 From 1897 a residential building was erected at the site of the present-day Europa-Center, vis-à-vis the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church and likewise designed in a Neo-Romanesque style according to plans by Franz Schwechten.Then part of Berlin's fashionable "New West" (today also known as "City West"), it was, from 1916, home to the "Romanisches Café", a popular meeting place for writers, artists and people in the theatre business, as well as those who aspired to join them.During a RAF air raid in World War II on the night of 22/23 November 1943, the building burnt down and laid in ruins.