Karstadt on the Zeil: farewell to a century

in 2006, was still celebrated once. For several days the visitors of the Karstadt house on the Zeil could even enjoy a luxury of bygone days: There was once a Elevator operator as we once were, even in a black suit and Golden tie. Finally, the Essen-based Department store group celebrated the 125. Anniversary of its founding. And the future seemed to be fine. Seriously was after the turn of the Millennium, the speech, the huge house, with its 34,000 square meters of retail space should be a second KaDeWe Department store.

Manfred Köhler

Deputy Department head of the Regional section of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and editor of the business magazine Metropolitan.

Now, it is different. What was after the merger of Kaufhof and Karstadt in the air, is to become a reality: The Karstadt house on the Zeil is closed, however, the better location, and apparently more frequented Kaufhof remains at the main guard get. Several hundred jobs will be lost, at the same time, in all likelihood, will end after more than a century-long history of the Department stores at this location on Frankfurt's main shopping street. Because after the end of Karstadt at this point, a Department store could move in, it is hard to imagine – what are the trade chain, should it be?

Nothing was ever duration

It all started so well. Grand Bazar is the name of the first warehouse in this place, had built the eponymous Belgian company on the corner of Bronner road in 1903. But only historians know today. Already in 1914, the Hansa was out of it, and in this name it remained even after the destruction in the Second world war and the reconstruction afterwards, now a little further in the direction of Konstablerwache. Although the company Hansa had been in 1952 by the Hertie group to flaggte of the property after an extensive renovation in 1965, to read as in the Helmut nordmeyer released picture band on the Zeil. At the time, a car Park was added. On the corner of Bronner road Woolworth's, right next to the Hertie: how many people know this part of the Zeil.

But the shopping street was ever permanent. Seven years after the Acquisition of Hertie by Karstadt, the Department store has been renamed at this point in the year 2001, the end of a special Frankfurt's history, was Hertie among the four Department store chains in the post-war period, to hoarding, which also counted, which have been from the main metropolis and your home to the Zeil, their flagship; after all, the new owners were so friendly, the renaming under the Motto "change the name of the values stay put". Since 2009, Woolworth is in the nested complex history, there is now selling Primark. In these days, the customers standing in front of the cheap snake, Karstadt needs to close, throws a spotlight on the transformation of the industry, which includes much more than just the shift of market shares in the network.

"street of the temptations"

What remains is the memory of the great time of the Department stores at this location, the discussion of whether the Kaufhof was more attractive or a little larger Karstadt-house, a little bit of a question of faith like whether you prefer Pepsi to drink, or Coca. Long gone are the days of elaborately designed shop Windows before Christmas look, the fashion, the promises of the sales, as the customers pushed it to the roll bars.

Who hangs in Karstadt, from all who works there, will not have this comfort, that although companies are on the Zeil, the permanent change in the terms of, the street itself has survived to date as an outstanding location for the retail trade. From the "street of the temptations," wrote the newspaper in 1950, a Barometer of the economy. She is actually still in the Good and unfortunately also Bad.