The Friedrichstrasse
Aside from Kurfürstendamm, the Friedrich- Strasse is Berlin’s longest street. It stretches from Oranienburger Tor up to Mehringplatz close to the famous Boulevard Unter den Linden, which is especially interesting for a walk. Here are the highlights of the Friedrichstrasse, and this is where the memories hark back to the time, when this was the most popular expanse of stores in the city. The Gendarmenmarkt is a good starting point for sightseeing and shopping. The hub of this square, arguably the most beautiful in Berlin, is the theater that was built in neoclassical style by Karl Friedrich Schinkel. It is flanked by two impressive churches, the French and German cathedrals, named after their respective congregations: the Huguenot Protestants from France who lived in this part of town, and the Berlin Protestants. Both cathedrals are used for exhibition purposes, but the French cathedral is still also used as a church.
The quarters of the new Friedrichstrasse arcades are, by contrast, a shopping paradise of superlatives: three gigantic blocks that are joined together by a shopping arcade. The construction was commissioned from international stars of the architecture scene. First, there’s the quarter 205 between Friedrichstrasse, Mohrenstrasse and Charlottenstrasse. The signature of the Cologne architect Oswald Mathias Unger is clear in the basic cube forms, which he playfully uses. The area consists of a central structure with two atriums and is flanked by six edifices. At the center is an arcade laid out in the form of a cross that also includes three gallery levels, which are located on top of each other. This allows for a lot of room for more fine boutiques, cafés and small specialty shops. A terrific eye-catcher is the 11 meter high “Turm von Klythie”, a sculpture made from lacquered and chrome- plated car metal, created by the American John Chamberlain for the entrance hall.
Next door, in quarter 206, the American architect Cobb used acute angled oriels and creases for the façade design to achieve expressionist architectural forms. The wide bands are reminiscent of Art Deco forms from the 1930s. The building is most impressive at night when the strip lights shine, letting the structure disappear behind a shining “second skin”. Go into the building and let yourself be intoxicated by the interior design: the floors are covered with wild mosaics that circle around the center of the open atrium, there are trimmings with strongly contrasting black and white checkerboard patterns and a flight of stairs ascends near a glass escalator à la Hollywood to the gallery levels and the glass cupola that tops off everything.
In addition to refined shopping flair, international designers, antique dealers, galleries and noble boutiques are offering a first-class range of goods.Quartier 207 or the Galerie Lafayette quickly acquired a pet name in Berlin: the glass breeder reactor. Jean Nouvel, a French star architect, designed the building completely glassed in with rounded corners. From the outside it looks rather somber. But the interior will surprise you with its brightness. Thanks to both of the huge glass funnels that run over several levels, you can look through the entire building. And what is more, this also creates plays of light with mirror effects all around the selling spaces. After yet another block, you’ll reach the most famous street in the city, the wide boulevard Unter den Linden.
QUARTIER 206
A shopping experience like walking through the pages of a lifestyle magazine. One of the most beautiful shopping venues in the capital. Wrapped in Art Deco, the interior is reminiscent of an atrium and features a highly elegant, unique marble mosaic several stories high in black and white. Sheer extravagance. No wonder this ambience has attracted the international fashion elite. Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Etro, Moschino, Louis Vuitton, Celine, Bottega Veneta are nested here store by store, as is Anne Maria Jagdfeld’s department store. Trend and cult, exclusivity and top quality spread out over two stories, … just like a lifestyle magazine come to life.