In 1993, thousands of cars backed up in Waltersdorf in front of East Germany’s first IKEA; 33 years later, with 25,000 m², it has nearly twice as much retail space

Anyone heading to Waltersdorf in November 1993 needed patience: When IKEA opened its first furniture store in East Germany just beyond Berlin’s city limits, thousands of cars poured onto the grounds. Some customers were stuck in traffic for up to 40 minutes just to leave the parking lot. Three years after reunification, this was more than just a store opening. Western furniture and a Western shopping experience were now available in the East as well, and the rush showed just how great the curiosity was.

The store in Waltersdorf, then located on a Brandenburg meadow just beyond the city limits, opened with 13,200 m² of retail space and 280 employees. It was the second “Berlin” IKEA after Spandau, where the Swedish company had already opened West Berlin’s first furniture store in February 1979.

The first IKEA in Germany had already opened on October 17, 1974, in Eching near Munich. Eight more stores were added in West Germany in the 1970s, and six in the 1980s. After German reunification, IKEA expanded into East Germany, and Waltersdorf was one of the first examples of this in 1993.

33 years later, the blue-and-yellow furniture store still stands in the same spot on the southeastern outskirts of the city. IKEA now reports 25,000 m² of retail space for the location—nearly twice as much as at the time of its opening.

For many Berliners from the south and east of the city, Waltersdorf remains the go-to destination even today when they need a new bookshelf or sofa. Traffic jams are still part of the experience: traffic on the highway access road often moves at a snail’s pace.

Since then, IKEA has grown in Berlin. Between 1979 and 1993, there were only the two stores in Spandau and Waltersdorf. The Tempelhof branch on Sachsendamm followed in 2003, and Lichtenberg on Landsberger Allee was added in 2010. With 43,000 m², Lichtenberg is now the largest of the Berlin stores, ahead of Spandau with 36,300 m².

So if you’re heading to Waltersdorf this weekend, be sure to allow plenty of time for the drive. That was already the case back in 1993—only back then, people were lining up for the first time to get into the East, rather than out of it.