Europa Centre in Berlin

One of the best places to shop in Berlin is the Europa Centre. It is on of the oldest shopping places and is a veritable crown jewel among Berlin's retail outlets. When the Europa Centre was established in 1963 by Karl Heinz Pepper it was considered a very daring venture, which was destined to fail. No one expected this shopping centre to succeed the way did in post war Germany. When the Europa Centre was established it had room for100 stores as well as offices, restaurants, and pubs. Contrary to popular expectations the shopping mall became popular gathering place for locals and a novel new attraction for visitors. The idea of forming the Europa Centre was conceived by Pepper a few days after the Berlin wall was erected. The area he chose to erect the shopping mall used to be the site where the popular "Romanesque Café", used to stand. The "Romanesque Café" was destroyed in `1943 and the place soon degraded into what was often referred as "the blot on Berlin's calling card".

When the Europa Centre finally opened on April 2, 1965 it was then a modern architectural wonder which stood 123.5 meters (405 feet) high, was fully air-conditioned, and boasted of its own ice skating rink like New York's Rockefeller Center.

The Europa Centre's distinguishing feature is the Mercedes star that is affixed on top of the building. The Star has diameters of 10 meters (32 feet) in diameter and rotates once every minute and is visible from many areas of Berlin.

Though there are many glitzy swanky malls in Berlin, Europa Centre remains the favorite of residents because of its history. The Europa Centre is home to dozens of shops restaurants, clubs, and cinemas. This place is also a favorite haunt of tourists and this is ideal place to drop in for some souvenir shopping. If you want to take a bite and down a few pints then you could stop at the Irish pub that is located in the basement.

The Ice skating rink has now been replaced by the Tiffany Café and the Lotus Fountain. Visitors can also head to the Heliport attraction on the roof, where they can take a 7-minute simulated flight to view the sights of Berlin.