A very upscale and expensive department store. Back in the States it could be comparable to…read moreprobably Bloomingdales or Saks Fifth Avenue, but when I glanced at the purse selection it doesn't look like they have some of the high end European brands for sale such as Burberry, Chanel, Prada, but luckily those boutiques are a short walk away. They mostly carry European brands but have some American brands such as Tommy Hilfiger, Juicy Couture, 7 Jeans. I did see a decent handful of sales tags on every floor, but some of the items were still just too pricey. However, the Longchamp bags on sale were a deal. They also offer a food court and I picked up a ton of German chocolates to bring home in their basement confectionary department. This department has a variety of candies from some you can find at their local grocery and department store such as Kinder to Niederegger to California brand Jelly Belly. Overall I would recommend a stop by Alterhaus just to check it out. At least you can buy some chocolates if nothing else catches your eye. Alterhaus and another department store, Karstadt seem to be the one of the very few stores in the area that close at 8 instead of 7.

Alsterhaus is what Illum is in Copenhagen, but with a niceness scale that is way beyond Illum…read more A rather upscale department store that houses big famous designer brand and interesting decorations inside. It stocks everything from cosmetics (on the lower ground) to home decoration and even cafes, restaurants and food shop. I must add that I love their food shop, especially during Christmas times. Oh, I wanted to buy everything on display. Chocolates, cheese, wine, you name it. There are also areas where you could sit down and enjoy champagne *ahem* or just coffee. Customer service is friendly as far as I have encountered and they have gift-wrapping service on the home decoration floor (can't quite remember which floor was that - 4th?) and it's just located right in front of the lake, hence the name. This place was thoroughly thronged during Christmas shopping season, though - just so you know