1 April: Premiere of “The Blue Angel” with Marlene Dietrich at the Gloria-Palast (10 Kurfürstendamm, est. 1925)
Many Ku’damm shops are affected by the boycott of Jewish trade.
Many of the regulars of the Romanesque Café emigrated, as well as Max Reinhardt, Rudolf Nelson, Kurt Robitschek and many other Jewish theatre, show and cabaret directors. The culture of Kurfürstendamm was systematically aryanised.
1. April: Viele Geschäfte am Kurfürstendamm sind vom sogenannten „Judenboykott" betroffen.
In October Lunapark opened its doors for the last time before closing for good.
The traditional Café Kranzler opened a branch on 18/19 Kurfürstendamm.
The Jewish-owned Kempinski restaurant was forcibly handed over to the Nazis.
9 November: The Fasanenstraße Synagogue was set on fire; all Jewish shops were systematically destroyed.
Cinemas on Kurfürstendamm ceased to show original versions of films. Kurfürstendamm remained (at least more likely than anywhere else in the city) a place to purchase foreign newspapers, magazines, records and books, even after the war had started.
8 May: By the end of World War II, Kurfürstendamm was heavily damaged; about 80 per cent of the houses were left uninhabitable. However, reconstruction was quickly underway. An emergency programme was created by the Kabarett der Komiker within less than a month of capitulation; two weeks later the opera had started a ballet programme at the Theater des Westens. The Marmorhaus and Astor cinema showed films in 1945 and fashion shows were held again in the autumn of 1945.
The famous department store KaDeWe reopened. Almost completely destroyed by a bomber airplane, it was rebuilt in a much simplified style.
The Maison de France and the Cinema Paris opened.
Café Kranzler resumed business.
Kempinski Hotel Bristol opened at no. 27 as the first new hotel on Kurfürstendamm as the first luxury hotel of West-Berlin. It is the first address for the international jetset, including Ava Gardner, Gina Lollobrigida, Kirk Douglas, Jack Nicholson and Sean Connery.
The Berlin International Film Festival (now Berlinale), founded a year earlier, was held in the newly-built Zoopalast. The event brings back pre-war glamour to the boulevard. The festival cinemas are Delphi Filmpalast at Kantstraße and the Capitol at Lehniner Platz.
The traffic control box at Joachimstaler Platz was put into operation. Until October 1962 it was used to manually control traffic from four meters above the ground. Being quaint and singular relict from 1950's traffic planning it is now a listed building.
2 April: Completion of the Allianz skyscraper 10-12 Joachimstaler Straße / Ecke Ku’damm.
The Bikinihaus was built, named after the central arcade splitting the building into two parts.
The Zoopalast is another cinema opening on Ku'damm. From the 1957 Berlinale with the subtitle "Filmfestival in a new Berlin" proceeds to use the Zoopalast as its festival venue.
The sculpture Asymetrische Vase by Gerhard Schultze-Seehof was installed in front of 33 Kurfürstendamm. It is composed of mosaic tiles from the destroyed Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, representing the process of reconstruction.
The temporary structure that had housed Café Kranzler since 1951 was demolished and rebuilt. The new building is one of Ku’damm’s most famous architechtectural landmarks.
The Schimmelpfenghaus between Kantstraße and Breitscheidplatz was completed.