The Ku’damm

 

Kurfürstendamm, known in Berlin as the Ku’damm, has always been a place of grand visions. Planned as a magnificent boulevard after the founding of the German Empire in 1871, it developed not only into an upscale residential address with opulent buildings, but also into a center of art and culture. Especially during the Golden Twenties, the Ku’damm attracted artists, theatergoers, and writers, becoming a hotspot for stage and visual art. However, World War II left its mark: only a small portion of the buildings remained habitable after 1945, and the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church had also been severely damaged. The preserved ruins of the tower remained as a memorial against war, while the boulevard was to shine once again as a symbol of Western economic power after reconstruction. Today, the Ku’damm brings together luxury boutiques, cafés, theaters, and art galleries, and is a vibrant place where shopping, culture, and creative energy converge.

1 - The KAKADU was a legendary Berlin bar on Kurfürstendamm that opened around 1919 and became a gathering place for artists and celebrities during the Weimar Republic. With jazz, dance, and acrobatics, it shaped the city’s vibrant nightlife until its closure in 1936.

2 - The artistic freedom of the 1920s came to an abrupt end after the Nazis came to power. Many Jewish artists were expelled, persecuted, and killed. At that time, up to a quarter of the Ku’damm population was Jewish, including prominent female photographers such as FRIEDA RIESS and Suse Byk.

3 - The three GOLDEN DOODLES are often spotted and photographed with their owner in a classic car. You can admire the snapshots on their own Instagram profile.

4 - The “Portrait of the Journalist Sylvia von Harden” (1926) is a painting by the German artist OTTO DIX in the New Objectivity style. The portrait depicts the image of the new woman as a fashion icon and feminist pioneer.

5 - The painting “She Represents” (ca. 1928) by JEANNE MAMMEN portrays the emancipated women of the Roaring Twenties amid the hustle and bustle of the turbulent metropolis. Mammen, who was one of the most significant female artists of the Weimar Republic, lived in a small studio apartment on Kurfürstendamm.

6 - The Jewish poet ELSE LASKER-SCHÜLER (1869–1945) lived in Berlin as a single mother and was part of the city’s literary avant-garde. With the rise to power of the National Socialists, she was forced to flee Berlin into exile in 1933.

7 - Actress MARLENE DIETRICH (1901–1992), born in Berlin’s Schöneberg district, became known as the “Girl from Kurfürstendamm.” She made her breakthrough as a global star with the premiere of *The Blue Angel* at the Gloria-Palast on Kurfürstendamm.

8 - RUDI DUTSCHKE (1940–1979) was one of the leading figures of the Berlin student movement in the 1960s. In his book “History Is Possible,” he articulated his vision of a more just society. In 1968, he was seriously injured in an assassination attempt on the Ku’damm in Berlin and died years later from complications resulting from his injuries.

9 - GABRIELE TERGIT (1894–1982) was a Berlin-based journalist and writer who became famous for her novel *Käsebier erobert den Kurfürstendamm*. The book satirically depicts the rise and fall of an artist amid the media frenzy of the Weimar Republic.

10 - OTTO VON BISMARCK (1815–1898) was the first Chancellor of the German Empire and the driving force behind the creation of the Ku’damm. He ensured that the expansion of the former embankment was not planned too modestly, but was set at a width of 53 meters.

Did you know …
… that the Kurfürstendamm was originally a riding path for the Elector, the *Kurfürst*? The path led from the Berlin City Palace to the Grunewald Hunting Lodge. Hence the name Kurfürstendamm.