Berlin, Germany Hotels and City Guide

Berlin - Shopping

Shopping in Berlin

Berlin has emerged as a Mecca for shopping in Germany, with numerous districts providing choices for all tastes and budgets. Whether you are looking for fashion, furniture, art or antiques, you will not leave Berlin empty handed.

Ultra chic skyscrapers stand amidst splendidly renovated pre-war buildings, both offering some of Europe's most stunning shopping venues. While West Berlin boasts of large, upscale department stores, East Berlin delivers a delightful assortment of quirky second-hand shops and flea markets.

Shops by Area

Some of the area’s most elegant shops are on the boulevard of Friedrichstrasse. The city's main shopping center is Berlin’s equivalent of the Champs Elysées. Here you will find designer names like Gucci and Donna Karan and the department store Galeries Lafayette. The Unter den Linden is also located nearby with a selection of unique boutiques. In the Nikolai Quarter, you will find smaller specialty clothing shops. There are various reasonably priced shops around the Alexanderplatz, offering an array of items such as perfumes, clothes and much more.

Kurfürstendamm is perhaps the city's most lively and famous shopping area, with many interesting side streets, particularly between Brietscheidplatz and Olivaer Platz. With over 100 shops, cafés and restaurants, the Europa Centre at Brietscheidplatz is well worth a visit. Berlin's most celebrated department store, the Kaufhaus des Westens - KaDeWe - can be found at the end of nearby shopping street Tauentzienstrasse. Other shopping regions nearby are the elegant Uhland-Passage and the Kempinski Plaza.

For high fashion and trendy clothes, try visiting the many boutiques in the Charlottenburg area, along the side streets of the Ku'damm. There are less expensive shops in the outdoor shopping mall along Wilmersdorfer Strasse, where Berliners often do their shopping.

Shops by Type

Designer Fashion

Quartier 205, 206, and 207
Friedrichstrasse 71, 10117 Berlin
Mon to Fri: 10:30AM-7:30PM, Sat: 10AM-6PM
For an exclusive shopping experience in Mitte try the Friedrichrichstadt Passagen and its 'Quartiers' shopping center, which is three shopping blocks full of marvelous designer shops, uniquely joined by underground passageways. You will feel as though you are stepping into the pages of a high-end fashion magazine at one of the most beautiful Art Deco venues in Berlin.

Quartier 206 is extremely extravagant, and the international fashion elite are completely at home here in their individual salons. Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Etro, Moschino, Vuitton, Cerruti, and Bottega Veneta are here, as is Anne Maria Jagdfeld’s stunning department store.

The French emporium Galeries Lafayette, in Quartier 207, is known for its stunning luminous glass cone in the entrance, and of course, many more stores abound, including abundant international specialties. Quartier 205 offers still more shopping and an array of cafe choices.

Art and Antiques

Scheuenviertel
Mon to Fri: 9AM- 8PM, Sat: 9AM-4PM
Visitors to “The Barn District,” discover a treasure trove of art and antique galleries and sophisticated studios. The splendid shopping arena is formed mainly within the streets of Auguststrasse, where you will find the finer of the shops, Oranienburger Strasse, Grosse Hamburger Strasse, Rosenthaler Strasse and Ophienstrasse.

Markets

Markt am Winterfeldtplatz
Winterfeldtplatz, 10781 Berlin
Sat: 8AM
The trendiest and also the most attractive weekly food and clothing market in Berlin.

Antik- und Flohmarkt Straße des 17. Juni (Antique and Flea Market)
Strasse des 17. Juni, 10623 Berlin
Sat and Sun: 10AM-5PM
Berlin’s largest art and antiques market specializes in genuine antiques, porcelain, books, paintings, clothing and jewelry.

Malls

Gropius Passagenbr/> Johannisthaler Chaussee 317
Mon to Fri: 10AM- 8PM, Sat: 10AM- Midnight
One of Berlin's biggest shopping centers, this mall is in the high-rise district of southern Neukölln. The massive building offers 180 shops that include most of the major chain stores as well as a number of smaller, specialized shops and a nice array of fast food restaurants, cafés and bars.

Kaufhaus des Westens
Tauentzienstraße 21-24, 10789 Berlin
Mon to Wed: 10AM- 8PM, Thu and Fri: 10AM-10PM
Sat: 9:30AM-10PM
Nearly a mall within itself, the crown jewel of Berlin's department stores is the Kaufhaus des Westens, or the KaDeWe. The largest department store in all of Europe, it also boasts the largest delicatessen on the continent. Here you can find all the selections you would expect from a top rate store including perfumes, designer clothes and fine accessories.

Potsdamer Platz Arcades
Alte Potsdamer Straße 7, 10785 Berlin Tiergarten
Mon to Fri: 9AM- 8PM, Sat: 9AM-4PM
Right in the heart of Berlin just off Potsdamer Platz is the 'Arkaden'. The bustling mall offers 150 shops on three floors with various choices from fashion, accessories and much more.

Hackescher Markt
Oranienburger Straße, 10178 Berlin
Mon to Fri: 9AM- 8PM, Sat: 9AM-4PM
Hackescher Markt and Hachesche Höfe (courtyards) in East Berlin have a great blend of shops, bars and cafés. Set apart from mainstream boulevards this is the place to soak in the some local, trendy atmosphere. The district, known as Sheunenviertel, along Schönhauserstrasse is ideal for those looking for smaller shops and indie fashion labels.

Naturkaufhaus Galleria
Schlossstraße 101
Mon to Fri: 10AM-8PM, Sat: 10AM-6PM
This forum of fine things houses twenty-three exclusive shops and boutiques catering to sophisticated tastes. The specialties include high fashion, designer furniture, jewelry and books.

Forum Neukölln
Karl-Marx-Strasse 66
Mon-Sat 9AM-6PM
One of Berlin's newest shopping centers with 65 various shops, including an electronics superstore, a bookshop, internet café and a cinema.

Designer Outlet Berlin
Alter Spandauer Weg 1, 14641 Wustermark OT Elstal
Mon to Thurs 10AM-7PM, Fri and Sat: 10AM-8PM
Closed on Sundays and public holidays
At the Designer Outlet, you will discover over 100 international brands and exclusive designer labels in 80 stores. The selection ranges from Adidas, CK Jeans, Tommy Hilfiger, Strenesse, St. Emile, and Möve to Villeroy & Boch and beyond.

Tax Refunds

A sales tax (VAT) of 16% is levied on most goods and services in Germany. When leaving the country, non-European visitors can apply for a refund on any items purchased that are to be exported. The minimum purchase that qualifies for a refund is EUR25. To reclaim tax you need to request a VAT refund request form, when you make the purchase, which states the amount of refund due. Customs officials must stamp these forms as you are leaving the country for the refund to be processed and sent to you.

Alternatively, there are shops participating in the Europe Tax-free Shopping program. Simply look for the Tax-free Shopping logo displayed in the shop’s window. Show your clerk your passport when you make a purchase and you will be given a Tax-free Shopping receipt noting the refund you are due. When you leave the country, customs officials will stamp your receipt, and then you can claim your refund from the Europe Tax-free Shopping desk or have it sent to you.

Hotels in Berlin, Germany