Kaufhaus des Westens

KaDeWe on Tauentzienstrasse is continental Europe's second-largest department store and since 1907 the address for upscale shopping in Berlin. Adolf Jandorf had Emil Schaudt build it in the Wilhelmine representational style, five years before the empire collapsed. In 1943 a crashing aircraft burned the building out completely; the 1950s reconstruction turned it into a symbol of West Germany's economic miracle and a defiant gesture in the divided city. Today the sixth floor draws most visitors: the legendary gourmet level with over 30 themed restaurants and counters, from oysters to truffles. The seventh-floor Wintergarten restaurant sits under a glass dome with views across Charlottenburg. Even if you buy nothing, you come to look.