Area
-
House of Representatives
Read
House of Representatives
The building opened as the seat of the Prussian Parliament in 1899. In 1934, the Nazi leadership repurposed it as the People’s Court. The building was badly damaged during World War II. After 1961, the building stood next to the Berlin Wall in East Berlin. It was used by the State Planning Commission and the Ministry for State Security until 1989. The House of Representatives – the Berlin state parliament – has convened here since 1993.
-
Martin Gropius Building
Read
Martin Gropius Building
The building officially opened in 1881 as the Museum of Industrial Arts and Crafts with an educational centre and a library. It suffered heavy damage during World War II. Preliminary safety measures were taken before the museum was rebuilt in 1977 and reopened in 1981. “Prussia – Taking Stock” was the first major exhibition shown after the reopening. Today the building serves as a centre for contemporary art from all over the world.
-
Europahaus Complex
Read
Europahaus Complex
Construction of the building complex began in the mid-1920s on the west side of the Prinz-Albrecht-Palais park grounds. It included a high rise and a corner building on Anhalter Straße. During the Nazi era, the Reich Ministry of Labour established its offices here. Since the 1960s, the building complex of today’s Europahaus has housed different agencies including the Telecommunications Office. Today, the building is used by the Ministry of Development and the Documentation Centre for Displacement, Expulsion, Reconciliation.
-
Information sign
Read
Information sign
For the opening of the exhibition “Prussia - Taking Stock” in August 1981, a sign was erected on the grounds, marking for the first time the site where the Gestapo house prison had stood. It announced in different languages: “This is where the torture cells of the Secret State Police had been located”. The sign was vandalised, destroyed and replaced several times in the following years.
-
Construction trailer
Read
Construction trailer with the inscription “IBA SO 36 occupied”
SO 36 is a popular music club in Kreuzberg’s Oranienstraße. It closed temporarily in 1983. In 1984, the International Building Exhibition (IBA) rented the building, but it was soon taken over by squatters. The IBA team negotiated with the squatters and a solution was found. The club is currently run by some of the people who had been evicted from the KuKuCK House at Anhalter Straße 7 in 1984, along with others.
-
Excavation site
Read
Excavation site
The excavation took place on 5 May 1985 on the western section of the south wing of the former Gestapo headquarters, just a few metres from the Martin Gropius Building. The Gestapo had established a house prison here in 1933.
-
Excelsior House
Read
Excelsior House
The building complex in Stresemannstrasse opened in 1968 with the distinctive 18-storey high-rise that is visible from afar. The name refers to the famous Excelsior Hotel that had once stood on this site. The current ensemble of buildings includes more than 500 apartments.
-
Future archaeological sites
Read
Future archaeological sites
Parallel to Niederkirchnerstraße, the street-side cellar walls of the buildings at Prinz-Albrecht-Straße 8 and 9, as well as a low garden wall between the two buildings, were excavated in 1986. The base wall of the colonnade and various foundation remains in the area around the Prinz-Albrecht-Palais were also exposed. The relics of cell floors from the Gestapo house prison in the south wing of the building were among the most significant discoveries.
-
Film »Bodenproben«
Read
Film “Bodenproben”
The filmmaker and photographer Riki Kalbe (1941-2002) released the film “Bodenproben” in 1987. It features rare footage of the site and its immediate surroundings from the mid-1980s. The first three minutes of the film are shown.
-
Berlin Wall
Read
Berlin Wall
When the Berlin Wall is built, the grounds are relegated to the edge of the city centre. The Berlin Wall, erected in 1961, divided Berlin for 28 years. During this time of division, the grounds in the Kreuzberg district lay on the periphery of West Berlin. The Berlin Wall stood on Stresemannstrasse, Niederkirchnerstrasse and Zimmerstrasse in the Southern Friedrichstadt district
-
Former Reich Aviation Ministry
Read
Former Reich Aviation Ministry
The building was erected in 1935/36 as the headquarters of the Reich Aviation Ministry, which had been established in May 1933. All the structures on the site were razed to make room for the new building. Damaged in World War II, the building was restored after the war. This is where the GDR was founded in 1949. The extensive building complex served as the House of Ministries in the GDR. After 1990, it housed the Treuhand Agency; today the building serves as the Federal Ministry of Finance.
-
Autodrom ... and other uses
Read
Autodrom … and other uses
A track for practicing driving and a debris recycling company are established on the empty grounds. After the Berlin Wall was built, the site became a wasteland. In the late 1960s, a track was established on the grounds between Wilhelmstrasse and Anhalter Strasse where people could practice driving. A debris recycling company was established to its north. Both businesses continued to operate there until the mid-1980s
-
KuKuCK House
Read
KuKuCK House
In January 1981, the building at Anhalter Straße 7 was occupied and maintained by squatters. The Kreuzberg Art and Culture Centre, known as the KuKuCK House, was established here during this time. The alternative cultural centre offered space to theatre and music groups and also had a library. The house became famous for its large mural that covered two full sides of the building. The residents were evicted in July 1984.
Protects against cross-site request forgery attacks.
Saves the current PHP session.