Wertheim Department Store

The Wertheim Department Store was built in five construction stages from 1898 to 1927 by the architect Alfred Messel and surpassed all previous German department stores. Even the emperor had come to the inauguration of Wertheim. Alfred Messel had built the department store in the years 1896 to 1912 (I to IV construction phase), from 1925 to 1926 followed by the fifth phase of construction. The sections two and three in the Voßstraße was built from 1899 to 1906. The department store in the depth ranged up to Voßstraße on a property of 27,000 square meters. It had 112,000 sq meters and 70,000 sq meters of retail space. It was the largest department store in Europe. Through an allied bombing attack in late November 1943 the Wertheim complex was damaged. The demolition of the ruins was 1955/1956.