Haus am Waldsee

When arriving at Haus am Waldsee, one feels the history of the space, but only after learning more about it does the innovation to the institution come to light. Built as a private mansion in 1922, the house was taken over after the war by the Zehlendorf local council. Shortly afterward, Haus am Waldsee became a sort of refugee camp for the arts: the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra played its first post-war concert here in 1945, many theater groups used the back patio as a stage for productions and shortly after the war, the institution hosted a solo-exhibition of the work of Käthe Kollwitz.

In an effort to reject the recent history of Germany—particularly the government’s relationship towards the arts—Haus am Waldsee exhibited a number of “degenerate” artists, including Oskar Moll (a colleague of Henri Matisse and Hermann Blumenthal, who was killed in Russia in 1942 after being deported). Additionally, the institution gave Hannah Höch her first exposure in the exhibition, “Zehlendorfer Frauengruppe.”

The list of institutional accomplishments goes on: an early Picasso show, the first shows of Henry Moore and Max Ernst, early exhibitions of Ernst Kirchner, Juan Miró, Georges Braque and later Robert Motherwell, Karel Appel and Duane Hanson. Today Haus am Waldsee continues its legacy with innovative shows of international artists.