If there is one thing we are proud of, it is our hostel façade: a true architectonic treasure and a city heritage. Erected over 100 years ago it was design in Art Nouveau, a style full of charm that dominated the turn of the 19th to the 20th century. In Germany known as Jugendstil, Art Nouveau was a cry of freedom for a new art.
Playful themes and shapes of nature such as plants and flowers served as inspiration to this artistic form marked by pastel colors and much movement. Far beyond architecture, it was especially in the fields of graphic design and decoration that the Art Nouveau found expression. Transforming daily life into beauty and pleasure was after all the aspiration of its artists.
We love it! Here are the chosen ones that – along with us – make up the list of the most beautiful buildings in Art Nouveau style in Berlin. Let’s stroll!
Amstel House Hostel Berlin
The Amstel House building (pic above) was born in 1913 to shelter young single workers newly arrived in Berlin. The impressive and well-kept Art Nouveau façade pays tribute to these men’s occupations. Paintings of brick workers, shoemakers and millers decorate the windows of our first floor. Made by designed by Otto Kohtz in special a form of the German Jugendstil, it recalls the Lüftlmalerei, an upper-Bavaria art form of mural paintings. This hostel beauty is also a city monument.
Hackesche Höfe
Perhaps the most emblematic of our list. The Hackesche Höfe has a beautiful façade designed by Berlin architect August Endel in Art Nouveau Style. Adorned with polychrome glazed bricks it was Inaugurated in 1906. Today it is one of the most popular cultural corners of the city. Cafes, restaurants, cinemas and theatres make of this a must go!
Wittenbergplatz Subway
The Wittenbergplatz station in Schöneberg is part of the very first U-Bahn line in Berlin built in 1902. Later, when an expansion of the network took place, this was the station chosen as the connection point. Completely renovated, it gained then a beautiful Art Nouveau style decoration. The heart of the shopping area, where the legendary department store KaDeWe is located, this square is also home to one of Berlin’s best farmers markets.
Thomasiusstr 5
To the south of our district Moabit is one of the most impressive Art Nouveau-style façade houses in Berlin. The residential building constructed in 1902 by Hans Lande is adorned with mystical figures and a huge mask of Faun, a mythological figure from the woods. Here one can have a good impression of what the noble part of Moabit was like at the beginning of last century.
Bröhan Museum
A museum entirely dedicated to Art Nouveau, art deco, and functionalism – to compensate for the fact that in this case the building is not in Art Nouveau, but part of the complex of Charlottenburg Castle. The Bröhan Museum holds an important, varied and international collection for those who want to get to know this joyful art up close. Excellent examples of modern design from the 1920s and 1930s and an extensive collection of paintings and prints from the Berlin Secession are also part of the exhibition.