Last house of Berlin counterculture

liz February 13, 2009 2 comments Berlin, Germany

Kunsthaus Tacheles (Tacheles Art House) was once a grand department store in the old Jewish Quarter of East Berlin.

After the Berlin Wall came down in 1989 many buildings in East Berlin were left empty. The Tacheles building was waiting to be demolished until squatters moved in.

Digital art from Ima Pico, a former Tacheles artist

The new inhabitants made the building into a centre for art and it became an international tourist attraction. It now includes 31 workshops used by artists and musicians from 23 different countries. There is also a cinema, theater, bar and restaurant.

Now the arts centre is threatened as its owners want to turn the building into an apartment block. The artists are fighting back though – they have a plan to regroup as an official foundation and support themselves with money from the ground floor Cafe Zapata.

The future of the building has inspired a lot of news stories – for a photo tour of Tacheles take a look here (Guardian) and here (BBC)

About the author

Lucy (Liz) Chatburn
Lucy is English and first ventured out of the UK she was 19. Since then she has lived in 4 different countries and tried to see as much of the world as possible. She loves learning languages, learning about different cultures and hearing different points of view.
Other 466 posts by liz

2 Comments

Alice, London

on Feb 16, 2009
at 8:59 pm

I love the way Berlin is such a centre for art of all kinds. You see a lot of graffiti art in Berlin. It is part of the character of the city.

I’d love to visit this place. It would be a real shame if they have to close.

Reply
Liz

on Feb 17, 2009
at 2:57 pm

Thanks for your comment, Alice. From the slideshows it certainly looks like Tacheles represents well the character of the Berlin art scene.

Maybe all the media attention they are getting will help them to keep it open.

Reply