European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 20, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                I la la a. Mtnor a 1. A a 1 pc pwn Western if East Berlin worships Freedom. West Berlin pays homage to Money Ananthe Many ways to spend it. Not that this  the City a fees t have its monuments museums concert Halls Aid other attractions. It does and in such abundance Talfy you can t see them All in a week. But a frenzy of 24-Houtvselling a they la take German Marks and Mastercard american express and traveler s checks a is the Uel that keeps this engine humming. The heart of West Berlin is the two mile Long Kurfurst Tendam Kun Damm to the locals. Even in Winter when darkness envelops the City by 4 p.m., it s a Blaze of Light and a swirl of people clutching filled shopping bags. V at Midnight when sidewalks and streets Are Damp with a heavy Dew and the night air chills you to the Bone the Kun Damm looks like times Square on the Day after the Macy s Parade. Ladies wrapped in furs gentlemen in Bowler hats and Camel s hair overcoats kids on skateboards Street musicians artists whose Canvas is the sidewalk dropouts from generations past and present Gypsy beggars sitting on cardboard and moaning audibly a they re All Here. On Friedric Strasse in East Berlin shops such As nuance Juwel City Tex elegant and Cala Are brightly lit too but they re empty of customers even on a sunny afternoon. On the Kun Damm Well after Sunset Pele Losche furs Bally shoes Benetton Bleyle and Wertheim Are Wall to Wall people. The loftiest Temple to conspicuous consumption on this Street is Madewe not far from the Kaiser Wilhelm memorial the Only sobering Monument in the area. People May cast a glance at the memorial a ruins of a Neo romanesque Church almost completely a destroyed in wartime raids next to an ultramodern Belfry Tower Church and Chapel glowing Blue after dark but they re really interested in getting to Madewe it stands for Kau Baus Des westerns but nobody Calls it that. To say Madewe is a department store is to say the Queen Elizabeth 2 is a boat each is so much More. At this time of year even Madewe s windows attract a Royds with their animated displays of Christmas figures stuffed animals and decorated Trees inside the Block Square store six floors offer the merchandise of the world a from full length minks to  underwear from High fashion jewelry to plastic toys like those at toys r us. Food lovers ignore everything else for the wonders on Madewe s top floor a food Hall so splendid and enormous that it relegates harrods to the class of a glorified Farmers Market. Edibles Are spread across 50,000 Square feet of floor space if you think that s a lot of sausage cheese chocolate wine fish oysters puddings and bread you re right. You take the word of a clerk who says Madewe Sells 1,800 kinds of cheese and 1,000 types of Wurst sausage some As big As a coffin which you la need if you try to taste them All. At lunch and throughout the afternoon customers almost fight for seats at food and drink counters. Those on a budget stand at a Beer counter Downing tall glasses of Pilsner 4 Marks about $2-80 and gnawing at Harn Sandwi lies on tolls As hard As Maryv g Marks. A Tew Lee away the Well heeled a revved a a Ard. At a Champagne counter sipping Moet amp Chandon Brut Imperial 10.50 Mark the bottles chilling on ice in containers made to look like inverted top hats. More substantial goodies Are available. You might us the Oyster bar six raw oysters for 18 Marks before heading to the Side by Side outposts of two famous French establishments Lenotre Paris and Paul Bouse. Lenotre serves a portion of Coquille St. Jacques for 20,95 Marks at Bouse foie Delcau Lyonnaise costs 27.9.5 Marks with wines at $5&Quot or so a Glass. Fortified you ii be ready for Madewe s other floors an electronic voice on the elevator describes the wares in German and in English on five Antiques carpets arts and crafts curtains and appliances on four China gifts household goods hobbies arts and crafts on three books computers clocks radio to and a in Case you re hungry again a the store s formal restaurants on two bridal clothing fashion jewelry and furs and on one children s Wear a Hairdresser lottery tickets needlework and theater tickets. Below that you re Back on Street level where you la find Charles Jourdan fend perfumes shoes Luggage even a dog grooming Salon. And in Case you need to renew your strength there s a viennese cafe with sweets and confectionary. Next door to Madewe is the Small elegant Wittenber Platz station for the a Bahn Berlin s subways classic in design As a Small grecian Temple. Its Interior a Blaze of yellow enamel tiles covered with. Oversize Art Deco posters is like a gallery. A a but the Best Way to explore the Kun Damm is on foot. One of the strangest monuments in the area is a twisted mass of four shiny tubes reaching toward each other but not quite touching. It represents the four sectors into which Berlin was divided a american. French soviet and British a by the allies in 1945. Those caretaker nations Hod Over the City lasted until March s Quot two plus four Quot agreements Between last Cermane. In Germany and the tour world w Arl. Winners on get Many s future. In the heart of the Western sector two places throb with life but they could scarcely to More different. The busied transportation Hub in the City with a Bahn and a Bahn above ground trains is the zoot Gischer Carton just off the Kun Damm. Day and night countless people come and go through the. Stations spilling into the. Busy sidewalks where several streets intersect just behind is the Berlin zoo where giraffes zebras elephants gorillas Birds and All the expected inhabitants of a zoo live in settings reflect Ting their native habitats. T through the Trees a visitor can see the Kaiser Wilhelm memorial. Also nearby is tin Europa Center a a us ugly slab of a skyscraper topped by a revolving Mercedes Symbol. The lower floors Are like a mall in the United Stales but with More of everything 70 stores 20 restaurants five movie houses cabarets nightclubs a Casino airline offices and the Berlin tourist office. A rooftop restaurant serves decent food but the main attraction is the View especially dramatic on a Rainy night when Berlin s two halves seem so conspicuously different. The Bright Neon reds yellows blues and greens of the Kun Damm look like Christmas decorations the lights of cars adding moving ribbons of red and while. In the distance the Victory column in the tier Gaileh Berlin s version of Central Park and the Brandenburg Cate beyond Are bathed in spotlights. On the Distant Side of that where everything is dark is East Berlin. But the Kun Damm is Lively rain or Shine Day or night. If the window displays Don t dazzle you the Street life will. A Young woman with teased Blond hair piled High Over a pretty face with too much makeup. Lounges against a sign in the shadows waiting for a possible companion. With her tight leather miniskirt Black mesh stockings and knee High boots she does t look like a shopper. The sign behind her shows a woman similarly dressed it advertises pretty woman a Only in Berlin a the Western half. S&5 ten ctr spark the burned out Kaiser Wilhelm Church next to an ultramodern Belfry Tower is the Only sobering Monument amid the shops department stores and restaurants along the Kurfurst Tendam. December 20, 1990 stripes Magazine 11