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VERKAUF UND PRÄSENTATION • RETAIL AND PRESENTATION INNERE WERTE

Offen für Mitte: Entrée mit Shopbereich und Loungemöbeln • Entrée with shop area and lounge furniture Nachts im Museum: intime Sitznischen der Bar Veronika • Intimate seating niches in the Veronika Bar

Place to be: Das Erdgeschoss empfängt mit stylishem Café. • The ground floor welcomes visitors with a stylish café. Fenster in die Zukunft: Tempo in der neuen Restaurantküche • Tempo in the new restaurant kitchen

I n the heart of Mitte, within the triangle formed by Oranienburger Strasse, Friedrichs- Technik” (House of Technology). During the Nazi era, it was used by the German Labor
trasse and Johannisstrasse, ten new buildings and three public squares span 25,000
Front and the SS as one of their headquarters. In GDR times, the Free German Trade
square metres to create an exclusive urban space for living, working, shopping and Union Federation took possession of the building, which was in good condition despite
culture. The overall planning for the newly opened Am Tacheles quarter was conceived damages sustained during the war. However, over the years, it fell into disrepair. In
by Herzog & de Meuron. Designs for individual projects were contributed by architects the late 1960s and mid-1970s, two structural assessments recommended demolition,
such as Grüntuch Ernst Architekten, Brandlhuber+ and Muck Petzet Architekten. The which began in 1980. Only the occupation by the Tacheles artist group prevented the
historically significant location is characterised above all by the eponymous centrepiece scheduled demolition of the remaining building on 13 February 1990. The name of the
of the area, the former Kunsthaus Tacheles, which recently became home to the priva- Tacheles group, originally a music group, gradually transferred to the building. The
tely operated Fotografiska photography museum. The Berlin-based architects at studio former consumption temple became a place where open expression of opinion and
aisslinger were responsible for the interior design of the new exhibition spaces featuring debates, the proverbial “Tacheles reden” (straight talking), were possible. Until 2012,
a restaurant, café, bakery, ballroom and two bars. Here, they share the history and the Tacheles was a cultural centre of the post-reunification period. Artist studios, exhibition
new present of one of Berlin’s most important monuments. spaces, an arthouse cinema and two large halls for concerts, readings and theatre made
it an icon of 1990s Berlin. However, the long-term use of the building remained unclear.
History of a monument Since it was sold in 2014, efforts have been made to revive the complex and develop a
long-term utilization concept.
Just before its final demolition in February 1990, the Tacheles artists’ initiative occupied
the remains of a department store, opened in 1909 as the Friedrichstraßenpassage, Liaison of old and new
on Oranienburger Strasse, preventing the end of the historic building that has been
preserved to this day. Once the second-largest shopping arcade in Berlin, the building, The existing structure, now redesigned by studio aisslinger, encompasses not only archi-
partially demolished in the 1980s, had become nothing more than a ruin of megalo- tectural remnants of the original building but also traces of each transformation during
th
maniacal department store projects from the early 20 century. After only 15 years of its various uses throughout the 20 century. In particular, walls and doors are covered
th
operation, AEG had repurposed the twice-insolvent department store into the “Haus der with elaborate, heritage-protected graffiti. The unique challenge was to combine the
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