Georg Wertheim

Who was Georg Wertheim?

Georg Wertheim was a German merchant and founder of the popular Wertheim chain of department stores.

Wertheim grew up in Stralsund. After being an apprentice at Wolff and Apolant, Wertheim along with his brother Hugo, took over in 1876 their parents' haberdashery, founded in 1875.

The two brothers quickly brought new ideas into the shop: customers were allowed to replace goods, the price of a good was no longer debatable but reliable, and purchases were made strictly with cash. This concept was successful, and after the opening of another branch in Rostock, the first branch in Berlin was founded in 1885.

Wertheim quickly realised the changing demand of the growing city in the period of industrialisation and in 1890 opened the first real department store on Moritzplatz/Oranienstraße in Berlin-Kreuzberg. The shop floor was more generous in size and permitted more elaborate presentation of products for sale, products were put on display, and longer runs allowed lower prices.

However, it increasingly appeared that the limitations, which arose due to the shops' locations within old housing: the rooms were not especially large and made further expansion scarcely possible.