Page "Potsdamer Platz" Paragraph 41

On 16 August 1914, less than three weeks after the start of World War I, the Café Piccadilly was given a new name-the more patriotic-sounding Café Vaterland.

However, in 1927-8 the architect and entrepreneur Carl Stahl-Urach ( 1879 – 1933 ) transformed the whole building into a gastronomic fantasy land, financed and further elaborated upon by new owners the Kempinski organisation.

It reopened on 31 August 1928 as the Haus Vaterland, offering " The World in One House ," and could now hold up to 8, 000 guests at a time.

The Café Vaterland had remained largely untouched, but the 1, 200-seat theatre was now a 1, 400-seat cinema.

The rest of the building had been turned into a large number of theme restaurants, all served from a central kitchen containing the largest gas-fuelled cooking plant in Europe.

These included: Rheinterrasse, Löwenbräu ( Bavarian beer restaurant ), Grinzing ( Viennese café and wine bar ), Bodega ( Spanish winery ), Csarda ( Hungarian ), Wild West Bar ( aka the Arizona Bar ) ( American ), Osteria ( Italian ), Kombüse ( Bremen drinking den-literally " galley "), Rübchen ( Teltow, named after the well-known turnip dish Teltower Rübchen, made with turnips grown locally in the small town of Teltow just outside Berlin ), plus a Turkish cafe and Japanese tearoom ; additionally there was a large ballroom.

Up to eight orchestras and dance bands regularly performed in different parts of the building, plus a host of singers, dancers and other entertainers.

It should be pointed out here though that not all of these attractions existed simultaneously, owing to changes in those countries that Germany was or was not allied to, in the volatile years leading up to and during World War II, a good example being the closure of the Wild West Bar following America's entry into the war as an enemy of Germany.