Kurfürstendamm (Ku'damm): shopping, luxury boutiques and Sunday opening in Berlin

Updated on October 1, 2026

The Kurfürstendamm, which Berliners call the Ku'damm, is the great shopping avenue of western Berlin: 3.5 km from Breitscheidplatz, at the foot of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, to Halensee, in the district of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. 53 m wide and lined with early 20th-century apartment buildings and 1950s architecture, it brings together luxury houses, high-street chains, cafés, theatres and hotels. The densest run of shop windows lies between Uhlandstraße and Olivaer Platz; to the east, Tauentzienstraße extends the boulevard to the KaDeWe department store. The avenue is freely accessible; only shop opening hours matter, and shops are closed on Sundays, with a few exceptions.

Highlights

The boulevard and its history

A simple bridle path laid out in the 16th century towards the Grunewald hunting lodge, the Kurfürstendamm was widened to 53 m at the request of Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, on the model of the Paris boulevards. Its official birth date is May 1886, when a steam tram began running between the Zoo and Halensee. In the 1920s it became the heart of the "New West", frequented by writers and artists; during the Cold War, it served as West Berlin's shop window.

Café Kranzler

On the corner of Joachimsthaler Straße, the rotunda with its red-and-white striped awning, built in 1957 to plans by Hanns Dustmann, is one of the symbols of West Berlin. The whole Kranzler-Eck complex has been under renovation since May 2024; the rotunda is due to reopen as a restaurant at the end of 2026.

The Europa-Center

On Breitscheidplatz, this tower opened on 2 April 1965, topped by a rotating Mercedes star, stands on the site of the Romanisches Café, the meeting place of 1920s intellectuals. Its more than 70 shops open Monday to Saturday from 10am to 8pm. Inside, the Clock of Flowing Time, designed in 1982 by the Frenchman Bernard Gitton and 13 m high, shows the time by the level of a liquid in glass spheres.

Bikini Berlin

Opposite, on Budapester Straße, this 1950s building reopened on 3 April 2014 as a "concept mall": designer labels, pop-up shops set up in modules, restaurants. Its rooftop terrace, open free of charge every day, looks straight onto the monkey enclosure of Berlin Zoo. Shops Monday to Saturday from 10am to 8pm.

The luxury boutiques

Chanel, Hermès, Louis Vuitton, Dior, Gucci and Cartier all have stores on the Kurfürstendamm, mainly between Uhlandstraße and Olivaer Platz. Fasanenstraße, which crosses the boulevard, adds luxury boutiques and art galleries in a setting of 19th-century villas.

Haus Cumberland

At numbers 193-194, this building erected in 1911-1912 by Robert Leibnitz, the architect of the Hotel Adlon, was first a luxury hotel, which went bankrupt in 1913, then housed the tax administration. Restored, since 2013 it has combined flats, offices, shops and a café in the hotel's former entrance hall.

Opening hours and prices

The boulevard is free to visit at any time. In Berlin, the law allows shops to open Monday to Saturday with no time limit; on the Ku'damm, most open around 10am and close around 8pm. On Sundays they stay closed, except on the Sunday openings set by the Berlin Senate (up to eight a year): in 2026, shops opened on 25 January and 21 June, and will open on 6 and 20 December, from 1pm to 8pm.

Infos pratiques

Tips

Come on a weekday rather than on Saturday afternoon, when pavements and shops are at their busiest. Travellers resident outside the European Union can claim back VAT: ask for the tax-free form at the till, show your passport and have your purchases validated by customs when leaving the EU. The Käthe Kollwitz Museum, long located on Fasanenstraße, moved in 2022 to the Theaterbau of Charlottenburg Palace; do not look for it near the Ku'damm any more.

How to get there

Kurfürstendamm, from Breitscheidplatz to Halensee, Berlin-Charlottenburg. U-Bahn U1, Uhlandstraße and Kurfürstendamm stations (also U9); U7, Adenauerplatz station; S-Bahn S3, S5, S7 and S9 and U-Bahn U2 and U9, Zoologischer Garten station, at the eastern end; S-Bahn S41, S42 and S46, Halensee station, at the western end. Buses M19, M29, X10, 109 and 110 along the boulevard. Bikini Berlin: Budapester Straße 38-50, 10787 Berlin; Europa-Center: Breitscheidplatz, 10789 Berlin.