485BPOS

Filed electronically with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 21, 2012

File No. 002-13628

File No. 811-00043

UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D. C. 20549

FORM N-1A

REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

Pre-Effective Amendment No.

           Post-Effective Amendment No. 191                                       |X|

and/or

REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE INVESTMENT COMPANY ACT OF 1940

Amendment No. 141                                                      |X|

DWS INVESTMENT TRUST

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Charter)

       345 Park Avenue, New York, New York         10154

     (Address of Principal Executive Offices)        (Zip Code)

Registrant’s Telephone Number, including Area Code:  (6l7) 295-1000

John Millette, Vice President and Secretary

            One Beacon Street, Boston, MA  02108            

(Name and Address of Agent for Service)

Copy to:

Thomas Hiller, Esq.

Ropes & Gray

Prudential Tower, 800 Boylston Street

Boston, MA 02199-3600

Copy to:

Thomas Hiller, Esq.

Ropes & Gray

Prudential Tower, 800 Boylston Street

Boston, MA 02199-3600

It is proposed that this filing will become effective (check appropriate box):

| X |	Immediately upon filing pursuant to paragraph (b)
|__|	On _____________ pursuant to paragraph (b)
|__|	60 days after filing pursuant to paragraph (a)(1)
|__|	On _____________ pursuant to paragraph (a)(1)
|__|	75 days after filing pursuant to paragraph (a)(2)
|__|	On _____________ pursuant to paragraph (a)(3) of Rule 485
	If appropriate, check the following box:
|__|	This post-effective amendment designates a new effective date for a previously filed post-effective amendment.

This filing relates solely to the following Funds, each a series of the Registrant:

·   DWS Core Equity Fund — Class R

·   DWS Small Cap Growth Fund — Class R

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Investment Company Act of 1940, the Registrant certifies that it meets all of the requirements for effectiveness of this Registration Statement pursuant to Rule 485(b) under the Securities Act of 1933 and has duly caused this amendment to its Registration Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereto duly authorized, in the City of New York and the State of New York on the 21st day of May 2012.

DWS INVESTMENT TRUST

By:  /s/W. Douglas Beck

W. Douglas Beck*

President

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this Post-Effective Amendment to its Registration Statement has been signed below by the following persons in the capacities and on the dates indicated:

SIGNATURE TITLE DATE

/s/W. Douglas Beck
W. Douglas Beck*	President	May 21, 2012
/s/Paul H. Schubert
Paul H. Schubert	Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer	May 21, 2012
/s/John W. Ballantine
John W. Ballantine*	Trustee	May 21, 2012
/s/Henry P. Becton, Jr.
Henry P. Becton, Jr.*	Trustee	May 21, 2012
/s/Dawn-Marie Driscoll
Dawn-Marie Driscoll*	Trustee	May 21, 2012
/s/Keith R. Fox
Keith R. Fox*	Trustee	May 21, 2012
/s/Paul K. Freeman
Paul K. Freeman*	Chairperson and Trustee	May 21, 2012
/s/Kenneth C. Froewiss
Kenneth C. Froewiss*	Trustee	May 21, 2012
/s/Richard J. Herring
Richard J. Herring*	Trustee	May 21, 2012
/s/William McClayton
William McClayton*	Trustee	May 21, 2012
/s/Rebecca W. Rimel
Rebecca W. Rimel*	Trustee	May 21, 2012
/s/William N. Searcy, Jr.
William N. Searcy, Jr.*	Trustee	May 21, 2012
/s/Jean Gleason Stromberg
Jean Gleason Stromberg*	Trustee	May 21, 2012
/s/Robert H. Wadsworth
Robert H. Wadsworth*	Trustee	May 21, 2012

*By:           /s/Caroline Pearson

Caroline Pearson**

Chief Legal Officer

** Attorney-in-fact pursuant to the powers of attorney that are incorporated herein by reference to Post-Effective Amendment No. 184 to the Registration Statement filed on November 28, 2011; and as filed on April 29, 2008 in Post-Effective Amendment No. 168 to the Registration Statement.

EXHIBIT INDEX

Index No.	Description of Exhibit
EX-101.INS	XBRL Instance Document
EX-101.SCH	XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document
EX-101.CAL	XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase
EX-101.DEF	XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase
EX-101.LAB	XBRL Taxonomy Extension Labels Linkbase
EX-101.PRE	XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase

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DWS Small Cap Growth Fund

DWS Small Cap Growth Fund

Investment Objective

The fund seeks long-term capital growth.

Fees and Expenses of the Fund

These are the fees and expenses you may pay when you buy and hold shares.

SHAREHOLDER FEES (paid directly from your investment)

Shareholder Fees	DWS Small Cap Growth Fund Class R
Redemption/exchange fee on shares owned less than 15 days, as % of redemption proceeds	2.00%

ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES (expenses that you pay each year as a % of the value of your investment)

Annual Fund Operating Expenses		DWS Small Cap Growth Fund Class R
Management fee		0.65%
Distribution/service (12b-1) fees		0.50%
Other expenses	[1]	0.55%
Total annual fund operating expenses		1.70%

EXAMPLE

This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the fund's operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

Expense Example (USD $)	1 Year	3 Years	5 Years	10 Years
DWS Small Cap Growth Fund Class R	173	536	923	2,009

PORTFOLIO TURNOVER

The fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or "turns over" its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover may indicate higher transaction costs and may mean higher taxes if you are investing in a taxable account. These costs are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the expense example, and can affect the fund's performance.

Portfolio turnover rate for fiscal year 2011: 67%.

Principal Investment Strategy

Main investments. Under normal circumstances, the fund invests at least 80% of its assets, determined at the time of purchase, in stocks and other securities with equity characteristics of US smaller capitalization companies. For purposes of this 80% investment limitation, the small capitalization equity universe is defined as the bottom 20% of the total domestic equity market capitalization (at the time of initial investment), using a minimum market capitalization of $10 million. As of December 31, 2011, companies in which the fund typically invests have a market capitalization range of between $200 million and $3.0 billion. The fund may also invest in other types of equity securities such as preferred stocks or convertible securities. The fund may invest up to 20% of its assets in the stocks of non-US companies and large capitalization stocks.

Management process. In choosing stocks, portfolio management focuses on individual security selection rather than industry selection. Portfolio management uses an active process that combines financial analysis with company visits to evaluate management and strategies. Each portfolio manager has specific sector responsibilities, with investment discretion over securities within sectors.

Company research lies at the heart of the investment process. Portfolio management uses a "bottom-up" approach to picking securities, focusing on stocks that it believes have superior growth prospects and above average near-to-intermediate term performance potential.

Portfolio management emphasizes individual selection of small and mid-sized company stocks across all economic sectors, early in their growth cycles and which portfolio management believes to have the potential to be the blue chips of the future. Portfolio management generally seeks companies it believes have a leading or dominant position in their niche markets, a high rate of return on invested capital and the ability to finance a major part of future growth from internal sources. Portfolio management also looks for estimated above-average growth in revenues and earnings and a balance sheet that portfolio management believes can support this growth potential with sufficient working capital and manageable levels of debt.

Portfolio management follows a disciplined selling process that is designed to lessen risk, and will normally sell a stock when its price reaches portfolio management's expectations or portfolio management believes there is a material change in the company's fundamentals, other investments offer better opportunities or the market capitalization of a stock is distorting the weighted average market capitalization of the fund.

Securities Lending. The fund may lend securities (up to one-third of total assets) to approved institutions.

Main Risks

There are several risk factors that could hurt the fund's performance, cause you to lose money or cause the fund's performance to trail that of other investments. The fund may not achieve its investment objective, and is not intended to be a complete investment program. An investment in the fund is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency.

Stock market risk. When stock prices fall, you should expect the value of your investment to fall as well. Stock prices can be hurt by poor management on the part of the stock's issuer, shrinking product demand and other business risks. These may affect single companies as well as groups of companies. In addition, movements in financial markets may adversely affect a stock's price, regardless of how well the company performs. To the extent the fund invests in a particular capitalization or market sector, the fund's performance may be proportionately affected by that segment's general performance.

Small company risk. Small company stocks tend to be more volatile than medium-sized or large company stocks. Small companies are less widely followed by stock analysts and less information about them is available to investors. Industry-wide reversals may have a greater impact on small companies, since they may lack the financial resources of larger companies. Small company stocks are typically less liquid than large company stocks.

Medium-sized company risk. Medium-sized company stocks tend to be more volatile than large company stocks. Medium-sized companies are less widely followed by stock analysts and less information about them is available to investors. Industry-wide reversals may have a greater impact on medium-sized companies, since they lack the financial resources of larger companies. Medium-sized company stocks are typically less liquid than large company stocks.

Growth investing risk. As a category, growth stocks may underperform value stocks (and the stock market as a whole) over any period of time. Because the prices of growth stocks are based largely on the expectation of future earnings, growth stock prices can decline rapidly and significantly in reaction to negative news about such factors as earnings, the economy, political developments, or other news.

Focus risk. To the extent that the fund focuses its investments in particular industries, asset classes or sectors of the economy, any market price movements, regulatory or technological changes, or economic conditions affecting companies in those industries, asset classes or sectors will have a significant impact on the fund's performance. For example, consumer goods companies could be hurt by a rise in unemployment or technology companies could be hurt by such factors as market saturation, price competition and rapid obsolescence.

Security selection risk. The securities in the fund's portfolio may decline in value. Portfolio management could be wrong in its analysis of industries, companies, economic trends, the relative attractiveness of different securities or other matters.

Foreign investment risk. The fund faces the risks inherent in foreign investing. Adverse political, economic or social developments could undermine the value of the fund's investments or prevent the fund from realizing their full value. Financial reporting standards for companies based in foreign markets differ from those in the US. Additionally, foreign securities markets generally are smaller and less liquid than US markets. To the extent that the fund invests in non-US dollar denominated foreign securities, changes in currency exchange rates may affect the US dollar value of foreign securities or the income or gain received on these securities.

Emerging markets risk. Foreign investment risks are greater in emerging markets than in developed markets. Investments in emerging markets are often considered speculative.

Securities lending risk. Any decline in the value of a portfolio security that occurs while the security is out on loan is borne by the fund and will adversely affect performance. Also, there may be delays in recovery of securities loaned or even a loss of rights in the collateral should the borrower of the securities fail financially while holding the security.

Counterparty risk. A financial institution or other counterparty with whom the fund does business, or that underwrites, distributes or guarantees any investments or contracts that the fund owns or is otherwise exposed to, may decline in financial health and become unable to honor its commitments, which could cause losses for the fund or could delay the return or delivery of collateral or other assets to the fund.

Liquidity risk. In certain situations, it may be difficult or impossible to sell an investment in an orderly fashion at an acceptable price.

Pricing risk. If market conditions make it difficult to value some investments, the fund may value these investments using more subjective methods, such as fair value pricing. In such cases, the value determined for an investment could be different than the value realized upon such investment's sale. As a result, you could pay more than the market value when buying fund shares or receive less than the market value when selling fund shares.

Past Performance

How a fund's returns vary from year to year can give an idea of its risk; so can comparing fund performance to overall market performance (as measured by an appropriate market index). Past performance may not indicate future results. All performance figures below assume that dividends were reinvested. For more recent performance figures, go to www.dws-investments.com (the Web site does not form a part of this prospectus) or call the phone number for your share class included in this prospectus.

Class R is a new class of shares and therefore does not have a full calendar year of performance available. In the bar chart and table below, the performance figures reflect the historical performance of the fund's Class A shares. Class R shares will be invested in the same portfolio of securities as Class A shares and thus would have had substantially similar performance. Performance would differ only to the extent that Class R shares and Class A shares do not have the same fees and expenses. Class A shares commenced operations on June 28, 2002. Class A performance prior to class inception is based on the performance of the fund's original share class, Investment Class shares, adjusted to reflect the higher expenses and applicable sales charges of Class A. Investment Class shares merged into Class S shares on October 20, 2006. Class A shares are offered in a separate prospectus.

CALENDAR YEAR TOTAL RETURNS (%) (Class A)

Best Quarter: 25.24%, Q2 2009 Worst Quarter: -32.52%, Q4 2008

Year-to-Date as of 3/31/2012: 13.91%

Average Annual Total Returns

(For periods ended 12/31/2011 expressed as a %)

These returns include sales charges, if any. Indexes have no sales charges and cannot be invested in directly. After-tax returns reflect the historical highest individual federal income tax rates, but do not reflect any state or local taxes. Your actual after-tax returns may be different. After-tax returns are not relevant to shares held in an IRA, 401(k) or other tax-advantaged investment plan.

Average Annual Total Returns DWS Small Cap Growth Fund	Class Inception	1 Year	5 Years	10 Years
Class A before tax	Jun. 28, 2002	(3.23%)	(1.65%)	0.99%
Class A After tax on distributions		(3.23%)	(1.79%)	0.49%
Class A After tax on distributions and sale of fund shares		(2.10%)	(1.43%)	0.62%
Russell 2000 Growth Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)		(2.91%)	2.09%	4.48%

[1] "Other Expenses" are based on estimated amounts for the current fiscal year.

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DWS Core Equity Fund

DWS Core Equity Fund

(formerly DWS Growth & Income Fund)

Investment Objective

The fund seeks long-term growth of capital, current income and growth of income.

Fees and Expenses of the Fund

These are the fees and expenses you may pay when you buy and hold shares.

SHAREHOLDER FEES

(paid directly from your investment)

Shareholder Fees (USD $)	DWS Core Equity Fund Class R
SHAREHOLDER FEES (paid directly from your investment)	none

ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES (expenses that you pay each year as a % of the value of your investment)

Annual Fund Operating Expenses		DWS Core Equity Fund Class R
Management fee		0.36%
Distribution/service (12b-1) fees		0.50%
Other expenses	[1]	0.38%
Total annual fund operating expenses		1.24%

EXAMPLE

This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the fund's operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

Expense Example (USD $)	1 Year	3 Years	5 Years	10 Years
DWS Core Equity Fund Class R	126	393	681	1,500

PORTFOLIO TURNOVER

The fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or "turns over" its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover may indicate higher transaction costs and may mean higher taxes if you are investing in a taxable account. These costs are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the expense example, and can affect the fund's performance.

Portfolio turnover rate for fiscal year 2011: 191%.

Principal Investment Strategy

Main investments. Under normal circumstances, the fund invests at least 80% of total assets, determined at the time of purchase, in equities, mainly common stocks. Although the fund can invest in companies of any size and from any country, it invests primarily in large US companies. Portfolio management may favor securities from different industries and companies at different times. At times, the fund's assets may be invested in securities in relatively few industries or sectors.

Management process. Portfolio management uses both quantitative and fundamental analysis to evaluate each company's stock price relative to the company's earnings, operating trends, market outlook and other measures of performance potential.

Portfolio management will normally sell a stock when it believes the fundamental factors have changed, other investments offer better opportunities or in the course of adjusting the fund's emphasis on or within a given industry.

Derivatives. Portfolio management generally may use futures contracts, which are a type of derivative (a contract whose value is based on, for example, indices, currencies or securities), as a substitute for direct investment in a particular asset class or to keep cash on hand to meet shareholder redemptions.

The fund may also use various types of derivatives (i) for hedging purposes; (ii) for risk management; (iii) for non-hedging purposes to seek to enhance potential gains; or (iv) as a substitute for direct investment in a particular asset class or to keep cash on hand to meet shareholder redemptions.

Securities Lending. The fund may lend securities (up to one-third of total assets) to approved institutions.

Main Risks

There are several risk factors that could hurt the fund's performance, cause you to lose money or cause the fund's performance to trail that of other investments. The fund may not achieve its investment objective, and is not intended to be a complete investment program. An investment in the fund is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency.

Stock market risk. When stock prices fall, you should expect the value of your investment to fall as well. Stock prices can be hurt by poor management on the part of the stock's issuer, shrinking product demand and other business risks. These may affect single companies as well as groups of companies. In addition, movements in financial markets may adversely affect a stock's price, regardless of how well the company performs. To the extent the fund invests in a particular capitalization or market sector, the fund's performance may be proportionately affected by that segment's general performance.

Focus risk. To the extent that the fund focuses its investments in particular industries, asset classes or sectors of the economy, any market price movements, regulatory or technological changes, or economic conditions affecting companies in those industries, asset classes or sectors will have a significant impact on the fund's performance. For example, consumer goods companies could be hurt by a rise in unemployment or technology companies could be hurt by such factors as market saturation, price competition and rapid obsolescence.

Security selection risk. The securities in the fund's portfolio may decline in value. Portfolio management could be wrong in its analysis of industries, companies, economic trends, the relative attractiveness of different securities or other matters.

Foreign investment risk. The fund faces the risks inherent in foreign investing. Adverse political, economic or social developments could undermine the value of the fund's investments or prevent the fund from realizing their full value. Financial reporting standards for companies based in foreign markets differ from those in the US. Additionally, foreign securities markets generally are smaller and less liquid than US markets. To the extent that the fund invests in non-US dollar denominated foreign securities, changes in currency exchange rates may affect the US dollar value of foreign securities or the income or gain received on these securities.

Medium-sized company risk. Medium-sized company stocks tend to be more volatile than large company stocks. Medium-sized companies are less widely followed by stock analysts and less information about them is available to investors. Industry-wide reversals may have a greater impact on medium-sized companies, since they lack the financial resources of larger companies. Medium-sized company stocks are typically less liquid than large company stocks.

Small company risk. Small company stocks tend to be more volatile than medium-sized or large company stocks. Small companies are less widely followed by stock analysts and less information about them is available to investors. Industry-wide reversals may have a greater impact on small companies, since they may lack the financial resources of larger companies. Small company stocks are typically less liquid than large company stocks.

Securities lending risk. Any decline in the value of a portfolio security that occurs while the security is out on loan is borne by the fund and will adversely affect performance. Also, there may be delays in recovery of securities loaned or even a loss of rights in the collateral should the borrower of the securities fail financially while holding the security.

Derivatives risk. Risks associated with derivatives include the risk that the derivative is not well correlated with the security, index or currency to which it relates; the risk that derivatives may result in losses or missed opportunities; the risk that the fund will be unable to sell the derivative because of an illiquid secondary market; the risk that a counterparty is unwilling or unable to meet its obligation; and the risk that the derivative transaction could expose the fund to the effects of leverage, which could increase the fund's exposure to the market and magnify potential losses.

Counterparty risk. A financial institution or other counterparty with whom the fund does business, or that underwrites, distributes or guarantees any investments or contracts that the fund owns or is otherwise exposed to, may decline in financial health and become unable to honor its commitments, which could cause losses for the fund or could delay the return or delivery of collateral or other assets to the fund.

Liquidity risk. In certain situations, it may be difficult or impossible to sell an investment in an orderly fashion at an acceptable price.

Pricing risk. If market conditions make it difficult to value some investments, the fund may value these investments using more subjective methods, such as fair value pricing. In such cases, the value determined for an investment could be different than the value realized upon such investment's sale. As a result, you could pay more than the market value when buying fund shares or receive less than the market value when selling fund shares.

Past Performance

How a fund's returns vary from year to year can give an idea of its risk; so can comparing fund performance to overall market performance (as measured by an appropriate market index). Past performance may not indicate future results. All performance figures below assume that dividends were reinvested. For more recent performance figures, go to www.dws-investments.com (the Web site does not form a part of this prospectus) or call the phone number for your share class included in this prospectus.

Class R is a new class of shares and therefore does not have a full calendar year of performance available. In the bar chart and table below, the performance figures are based on the performance of the fund's Class A shares, adjusted to reflect the higher expenses of Class R. Class A shares commenced operations on August 2, 1999 and are offered in a separate prospectus.

CALENDAR YEAR TOTAL RETURNS (%) (Class R)

Best Quarter: 18.04%, Q3 2009 Worst Quarter: -22.01%, Q4 2008

Year-to-Date as of 3/31/2012: 13.10%

Average Annual Total Returns

(For periods ended 12/31/2011 expressed as a %)

After-tax returns reflect the historical highest individual federal income tax rates, but do not reflect any state or local taxes. Your actual after-tax returns may be different. After-tax returns are not relevant to shares held in an IRA, 401(k) or other tax-advantaged investment plan.

Average Annual Total Returns DWS Core Equity Fund	Class Inception	1 Year	5 Years	10 Years
Class R before tax	May 01, 2012	(0.75%)	(1.65%)	1.36%
Class R After tax on distributions		(3.57%)	(3.17%)	0.22%
Class R After tax on distributions and sale of fund shares		(2.85%)	(2.17%)	0.62%
Russell 1000 Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)		1.50%	(0.02%)	3.34%

[1] "Other Expenses" are based on estimated amounts for the current fiscal year.

XML

Label

Element

Value

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

Document Type

dei_DocumentType

485BPOS

Document Period End Date

dei_DocumentPeriodEndDate

Apr. 30, 2012

Registrant Name

dei_EntityRegistrantName

DWS INVESTMENT TRUST

Central Index Key

dei_EntityCentralIndexKey

0000088064

Amendment Flag

dei_AmendmentFlag

false

Document Creation Date

dei_DocumentCreationDate

Apr. 30, 2012

Document Effective Date

dei_DocumentEffectiveDate

May 01, 2012

Prospectus Date

rr_ProspectusDate

May 01, 2012

DWS Core Equity Fund

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

Risk/Return [Heading]

rr_RiskReturnHeading

DWS Core Equity Fund

(formerly DWS Growth & Income Fund)

Objective [Heading]

rr_ObjectiveHeading

Investment Objective

Objective, Primary [Text Block]

rr_ObjectivePrimaryTextBlock

The fund seeks long-term growth of capital, current income and growth of income.

Expense [Heading]

rr_ExpenseHeading

Fees and Expenses of the Fund

Expense Narrative [Text Block]

rr_ExpenseNarrativeTextBlock

These are the fees and expenses you may pay when you buy and hold shares.

Shareholder Fees:

rr_ShareholderFeesAbstract

Shareholder Fees Caption [Text]

rr_ShareholderFeesCaption

SHAREHOLDER FEES

(paid directly from your investment)

Operating Expenses:

rr_OperatingExpensesAbstract

Operating Expenses Caption [Text]

rr_OperatingExpensesCaption

ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES (expenses that you pay each year as a % of the value of your investment)

Portfolio Turnover [Heading]

rr_PortfolioTurnoverHeading

PORTFOLIO TURNOVER

Portfolio Turnover [Text Block]

rr_PortfolioTurnoverTextBlock

The fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or "turns over" its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover may indicate higher transaction costs and may mean higher taxes if you are investing in a taxable account. These costs are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the expense example, and can affect the fund's performance.

Portfolio turnover rate for fiscal year 2011: 191%.

Portfolio Turnover, Rate

rr_PortfolioTurnoverRate

191.00%

Other Expenses, New Fund, Based on Estimates [Text]

rr_OtherExpensesNewFundBasedOnEstimates

"Other Expenses" are based on estimated amounts.

Expense Example:

rr_ExpenseExampleAbstract

Expense Example [Heading]

rr_ExpenseExampleHeading

EXAMPLE

Expense Example Narrative [Text Block]

rr_ExpenseExampleNarrativeTextBlock

This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the fund's operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

Strategy [Heading]

rr_StrategyHeading

Principal Investment Strategy

Strategy Narrative [Text Block]

rr_StrategyNarrativeTextBlock

Main investments. Under normal circumstances, the fund invests at least 80% of total assets, determined at the time of purchase, in equities, mainly common stocks. Although the fund can invest in companies of any size and from any country, it invests primarily in large US companies. Portfolio management may favor securities from different industries and companies at different times. At times, the fund's assets may be invested in securities in relatively few industries or sectors.

Management process. Portfolio management uses both quantitative and fundamental analysis to evaluate each company's stock price relative to the company's earnings, operating trends, market outlook and other measures of performance potential.

Portfolio management will normally sell a stock when it believes the fundamental factors have changed, other investments offer better opportunities or in the course of adjusting the fund's emphasis on or within a given industry.

Derivatives. Portfolio management generally may use futures contracts, which are a type of derivative (a contract whose value is based on, for example, indices, currencies or securities), as a substitute for direct investment in a particular asset class or to keep cash on hand to meet shareholder redemptions.

The fund may also use various types of derivatives (i) for hedging purposes; (ii) for risk management; (iii) for non-hedging purposes to seek to enhance potential gains; or (iv) as a substitute for direct investment in a particular asset class or to keep cash on hand to meet shareholder redemptions.

Securities Lending. The fund may lend securities (up to one-third of total assets) to approved institutions.

Risk [Heading]

rr_RiskHeading

Main Risks

Risk Narrative [Text Block]

rr_RiskNarrativeTextBlock

There are several risk factors that could hurt the fund's performance, cause you to lose money or cause the fund's performance to trail that of other investments. The fund may not achieve its investment objective, and is not intended to be a complete investment program. An investment in the fund is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency.

Stock market risk. When stock prices fall, you should expect the value of your investment to fall as well. Stock prices can be hurt by poor management on the part of the stock's issuer, shrinking product demand and other business risks. These may affect single companies as well as groups of companies. In addition, movements in financial markets may adversely affect a stock's price, regardless of how well the company performs. To the extent the fund invests in a particular capitalization or market sector, the fund's performance may be proportionately affected by that segment's general performance.

Focus risk. To the extent that the fund focuses its investments in particular industries, asset classes or sectors of the economy, any market price movements, regulatory or technological changes, or economic conditions affecting companies in those industries, asset classes or sectors will have a significant impact on the fund's performance. For example, consumer goods companies could be hurt by a rise in unemployment or technology companies could be hurt by such factors as market saturation, price competition and rapid obsolescence.

Security selection risk. The securities in the fund's portfolio may decline in value. Portfolio management could be wrong in its analysis of industries, companies, economic trends, the relative attractiveness of different securities or other matters.

Foreign investment risk. The fund faces the risks inherent in foreign investing. Adverse political, economic or social developments could undermine the value of the fund's investments or prevent the fund from realizing their full value. Financial reporting standards for companies based in foreign markets differ from those in the US. Additionally, foreign securities markets generally are smaller and less liquid than US markets. To the extent that the fund invests in non-US dollar denominated foreign securities, changes in currency exchange rates may affect the US dollar value of foreign securities or the income or gain received on these securities.

Medium-sized company risk. Medium-sized company stocks tend to be more volatile than large company stocks. Medium-sized companies are less widely followed by stock analysts and less information about them is available to investors. Industry-wide reversals may have a greater impact on medium-sized companies, since they lack the financial resources of larger companies. Medium-sized company stocks are typically less liquid than large company stocks.

Small company risk. Small company stocks tend to be more volatile than medium-sized or large company stocks. Small companies are less widely followed by stock analysts and less information about them is available to investors. Industry-wide reversals may have a greater impact on small companies, since they may lack the financial resources of larger companies. Small company stocks are typically less liquid than large company stocks.

Securities lending risk. Any decline in the value of a portfolio security that occurs while the security is out on loan is borne by the fund and will adversely affect performance. Also, there may be delays in recovery of securities loaned or even a loss of rights in the collateral should the borrower of the securities fail financially while holding the security.

Derivatives risk. Risks associated with derivatives include the risk that the derivative is not well correlated with the security, index or currency to which it relates; the risk that derivatives may result in losses or missed opportunities; the risk that the fund will be unable to sell the derivative because of an illiquid secondary market; the risk that a counterparty is unwilling or unable to meet its obligation; and the risk that the derivative transaction could expose the fund to the effects of leverage, which could increase the fund's exposure to the market and magnify potential losses.

Counterparty risk. A financial institution or other counterparty with whom the fund does business, or that underwrites, distributes or guarantees any investments or contracts that the fund owns or is otherwise exposed to, may decline in financial health and become unable to honor its commitments, which could cause losses for the fund or could delay the return or delivery of collateral or other assets to the fund.

Liquidity risk. In certain situations, it may be difficult or impossible to sell an investment in an orderly fashion at an acceptable price.

Pricing risk. If market conditions make it difficult to value some investments, the fund may value these investments using more subjective methods, such as fair value pricing. In such cases, the value determined for an investment could be different than the value realized upon such investment's sale. As a result, you could pay more than the market value when buying fund shares or receive less than the market value when selling fund shares.

Risk Lose Money [Text]

rr_RiskLoseMoney

There are several risk factors that could hurt the fund's performance, cause you to lose money or cause the fund's performance to trail that of other investments.

Risk Not Insured Depository Institution [Text]

rr_RiskNotInsuredDepositoryInstitution

An investment in the fund is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency.

Bar Chart and Performance Table [Heading]

rr_BarChartAndPerformanceTableHeading

Past Performance

Performance Narrative [Text Block]

rr_PerformanceNarrativeTextBlock

How a fund's returns vary from year to year can give an idea of its risk; so can comparing fund performance to overall market performance (as measured by an appropriate market index). Past performance may not indicate future results. All performance figures below assume that dividends were reinvested. For more recent performance figures, go to www.dws-investments.com (the Web site does not form a part of this prospectus) or call the phone number for your share class included in this prospectus.

Class R is a new class of shares and therefore does not have a full calendar year of performance available. In the bar chart and table below, the performance figures are based on the performance of the fund's Class A shares, adjusted to reflect the higher expenses of Class R. Class A shares commenced operations on August 2, 1999 and are offered in a separate prospectus.

Performance Information Illustrates Variability of Returns [Text]

rr_PerformanceInformationIllustratesVariabilityOfReturns

How a fund's returns vary from year to year can give an idea of its risk; so can comparing fund performance to overall market performance (as measured by an appropriate market index).

Performance One Year or Less [Text]

rr_PerformanceOneYearOrLess

Class R is a new class of shares and therefore does not have a full calendar year of performance available.

Performance Availability Website Address [Text]

rr_PerformanceAvailabilityWebSiteAddress

www.dws-investments.com

Performance Past Does Not Indicate Future [Text]

rr_PerformancePastDoesNotIndicateFuture

Past performance may not indicate future results.

Bar Chart Table:

rr_BarChartTableAbstract

Bar Chart [Heading]

rr_BarChartHeading

CALENDAR YEAR TOTAL RETURNS (%) (Class R)

Bar Chart Closing [Text Block]

rr_BarChartClosingTextBlock

Best Quarter: 18.04%, Q3 2009 Worst Quarter: -22.01%, Q4 2008

Year-to-Date as of 3/31/2012: 13.10%

Average Annual Return:

rr_AverageAnnualReturnAbstract

Performance Table Heading

rr_PerformanceTableHeading

Average Annual Total Returns

(For periods ended 12/31/2011 expressed as a %)

Performance Table Uses Highest Federal Rate

rr_PerformanceTableUsesHighestFederalRate

After-tax returns reflect the historical highest individual federal income tax rates, but do not reflect any state or local taxes.

Performance Table Not Relevant to Tax Deferred

rr_PerformanceTableNotRelevantToTaxDeferred

After-tax returns are not relevant to shares held in an IRA, 401(k) or other tax-advantaged investment plan

Performance Table Narrative

rr_PerformanceTableNarrativeTextBlock

After-tax returns reflect the historical highest individual federal income tax rates, but do not reflect any state or local taxes. Your actual after-tax returns may be different. After-tax returns are not relevant to shares held in an IRA, 401(k) or other tax-advantaged investment plan.

DWS Core Equity Fund | Class R

Shareholder Fees:

rr_ShareholderFeesAbstract

SHAREHOLDER FEES (paid directly from your investment)

rr_ShareholderFeeOther

none

Operating Expenses:

rr_OperatingExpensesAbstract

Management fee

rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets

0.36%

Distribution/service (12b-1) fees

rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets

0.50%

Other expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.38%

^[1]

Total annual fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

1.24%

Expense Example:

rr_ExpenseExampleAbstract

1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

126

3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

393

5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

681

10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

1,500

Bar Chart Table:

rr_BarChartTableAbstract

2002

rr_AnnualReturn2002

(23.97%)

2003

rr_AnnualReturn2003

26.04%

2004

rr_AnnualReturn2004

9.20%

2005

rr_AnnualReturn2005

5.29%

2006

rr_AnnualReturn2006

12.83%

2007

rr_AnnualReturn2007

0.19%

2008

rr_AnnualReturn2008

(38.85%)

2009

rr_AnnualReturn2009

33.35%

2010

rr_AnnualReturn2010

13.51%

2011

rr_AnnualReturn2011

(0.75%)

Year to Date Return, Label

rr_YearToDateReturnLabel

Year-to-Date

Bar Chart, Year to Date Return, Date

rr_BarChartYearToDateReturnDate

Mar. 31, 2012

Bar Chart, Year to Date Return

rr_BarChartYearToDateReturn

13.10%

Highest Quarterly Return, Label

rr_HighestQuarterlyReturnLabel

Best Quarter

Highest Quarterly Return, Date

rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturnDate

Sep. 30, 2009

Highest Quarterly Return

rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturn

18.04%

Lowest Quarterly Return, Label

rr_LowestQuarterlyReturnLabel

Worst Quarter

Lowest Quarterly Return, Date

rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturnDate

Dec. 31, 2008

Lowest Quarterly Return

rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturn

(22.01%)

DWS Core Equity Fund | before tax | Class R

Average Annual Return:

rr_AverageAnnualReturnAbstract

1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

(0.75%)

5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

(1.65%)

10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

1.36%

Class Inception

rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate

May 01, 2012

DWS Core Equity Fund | After tax on distributions | Class R

Average Annual Return:

rr_AverageAnnualReturnAbstract

1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

(3.57%)

5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

(3.17%)

10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

0.22%

DWS Core Equity Fund | After tax on distributions and sale of fund shares | Class R

Average Annual Return:

rr_AverageAnnualReturnAbstract

1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

(2.85%)

5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

(2.17%)

10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

0.62%

DWS Core Equity Fund | Russell 1000 Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)

Average Annual Return:

rr_AverageAnnualReturnAbstract

1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

1.50%

5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

(0.02%)

10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

3.34%

DWS Small Cap Growth Fund

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

Risk/Return [Heading]

rr_RiskReturnHeading

DWS Small Cap Growth Fund

Objective [Heading]

rr_ObjectiveHeading

Investment Objective

Objective, Primary [Text Block]

rr_ObjectivePrimaryTextBlock

The fund seeks long-term capital growth.

Expense [Heading]

rr_ExpenseHeading

Fees and Expenses of the Fund

Expense Narrative [Text Block]

rr_ExpenseNarrativeTextBlock

These are the fees and expenses you may pay when you buy and hold shares.

Shareholder Fees:

rr_ShareholderFeesAbstract

Shareholder Fees Caption [Text]

rr_ShareholderFeesCaption

SHAREHOLDER FEES (paid directly from your investment)

Operating Expenses:

rr_OperatingExpensesAbstract

Operating Expenses Caption [Text]

rr_OperatingExpensesCaption

ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES (expenses that you pay each year as a % of the value of your investment)

Portfolio Turnover [Heading]

rr_PortfolioTurnoverHeading

PORTFOLIO TURNOVER

Portfolio Turnover [Text Block]

rr_PortfolioTurnoverTextBlock

The fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or "turns over" its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover may indicate higher transaction costs and may mean higher taxes if you are investing in a taxable account. These costs are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the expense example, and can affect the fund's performance.

Portfolio turnover rate for fiscal year 2011: 67%.

Portfolio Turnover, Rate

rr_PortfolioTurnoverRate

67.00%

Other Expenses, New Fund, Based on Estimates [Text]

rr_OtherExpensesNewFundBasedOnEstimates

"Other Expenses" are based on estimated amounts.

Expense Example:

rr_ExpenseExampleAbstract

Expense Example [Heading]

rr_ExpenseExampleHeading

EXAMPLE

Expense Example Narrative [Text Block]

rr_ExpenseExampleNarrativeTextBlock

This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the fund's operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

Strategy [Heading]

rr_StrategyHeading

Principal Investment Strategy

Strategy Narrative [Text Block]

rr_StrategyNarrativeTextBlock

Main investments. Under normal circumstances, the fund invests at least 80% of its assets, determined at the time of purchase, in stocks and other securities with equity characteristics of US smaller capitalization companies. For purposes of this 80% investment limitation, the small capitalization equity universe is defined as the bottom 20% of the total domestic equity market capitalization (at the time of initial investment), using a minimum market capitalization of $10 million. As of December 31, 2011, companies in which the fund typically invests have a market capitalization range of between $200 million and $3.0 billion. The fund may also invest in other types of equity securities such as preferred stocks or convertible securities. The fund may invest up to 20% of its assets in the stocks of non-US companies and large capitalization stocks.

Management process. In choosing stocks, portfolio management focuses on individual security selection rather than industry selection. Portfolio management uses an active process that combines financial analysis with company visits to evaluate management and strategies. Each portfolio manager has specific sector responsibilities, with investment discretion over securities within sectors.

Company research lies at the heart of the investment process. Portfolio management uses a "bottom-up" approach to picking securities, focusing on stocks that it believes have superior growth prospects and above average near-to-intermediate term performance potential.

Portfolio management emphasizes individual selection of small and mid-sized company stocks across all economic sectors, early in their growth cycles and which portfolio management believes to have the potential to be the blue chips of the future. Portfolio management generally seeks companies it believes have a leading or dominant position in their niche markets, a high rate of return on invested capital and the ability to finance a major part of future growth from internal sources. Portfolio management also looks for estimated above-average growth in revenues and earnings and a balance sheet that portfolio management believes can support this growth potential with sufficient working capital and manageable levels of debt.

Portfolio management follows a disciplined selling process that is designed to lessen risk, and will normally sell a stock when its price reaches portfolio management's expectations or portfolio management believes there is a material change in the company's fundamentals, other investments offer better opportunities or the market capitalization of a stock is distorting the weighted average market capitalization of the fund.

Securities Lending. The fund may lend securities (up to one-third of total assets) to approved institutions.

Risk [Heading]

rr_RiskHeading

Main Risks

Risk Narrative [Text Block]

rr_RiskNarrativeTextBlock

There are several risk factors that could hurt the fund's performance, cause you to lose money or cause the fund's performance to trail that of other investments. The fund may not achieve its investment objective, and is not intended to be a complete investment program. An investment in the fund is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency.

Stock market risk. When stock prices fall, you should expect the value of your investment to fall as well. Stock prices can be hurt by poor management on the part of the stock's issuer, shrinking product demand and other business risks. These may affect single companies as well as groups of companies. In addition, movements in financial markets may adversely affect a stock's price, regardless of how well the company performs. To the extent the fund invests in a particular capitalization or market sector, the fund's performance may be proportionately affected by that segment's general performance.

Small company risk. Small company stocks tend to be more volatile than medium-sized or large company stocks. Small companies are less widely followed by stock analysts and less information about them is available to investors. Industry-wide reversals may have a greater impact on small companies, since they may lack the financial resources of larger companies. Small company stocks are typically less liquid than large company stocks.

Medium-sized company risk. Medium-sized company stocks tend to be more volatile than large company stocks. Medium-sized companies are less widely followed by stock analysts and less information about them is available to investors. Industry-wide reversals may have a greater impact on medium-sized companies, since they lack the financial resources of larger companies. Medium-sized company stocks are typically less liquid than large company stocks.

Growth investing risk. As a category, growth stocks may underperform value stocks (and the stock market as a whole) over any period of time. Because the prices of growth stocks are based largely on the expectation of future earnings, growth stock prices can decline rapidly and significantly in reaction to negative news about such factors as earnings, the economy, political developments, or other news.

Focus risk. To the extent that the fund focuses its investments in particular industries, asset classes or sectors of the economy, any market price movements, regulatory or technological changes, or economic conditions affecting companies in those industries, asset classes or sectors will have a significant impact on the fund's performance. For example, consumer goods companies could be hurt by a rise in unemployment or technology companies could be hurt by such factors as market saturation, price competition and rapid obsolescence.

Security selection risk. The securities in the fund's portfolio may decline in value. Portfolio management could be wrong in its analysis of industries, companies, economic trends, the relative attractiveness of different securities or other matters.

Foreign investment risk. The fund faces the risks inherent in foreign investing. Adverse political, economic or social developments could undermine the value of the fund's investments or prevent the fund from realizing their full value. Financial reporting standards for companies based in foreign markets differ from those in the US. Additionally, foreign securities markets generally are smaller and less liquid than US markets. To the extent that the fund invests in non-US dollar denominated foreign securities, changes in currency exchange rates may affect the US dollar value of foreign securities or the income or gain received on these securities.

Emerging markets risk. Foreign investment risks are greater in emerging markets than in developed markets. Investments in emerging markets are often considered speculative.

Securities lending risk. Any decline in the value of a portfolio security that occurs while the security is out on loan is borne by the fund and will adversely affect performance. Also, there may be delays in recovery of securities loaned or even a loss of rights in the collateral should the borrower of the securities fail financially while holding the security.

Counterparty risk. A financial institution or other counterparty with whom the fund does business, or that underwrites, distributes or guarantees any investments or contracts that the fund owns or is otherwise exposed to, may decline in financial health and become unable to honor its commitments, which could cause losses for the fund or could delay the return or delivery of collateral or other assets to the fund.

Liquidity risk. In certain situations, it may be difficult or impossible to sell an investment in an orderly fashion at an acceptable price.

Pricing risk. If market conditions make it difficult to value some investments, the fund may value these investments using more subjective methods, such as fair value pricing. In such cases, the value determined for an investment could be different than the value realized upon such investment's sale. As a result, you could pay more than the market value when buying fund shares or receive less than the market value when selling fund shares.

Risk Lose Money [Text]

rr_RiskLoseMoney

There are several risk factors that could hurt the fund's performance, cause you to lose money or cause the fund's performance to trail that of other investments.

Risk Not Insured Depository Institution [Text]

rr_RiskNotInsuredDepositoryInstitution

An investment in the fund is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency.

Bar Chart and Performance Table [Heading]

rr_BarChartAndPerformanceTableHeading

Past Performance

Performance Narrative [Text Block]

rr_PerformanceNarrativeTextBlock

How a fund's returns vary from year to year can give an idea of its risk; so can comparing fund performance to overall market performance (as measured by an appropriate market index). Past performance may not indicate future results. All performance figures below assume that dividends were reinvested. For more recent performance figures, go to www.dws-investments.com (the Web site does not form a part of this prospectus) or call the phone number for your share class included in this prospectus.

Class R is a new class of shares and therefore does not have a full calendar year of performance available. In the bar chart and table below, the performance figures reflect the historical performance of the fund's Class A shares. Class R shares will be invested in the same portfolio of securities as Class A shares and thus would have had substantially similar performance. Performance would differ only to the extent that Class R shares and Class A shares do not have the same fees and expenses. Class A shares commenced operations on June 28, 2002. Class A performance prior to class inception is based on the performance of the fund's original share class, Investment Class shares, adjusted to reflect the higher expenses and applicable sales charges of Class A. Investment Class shares merged into Class S shares on October 20, 2006. Class A shares are offered in a separate prospectus.

Performance Information Illustrates Variability of Returns [Text]

rr_PerformanceInformationIllustratesVariabilityOfReturns

How a fund's returns vary from year to year can give an idea of its risk; so can comparing fund performance to overall market performance (as measured by an appropriate market index).

Performance One Year or Less [Text]

rr_PerformanceOneYearOrLess

Class R is a new class of shares and therefore does not have a full calendar year of performance available.

Performance Availability Website Address [Text]

rr_PerformanceAvailabilityWebSiteAddress

www.dws-investments.com

Performance Past Does Not Indicate Future [Text]

rr_PerformancePastDoesNotIndicateFuture

Past performance may not indicate future results.

Bar Chart Table:

rr_BarChartTableAbstract

Bar Chart [Heading]

rr_BarChartHeading

CALENDAR YEAR TOTAL RETURNS (%) (Class A)

Bar Chart, Returns for Class Not Offered in Prospectus [Text]

rr_BarChartReturnsForClassNotOfferedInProspectus

In the bar chart and table below, the performance figures reflect the historical performance of the fund's Class A shares. Class R shares will be invested in the same portfolio of securities as Class A shares and thus would have had substantially similar performance. Performance would differ only to the extent that Class R shares and Class A shares do not have the same fees and expenses. Class A shares commenced operations on June 28, 2002. Class A performance prior to class inception is based on the performance of the fund's original share class, Investment Class shares, adjusted to reflect the higher expenses and applicable sales charges of Class A. Investment Class shares merged into Class S shares on October 20, 2006. Class A shares are offered in a separate prospectus.

Bar Chart Closing [Text Block]

rr_BarChartClosingTextBlock

Best Quarter: 25.24%, Q2 2009 Worst Quarter: -32.52%, Q4 2008

Year-to-Date as of 3/31/2012: 13.91%

Average Annual Return:

rr_AverageAnnualReturnAbstract

Performance Table Heading

rr_PerformanceTableHeading

Average Annual Total Returns

(For periods ended 12/31/2011 expressed as a %)

Performance Table Uses Highest Federal Rate

rr_PerformanceTableUsesHighestFederalRate

Your actual after-tax returns may be different. After-tax returns reflect the historical highest individual federal income tax rates, but do not reflect any state or local taxes.

Performance Table Not Relevant to Tax Deferred

rr_PerformanceTableNotRelevantToTaxDeferred

After-tax returns are not relevant to shares held in an IRA, 401(k) or other tax-advantaged investment plan.

Performance Table Narrative

rr_PerformanceTableNarrativeTextBlock

These returns include sales charges, if any. Indexes have no sales charges and cannot be invested in directly. After-tax returns reflect the historical highest individual federal income tax rates, but do not reflect any state or local taxes. Your actual after-tax returns may be different. After-tax returns are not relevant to shares held in an IRA, 401(k) or other tax-advantaged investment plan.

DWS Small Cap Growth Fund | Class R

Shareholder Fees:

rr_ShareholderFeesAbstract

Redemption/exchange fee on shares owned less than 15 days, as % of redemption proceeds

rr_RedemptionFeeOverRedemption

2.00%

Operating Expenses:

rr_OperatingExpensesAbstract

Management fee

rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets

0.65%

Distribution/service (12b-1) fees

rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets

0.50%

Other expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.55%

^[1]

Total annual fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

1.70%

Expense Example:

rr_ExpenseExampleAbstract

1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

173

3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

536

5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

923

10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

2,009

DWS Small Cap Growth Fund | Class A

Bar Chart Table:

rr_BarChartTableAbstract

2002

rr_AnnualReturn2002

(22.31%)

2003

rr_AnnualReturn2003

21.68%

2004

rr_AnnualReturn2004

13.29%

2005

rr_AnnualReturn2005

6.89%

2006

rr_AnnualReturn2006

4.73%

2007

rr_AnnualReturn2007

5.63%

2008

rr_AnnualReturn2008

(50.39%)

2009

rr_AnnualReturn2009

39.93%

2010

rr_AnnualReturn2010

29.69%

2011

rr_AnnualReturn2011

2.67%

Year to Date Return, Label

rr_YearToDateReturnLabel

Year-to-Date

Bar Chart, Year to Date Return, Date

rr_BarChartYearToDateReturnDate

Mar. 31, 2012

Bar Chart, Year to Date Return

rr_BarChartYearToDateReturn

13.91%

Highest Quarterly Return, Label

rr_HighestQuarterlyReturnLabel

Best Quarter:

Highest Quarterly Return, Date

rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturnDate

Jun. 30, 2009

Highest Quarterly Return

rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturn

25.24%

Lowest Quarterly Return, Label

rr_LowestQuarterlyReturnLabel

Worst Quarter:

Lowest Quarterly Return, Date

rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturnDate

Dec. 31, 2008

Lowest Quarterly Return

rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturn

(32.52%)

DWS Small Cap Growth Fund | before tax | Class A

Average Annual Return:

rr_AverageAnnualReturnAbstract

1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

(3.23%)

5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

(1.65%)

10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

0.99%

Class Inception

rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate

Jun. 28, 2002

DWS Small Cap Growth Fund | After tax on distributions | Class A

Average Annual Return:

rr_AverageAnnualReturnAbstract

1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

(3.23%)

5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

(1.79%)

10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

0.49%

DWS Small Cap Growth Fund | After tax on distributions and sale of fund shares | Class A

Average Annual Return:

rr_AverageAnnualReturnAbstract

1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

(2.10%)

5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

(1.43%)

10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

0.62%

DWS Small Cap Growth Fund | Russell 2000 Growth Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)

Average Annual Return:

rr_AverageAnnualReturnAbstract

1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

(2.91%)

5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

2.09%

10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

4.48%

[1] "Other Expenses" are based on estimated amounts for the current fiscal year.