check it off your list.

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Street

Quick Facts

Kurfürstendamm
Berlin, Berlin  Germany

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