The building was designed by german Architect Helmut Kriegbaum and built in 1978. Located directly on the central Leopoldplatz, the Karstadt with its corner location and around 130 m facade is the most distinctive property on Müllerstrasse. The property, which is visible from afar, has direct access to the Leopoldplatz underground station and extends over approx. 9,500 m² of floor space across the entire block between Schulstrasse / Leopoldplatz and Antonstrasse.

• First department store 1881 (‘Tuch-, Manufactur- und Confectionsgeschäft Karstadt’) in Wismar by Rudolph Karstadt
• Highpoint 1912 with opening of large store (10.000sqm) in Hamburg (major German city)
• in-house production of clothing, opening of large material store in Berlin in 1911 and a clothing factory in the following year
• 1999 merging of Karstadt and Quelle (mail-order company)
• 2004 dramatic financial situation- start of crisis and further merging with other larger companies
• 2009 insolvency proceedings, selling of several stores
• 2014 sold entirely to Signa Holding
• Januar 2020 merging of the two major department store chains (GALERIA Karstadt Kaufhof GmbH)
• June 2020 Corona-pandemic enhances crisis – discussion of closing 6 out of 10 stores in Berlin (including Leopolplatz) – politcians argue for saving location at Leopoldplatz as it is social and commercial hub of already beaten district (Susanne Fischer, SPD-Fraktion: „Schließung der Filiale am Leopoldplatz für den Wedding und den Bezirk eine Katastrophe“. (Source:https://www.berliner-woche.de/mitte/c-wirtschaft/bezirk-will-um-weddinger-filiale-kaempfen_a277747, 21/09/2020)
• August 2020, the Leopoldplatz site is to be retained for an initial period of three years with an extension option until 2030. 

APPLICATION DEADLINE: November 22

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