Kurfürstendamm

Geschichte

The Kurfürstendamm is one of the most famous avenues in Berlin. The street takes its name from the former Kurfürsten (prince-electors) of Brandenburg. This very broad, long boulevard can be considered the Champs-Élysées of Berlin—lined with shops, houses, hotels and restaurants. In particular, many fashion designers have their shops there, as well as several car manufacturers' show rooms.DescriptionThe avenue includes four lines of plane trees and runs for 3.5km through the Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf borough in western Berlin. It branches off from the Breitscheidplatz near Bahnhof Zoo and the ruins of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church and leads southwestward through the Charlottenburg district.At the junction with Joachimstaler Straße it passes the Café Kranzler, successor of the Café des Westens, a famous venue for artists and bohémiens of the pre–World War I era. At the same junction can be found the Kurfürstendamm U-Bahn station and the Swissôtel Berlin. One block farther, near Uhlandstraße U-Bahn station, is the Kempinski hotel as well as the Theater am Kurfürstendamm, at the site of a former exhibition hall of the Berlin Secession art association.