1900 - 1929

Terrassen am Halensee (Lunapark)
Landesarchiv Berlin F Rep. 209
1904

14 May: Opening of the Terassen am Halensee, renamed Lunapark in 1909. The inner-city amusement park was modelled on New York’s Coney Island.

1905

In the beggining of the last century, Berlin became a modern art metropolis especially centred around the Kurfürstendamm area. The Berlin Secession painters collective, including Max Liebermann and Walter Leistikow, moved to their new gallery at 208/209 Kurfürstendamm.

1905

By 1905 the majority of the property on Kurfürstendamm had been sold off. The term “Kurfürstendamm architecture” was coined by architecture critics as a derogatory expression for the pompous, ornate style of the buildings.

1907

27 March: Opening of the Kaufhaus des Westens (KaDeWe). The luxury department store just off Kurfürstendamm was a symbol of the wealth of the area.

1910

The Statistical Yearbook of the Region Charlottenburg recorded 35,811 residents living on Kurfürstendamm.

1911

Start of the construction work on Cumberland House (193-194 Kurfürstendamm). The original plan for it to become a complex of staffed luxury suites for short- and long-term lease proved unsuccessful; the developer went into bankruptcy shortly before Cumberland House was finished.

Synagoge in der Fasanenstraße
Landesarchiv Berlin F Rep. 290 72024
1912

26 August: Inauguration of the Fasanenstrasse Synagogue, just off Kurfürstendamm. At that time one sixth of Kurfürstendamm residents were Jewish.

1913

120 millionaires lived in the huge appartments on Kurfürstendamm.

1913

Berlin's first cinemas Marmorhaus and Union-Palast opened on Ku’damm.

 

Romanisches Café
Landesarchiv Berlin/ Gnilka, E. F Rep. 209 172413
1916

Opening of the Romanisches Café on the site of the current Europa Center. It quickly became the new place to be for intellectuals and artists, replacing the ”Café des Westens” in popularity. Locals included Berthold Brecht, Otto Dix, Erich Kästner and Max Liebermann.

1920

27 February: The premiere of Dr. Caligari at Marmorhaus.

1921

8 October: Opening of the Theater am Kurfürstendamm (206 Kurfürstendamm).

Protestaufruf gegen Tonfilm
Landesarchiv Berlin F Rep. 290 79459
1922

17 September: The newly built Alhambra cinema (68 Kurfürstendamm) showed the first sound film. The invention of Tri Ergon was at first heavily criticised and was only launched again in Germany after it had proven successful in the US.

1924

The Komödie am Kurfürstendamm was built next to the Theatre am Kürfürstendamm.

1925

After renaming the small section east of the former Auguste-Viktoria-Platz (Breitscheidplatz) the street numbers 1-10 disappeared. Since then the first building on Ku'damm has been number 11. Curiously, the numbers 77-89 in the area of Lehniner Platz are also missing, for reasons unknown.

 

1926

The dancer Josephine Baker showed her Banana Dance for the first time on German soil, at the Nelson Theatre, 217 Kurfürstendamm. Her only attire was a skirt made out of 16 bananas.

Café Kempinski
Landesarchiv Berlin 09 Ha 74762
1926

30 September: Kempinski opened a wine bar branch at 27 Kurfürstendamm.

1927

Race car driver Rudolf Caracciola established a Mercedes branch at 66 Kurfürstendamm.

1928

19 September: Opening of Kabarett der Komiker in the WOGA building complex on the corner of Kurfürstendamm/ Lehniner Platz.