Germany » Shopping in Berlin

Berlin has everything whatever you desire like countless designer stores in the long established shopping centres of the earlier West-Berlin to distinguish second hand stores and art boutiques around Hackescher Market to the Turkish atmosphere of the Kreuzberg Tkenmarkt or modern shopping malls like the Arkaden on Potsdamer Platz.

Retail prices are reasonable and somewhat lower than in most northern European countries but the value added tax or "Mehrwertsteuer" has been increased to 19% from 2007 onwards and hence prices will partly go up; sparkling wine, spirits (alcoholic drink) and tobacco are subject to even higher taxes. Several German brands of advanced goods such as kitchen ware, stationery, and hiking gear are much cheaper than abroad. Value added tax is generally included in an item's price tag.

 

The chains "Aldi" and "Lidl" are a special type of supermarket. Their range of products is limited to the complete necessities of daily life (like vegetables, pasta, milk, eggs, toiletries etc.), sold in rather simple packaging for tightly calculated prices. While quality is generally surprisingly high (at least in comparison to price).

The Ku'damm (or Kurfrstendamm) is the Fifth Avenue (central road in New York City USA) of Berlin. It's filled with quality stores but also has outlets hustling cheap memento and T-shirts. Although Berliners themselves shop on the Ku'damm, many prefer the specialty stores on the side streets, especially between Breitscheidplatz and Olivaer Platz.

Another major shopping street is the Tauentzienstrasse and the streets that intersect it: Marburger and Ranke. This area offers a wide array of stores, many specializing in German fashions for women. Stores here are often cheaper than on the Ku'damm. Also on Tauentzienstrasse (near the Ku'damm) is Berlin's major indoor shopping centre, the Europa Centre.