The full story
Due to federal liberalization shopping hours are theoretically unlimited Nevertheless many of the smaller shops still close at 8PM Most of the bigger stores and nearly all of the malls are open additionally until 9 or 10PM from Thursday to Saturday Sunday opening is still limited to about a dozen weekends per year although some supermarkets located at train stations Hauptbahnhof Bahnhof Zoologischer Garten Friedrichstraße Innsbrucker Platz and Ostbahnhof are open also on Sundays Many bakeries and small food stores called Spätkauf are open late at night and on Sundays in busier neighborhoods especially Prenzlauer Berg Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain Stores inside the Hauptbahnhof central station have long working hours usually until about 10 or 11PM also on Sundays The main shopping areas are Ku'Damm and its extension Tauentzienstraße remain the main shopping streets even now that the Wall has come down KaDeWe Kaufhaus Des Westens at Wittenbergplatz is a must visit just for the vast food department on the 6th floor It's reputedly the biggest department store in Continental Europe and still has an old world charm with very helpful and friendly staff Friedrichstraße is.
Useful to know
- Confirm current prices, opening patterns and service changes with the relevant official provider before travel.
- Group plans by district and use the rail network for longer cross-city connections.