Here you will find:
- Information about the Art Association and about visiting the exhibitions.
- Information about accessibility
The Art Association
The art association “Fördererkreis Kulturzentrum Berlin e.V.” is a private organization. It consists of its members. It is not run by the state. For example, he does not receive any money from tax revenues. The art association is not a museum. He does not own a collection of art works. The association was founded in 1960 so that people could see art in the “Haus am Lützowplatz”.
The exhibition locations
There are two exhibition locations. The large exhibition space in the front building is called the “Great Gallery”. The small exhibition space in the side wing is called “Studio Gallery”. Various exhibitions are shown at both exhibition locations.
The “Haus am Lützowplatz” (abbreviation HaL) and the art association
“Haus am Lützowplatz – Förderkreis Kulturzentrum Berlin e.V.”
The HaL is a city villa that was built in 1873. HaL belongs to the art association “Haus am Lützowplatz – Förderkreis Kulturzentrum Berlin e.V.” (e.v. is the abbreviation for “registered association”). The idea for the Der Kunst-Verein came from the mayor of Berlin, Willy Brandt, as chairman of the Berlin SPD (Social Democratic Party of Germany). On April 6, 1960, the “Association for the Promotion of the Cultural Center Berlin e.V.” was founded. The founders of the association were: Josef Braun (state manager of the SPD), Ernst Carlbergh (main advisor from the Office for General Berlin Issues), Karl-Heinz Evers (school senator), Konrad “Jule” Hammer (party secretary of the SPD), Dr. Werner Bloch (member of the state parliament of the SPD), Bruno Lösche (district councilor) and Horst Stempel (painter).
The art association was founded to exhibit contemporary fine art.
The city villa becomes the “Haus am Lützowplatz” (HaL)
In 1973 Wilhelm Neumann (architect) built the city villa for the Zimmermann family. From 1891 to 1892 Rudolph Speer (architect) and Heino Schmieden (architect) converted the city villa. They added a storey and a transverse building. In 1904 Egon Sally Fürstenberg (businessman) bought the town villa. He had the city villa rebuilt and expanded by the architects Horniger and Sedelmaier. In 1938 the Fürstenberg family had to flee Germany because of their Jewish descent. They had to sell the city villa in order to pay the “Reich Flight Tax”.
The “Verein Berliner Künste” (abbreviation: VBK) got the city villa from the Fürstenberg family at a very affordable price. The bombing raids damaged the building in 1943. The library and the archive of the VBK were destroyed by fire. After the war, the destroyed building was supposed to be Nikolaus Sakrekow prevented the demolition. He was a painter and chairman of the VBK. He was able to make two floors of the city villa usable again.
In February 1950 the house was reopened to the public. An exhibition of former famous members of the VBK was opened on the first floor of the city villa. The visitors saw, for example, pictures by Adolph von Menzel and Max Liebermann. The “Bezirksgalerie Kunstamt Tiergarten” moved into the second floor of the city villa. She organized exhibitions of famous artists, for example: Vincent van Gogh (in 1953), Oskar Kokoschka (in 1956), Marc Chagall (in 1957), Paula Modersohn-Becker (in 1960). From this time on, the city villa was also known as the “Kulturzentrum am Lützowplatz”, as exhibitions and events happened on two of its floors.
In 1959, a court ruled that the town villa must be returned to the heirs of the Jewish family who previously lived in the house and who owned it. The art association “Haus am Lützowplatz – Förderkreis Kulturzentrum Berlin eV” bought the building from the heirs in 1960 for the market value at that time. The VBK has also received some money for its services in rebuilding the city villa and has used it to buy a smaller house nearby.
Information for visitors
Opening hours:
Open all year round.
Closed on December 24th, December 25th, December 31st and 1.1.
Entry: free
Accessibility:
Unfortunately only to a limited extent. You need help opening the doors. You can take the elevator or the ramp in the courtyard to the exhibition venues. The elevator is in the stairwell. Ask our supervisors if you need assistance.
Verkers connection:
Underground lines U1, U2, U3, U4 station Nollendorfplatz
Bus M29, 100, 106, 187, N26 station Lützowplatz
Address:
Lützowplatz 9
10785 Berlin
(Tiergarten, district Mitte)