In 1929 one of the then-largest department stores in the world was opened on Hermannplatz in Berlin-Kreuzberg. The nine-storey building with around of usable space (at that time KaDeWe had less than initially offered work to 4,000 employees. The monumental building also had two towers, a roof terrace and several truck lifts as well as its own entrance from the underground railway. It soon became clear, however, that the building was over-dimensioned and, in 1932, a number of floors were empty due to the economic crisis. In 1945 the building was blown up by members of the SS.