The Berlin Kulturbrauerei (literally "Culture Brewery") is a building complex in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Originally built and operated as a

brewery A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of b ...

, its courtyards and unique architecture have been protected as a monument since 1974. It is one of the few well-preserved examples of industrial architecture in Berlin dating from the end of the 19th century. It operates commercially as a cultural center in the Kollwitz neighborhood of the

Prenzlauer Berg Prenzlauer Berg () is a Boroughs and localities of Berlin, locality of Berlin, forming the southerly and most urban district of the borough of Pankow. From its founding in 1920 until 2001, Prenzlauer Berg was a district of Berlin in its own right ...

district ( Borough of Pankow), with support from the

Treuhand The (, " Trust agency"), colloquially referred to as , was an agency established by the government of the German Democratic Republic to reprivatise/ privatise East German enterprises, Volkseigene Betriebe (VEBs), prior to German reunification. ...

liegenschaftsgesellschaft (TLG). It provides cinemas, theatres, clubs and function rooms. It is situated close to the Eberswalder Straße

U-Bahn Rapid transit in Germany consists of four systems and 14 systems. The , commonly understood to stand for ('underground railway'), are conventional rapid transit systems that run mostly underground, while the or ('city rapid railway') are c ...

station.

History

In 1842, a pharmacist began using the location as a small beer bar. Over time and varying ownership, the site grew into a full-fledged brewery, with the first proper brewhouse erected in 1871, the Schultheiss brewery. In 1887, the architect

Franz Heinrich Schwechten Franz Heinrich Schwechten (12 August 1841 – 11 August 1924) was one of the most famous German architects of the Wilhelmine era, and contributed to the development of historicist architecture. Life Schwechten was born in Cologne, the son of ...

redesigned and expanded the site using a medieval castle as inspiration. By 1891, it was acknowledged to be the largest brewery in Berlin; following a merger with Berliner-Kindl in 1921, it became the largest lager brewery in the world. In 1937, the company operating the brewery was declared to be a "National Socialist model company" and was subsequently nationalized. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, prisoners of war were forced to labor in underground cellars on the site manufacturing equipment deemed necessary for the war effort. At the end of the war, the site was occupied and entrenched by as many as 1,000 soldiers and loyalists, who defended the site even after Germany capitulated. The building itself survived the war relatively unscathed. While the Soviets occupied the region, the brewery was seized and operated by the state as the VEB Schultheiss-Brauerei in 1945, before ceasing operation in 1967 due to equipment degradation. After reunification in 1990, the site was transferred to the

Treuhandanstalt The (, " Trust agency"), colloquially referred to as , was an agency established by the government of the German Democratic Republic to reprivatise/ privatise East German enterprises, Volkseigene Betriebe (VEBs), prior to German reunification ...

for redevelopment.

Kulturbrauerei today

Today, regular events, concerts and festivals take place at Kulturbrauerei, such as the popular Lucia Christmas market, which features Scandinavian arts and culture. Some organisations that settled on the site of the former brewery complex are: * ''Kino in der Kulturbrauerei'', cinema with eight screens, one of Berlin's first run theatres * ''Theater RambaZamba'' * ''P.A.N.D.A. Nicht nur Russisches Theater'', event location for Russian concerts, reading etc. * ''Literaturwerkstatt Berlin/

lyrikline.org lyrikline.org hosts contemporary international poetry as audio (read by the authors) and text (original versions and translations), plus bibliographies and biographies for each poet. lyrikline.org was started in November 1999 as a German-language ...

'' * office and studio of the band ''

17 Hippies 17 Hippies is a band from Berlin, Germany, playing largely on acoustic instruments, a radically democratic collective of professionals and amateurs. Their music is a confection of various folk influences. They are most popular in their native Ge ...

'' * Restaurant ''frannz'' and ''frannz Klub'' (formerly known as Franz-Club) * ''Kesselhaus in der Kulturbrauerei, Kesselhaus'', event location * ''Alte Kantine'', event location * ''Soda Club'', dance club * ''Club 23'', dance club * ''Palais'', event location * ''Schule für Bildende Kunst und Gestaltung'', art school * ''

Museum in the Kulturbrauerei The Museum in the Kulturbrauerei is a museum of contemporary German history. The permanent exhibition focuses on everyday life in the German Democratic Republic. It is located in the Kulturbrauerei building complex in Prenzlauer Berg district (Bo ...

'', museum on everyday life in the GDR,

Haus der Geschichte Haus der Geschichte (officially ''Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland'', i.e. "House of the History of the Federal Republic of Germany") is a museum of contemporary history in Bonn, Germany. With around one million visitors ever ...

foundation * ''Ch. Links Verlag'', publishing house * ''be.bra verlag'', publishing house * ''

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

'', Berlin branch * ''Berlin on Bike'', organizer of bicycle tours * ''TIC Tourist Information Center'' * ''Quandoo'', restaurant reservation platform

References

), 2022. Architecture in Germany Buildings and structures in Pankow {{Berlin-struct-stub

History

Kulturbrauerei today

References

External links