Haus am Waldsee

In the location's words:

Haus am Waldsee is an art institution that presents contemporary art in changing exhibitions in a historic villa on the outskirts of Berlin. As the oldest existing institution for contemporary art in Berlin, its significance is based on its historical surroundings and, above all, its unique exhibition history. Opened immediately after the Second World War in 1946, the museum was characterized from the outset by a tireless commitment to art. It served as an artistic home for avant-garde and progressive voices that were ostracized and banned from exhibiting in National Socialist Germany.

For decades, the exhibition house has maintained this origin as a guiding principle and has continuously demonstrated its commitment to artists by promoting and focusing on important local and international artists such as Käthe Kollwitz (1946), Pablo Picasso (1949), Oskar Schlemmer (1950), Max Ernst (1951) and Lee Bontecou (1968) at an early stage. The museum was an early supporter of important female artists such as Renée Sintenis (1958), Rebecca Horn (1977), Niki de Saint Phalle (1981) and Miriam Cahn (1988). The program ranges from fine art, design and architecture to positions that work with performance, film, composition and sound. In up to four exhibitions per year and regular interventions in the garden - accompanied by concerts, readings and performances - central themes of our time are addressed, made accessible and discussed with a wide audience.

The interplay of art with the historic house, the English landscape garden and the café invites visitors to an intensive and multifaceted experience away from the everyday. The house's program focuses on artistic work complexes that are in constant exchange with the institution, its history, the architecture and the garden. In addition to presenting new international artistic positions in Berlin, the museum aims to provide a platform for undiscovered artists in particular. The aim is to use art to reflect on pressing social and political issues.