The Kaiserhöfe and the head of the Hohenzollern family

It was only following the restoration in 2008 of the buildings on Unter den Linden that the passageway came to life again. The architects had taken on board the original owners’ wide-ranging vision and had transformed the complex of buildings into an ensemble embodying the flair of a world-class metropolis. The rambling courts with their shops and gastronomy flow seamlessly from their historic model. Certainly, one of central attractions of the new Kaiserhöfe is the Berlin Story bookstore, which is heavily patronized by both Berliners and tourists and which occupies 15,000 square feet. Its owner, Wieland Giebel, is no boss in the ordinary sense of the word. (...)

The history fair Historiale, which has grown into a Berlin institution, has also found a place in the Kaiserhöfe. Its initiator is – how could it be otherwise? – Wieland Giebel. The events that he organizes take place with clockwork regularity at Berlin’s historic sites. The little theater in the basement is well receiv­ed by visitors. This new stage, with its intimate name “Salon” (the drawing room), requires a great variety of small-format pieces. The public is provided with good entertainment, and musical concerts are also featured. At openings and in the following weeks, Giebel hosts an “a capella show.” “Die Bogarts” – a group made up of four artists, impressed the public with their “trip around the world.”

The fountain in the back inner square is the center of the new Kaiserhöfe. The fountain can be seen from Unter den Linden and its delightful ambience attracts the curiosity of people strolling by. The stop is well worth while, and not just for the plashing play of the water. On the ground floor, the eye is particularly drawn to the roundarched display windows and the apertures to the basement. All of the tenants of the office floors and of the apartments on the upper floors can rest assured that they have one of “the finest addresses” in the German capital. The appointments of the rooms, stairway land­ings and hallways are in keeping with this: stucco is to be seen everywhere. Ornate wrought iron work on the elevator and the stair railings are a particular heritage from the Wilhel­­minian era, which was characterized by a fine sense for detail.