Both the Berolinahaus itself and its "twin" Alexanderhaus are the only completed buildings from the large-scale plan of Peter Behrens, with whom the architect won the second place in the competition for the design of the new Alexanderplatz ensemble in 1929. The developer liked his version more than the laureates - the Luckhardt brothers. however, he did not have time to fully embody it.
After World War II, the Berolina House housed the Soviet commandant's office, then the city administration, and later other departments. In 1993 it was bought by Landesbank Berlin, in 1998 - they left the administrative offices, and in 2004 it was acquired by a new owner who reconstructed and returned the building to its original function: the main tenant was the clothing manufacturer C&A, which will use Berolina House as its main store in the capital. Interestingly, the same company was among the first tenants of the building immediately after its opening in 1932.
During the € 50 million renovation, all internal partitions were completely demolished and a new layout was created on the four lower floors, originally intended for shops. The facades have been restored and now correspond to the project of Behrens.
Overall, the entire Alexanderplatz is being actively tidied up: this month
The Galeria Kaufhof department store was reopened, refurbished by the Kleihues + Kleihues bureau, and work began on the space improvement project for gmp architects, WES & Partner landscape designers and Kardorff lighting designers.