CAN one really define the “birthday” of a street? In the case of Berlin's famous Kurfürstendamm, May 5th 1886 was when the first steam-powered tram trundled down the avenue, although its history goes back a little further. Built as a corduroy road between a hunting palace in the Grunewald forest and the Berlin City Palace, the “Churfürstendamm” was first mentioned on a map in 1685. But it was Otto von Bismarck who ordered the promotion of the Kurfürstendamm in 1873. He was so impressed by the Champs-Elysées that he wanted his own version of the distinguished Parisian boulevard in Berlin. With the tram line attracting more people to the expensive “New West”, the street enjoyed a rapid expansion. At 53 metres, the Ku'damm (as nicknamed by Berliners) is only half the size of its prototype in Paris, but it remains Germany's grandest boulevard.
The 1920s marked the Ku'damm's golden age, when it was a top address for shopping and littered with cafés, restaurants, jazz bars, art galleries, theatres and cabarets. George Grosz, Max Slevogt, Bertold Brecht and Albert Einstein were among the frequent visitors of the former Romanisches Café, a favourite haunt of intellectuals. The rise of the Nazis in 1933 brought an end to all this, and ultimately left the boulevard in ruins. With its distinctively damaged silhouette, the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church on Breitscheidtplatz square is a poignant reminder of this dark period in German history.
Reconstructed fairly quickly (unfortunately not without some terribly ugly buildings) the Kurfürstendamm became a showcase for the post-war Wirtschaftswunder, or reconstruction, in the West, and a target of student riots in the late 1960s. The Ku'damm was also the site of the first Love Parades from 1989 until 2006, when the famous annual techno party moved to the Tiergarten for more space. When the Berlin Wall fell on November 9th 1989, the Kurfürstendamm turned into a big party for thousands of East and West Berliners.
Growing up in East Germany, my own first trip west led me straight to the Ku'damm. In the early 1990s I got a job in an office on Uhlandstrasse, a street off Kurfürstendamm, and I would stroll along the boulevard, fascinated by the grand architecture and chic shops. Everything was new and exciting. But this thrill faded with time, particularly with the breathtaking development of the eastern part of the city. Cool bars, trendy coffee shops, hip fashion designers and alternative restaurants were opening in Mitte, Prenzlauer Berg and Friedrichshain, not Charlottenburg. For the past 15 years, I've neglected the boulevard I once longed to discover.
It was idle curiosity that moved me to revisit the street earlier this month, as it celebrated its 125th anniversary. I took a long walk on the Ku'damm on a sunny afternoon, and found the boulevard buzzing with tourists and Russian-speakers. Some fashion shops had disappeared, while others have come (such as Britain's Monsoon—at last). Next summer Germany's first Waldorf Astoria hotel will open nearby, and the Haus Cumberland at Ku'damm No 193/194 (built in 1912 as an apartment hotel and empty for many years) will soon be refurbished as a new residential and office building.
I finished my walk at a brand-new little square named after George Grosz, opposite the Cumberland House. While the legendary Café Kranzler at the eastern end of the Ku'damm was egregiously expensive and slightly corny, the Café Einstein at George Grosz Platz was a place to hang out, especially on a sunny day.
Several events are taking place to celebrate the anniversary, culminating in something called a Festival of Lights and a long shopping night in October. But once the party is over it remains to be seen if the Kurfürstendamm will live up to its past.
Picture credit: Sergej Horwitz