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T he name of the house furnished according to museum guidelines says it all. It al-
ludes to the architect Bruno Taut who set standards worldwide with his settlement
buildings at the beginning of the 20th century before, persecuted by the National So-
cialists, he went into exile in Japan and Turkey. Especially his “horseshoe estate” con-
structed between 1925 and 1930, of which the Tautes Heim is also part, is today inter-
nationally considered to be a key work of reform-oriented municipal residential con-
struction and a popular study object and destination for architects, city planners and
friends of modern architecture. The settlement’s mixture of sensitively grouped, in part
rustic-idyllic looking terraced houses and classic-modern blocks of flats invites to strol-
ling. The settlement with almost 2,000 residential units, numerous gardens and green
areas is arranged around a 350 metres long central building section in the form of a
horseshoe. Together with five additional major urban-planning projects from the 1920s,
already in 2008 it was chosen to be among the UNESCO World Heritage “Settlements
of the Berlin modern age”. The wealth of variants, types of houses and flats of the cer-
tainly most famous Berlin settlement still amazes experts. The trademark of the archi-
tect: his cleverly and functionally planned layouts and the expressive colouring of the
houses and the interiors. How well one can also live behind the facades shining in yel-
low, blue, red and white remains closed to the “normal” visitor in the truest sense of
the term. But for tourists interested in architecture, there is now a way to experience
the high living quality, the strong interior colours and the typical furnishing elements by Hufeisensiedlung Berlin-Britz (1925-1930) von Bruno Taut • Horseshoe settlement Berlin-Britz by Bruno Taut
this icon of urban development.

Light, air and sun – a solution to the crampedness in the city Vorgelagerte Terrasse zwischen Eingang und Garten • Terrace between the entrance and the garden

Getting off the underground, one’s gaze eye quickly settles on a building which cheer-
fully, strikingly and self-confidently stands out of the row: With its clear angularity and
its white basic colour, it shows the typical features of the Bauhaus modernity and of In-
ternational Style and combines them with the reformist claim to a life amidst greenery.
The slogan popular at the beginning of the 20th century, “Light, air and sun” was the
answer of urban development to the distressingly cramped workers’ districts from the
turn of the century with their, particularly in Berlin, dark and deeply staggered rear cour-
tyards. Only rarely was this promising guideline as consistently implemented as it was
in the horseshoe estate where all the terraced houses have their own garden. There is
also such a garden in front of Tautes Heim. It has been restored according to historic ex-
amples. The garden measuring approximately 200 square metres has a terrace in front
of the house with a dining table and seats as well as several fruit trees, berry bushes,
lilacs and hedge of fragrant wild rose all around it. Those who sit down here understand
why the call for houses with access to greenery already at the time turned the horseshoe
estate located in the Berlin-Britz district into a highly popular residential area.

Clever layouts, furnished typical of the time

But the house that belongs to the garden and was planned for up to four people is
also a gem. Like no other object of the most recent Berlin world heritage, it commu- Grundrisse Erdgeschoss und Obergeschoss • Ground and Upper Floor Plan
nicates the special residential feeling of the nascent modernity and thus fills an im-
portant gab in the Berlin museum landscape. Although, at first glance, inside it appe-
ars to be a lovingly equipped museum, it is not only meant to be looked at but has
been planned as a holiday home intended for a longer stay and for actually being oc-
cupied. In the, with just 65 square metres, compact but still surprisingly functionally
designed, almost free-standing house there is space for three rooms plus a kitchen, a
bathroom and an elegantly curved staircase. The carefully compiled furnishing re-
flects the departure from the bourgeois home environment during the Weimar Repu-
blic to the modern age that also already emerged in the interior design: If, in the kit-
chen and in the living room, various items are found which may be familiar to one or
the other from granny’s parlour, the bathroom equipped with every comfort as well
as the bedroom painted a strong blue and with furniture in the Bauhaus style clearly
testify to the general atmosphere of departure in design, art and society. This spirit of
the time can definitely be felt here and is even intensified by the many hand-picked
pieces of decoration. A detail particularly full of humour is the specifically made cro-
chet picture whose slogan “Tautes Heim – Glück allein” decorates the wall behind the
dining table and, in passing, also pre-sets the programme. All the furniture and the
equipment elements inside are either from the 1920s and have been carefully refur-
bished or have been made to measure according to the historic model.

AIT 11.2021 • 047