Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Berlin, and now contains an exhibition (with
nothing in English) about their activities. While the careers of Eduard Knoblauch,
Berlin's first freelance architect, and Armand Knoblauch, founder of a major city
brewery, are mildly interesting, the real appeal is the house's
interior
, with its
grand-bourgeois furnishings, which gives a good impression of upper middle-class
life in Hohenzollern-era Berlin. he ground floor and vaulted basement are home to
the
Historische Weinstuben
, a reconstruction of a nineteenth-century wine-restaurant
once favoured by the playwrights Gerhart Hauptmann, August Strindberg and
Henrik Ibsen.
Ephraim-Palais
Poststr. 16 • Tues & Thurs-Sun 10am-6pm, Wed noon-8pm • €6 •
T
030 24 00 21 62,
W
stadtmuseum.de • U-Klosterstrasse
With its elegantly curving Rococo facade, Tuscan columns, wrought-iron balconies,
oval staircase and ornate ceiling crafted by Schlüter, the
Ephraim-Palais
is an exquisite
place to visit. A rebuilt eighteenth-century merchant's mansion, this relic of Berlin
bourgeois high life now houses a museum of Berlin-related art from the seventeenth
to the beginning of the nineteenth centuries, with numerous pictures, prints and maps
giving a good impression of the city in its glory days. he Ephraim-Palais was built in
1762 by Veitel Heine Ephraim, court jeweller and mint master to Frederick the Great,
and all-round wheeler-dealer. He owed his lavish lifestyle primarily to the fact that - on
Frederick's orders - he steadily reduced the silver content of the Prussian
thaler
. his
earned a great deal of money for Frederick and Ephraim himself but ruined the
purchasing power of the currency.
3
Molkenmarkt
he busy but soulless square just east of the Nikolaiviertel, the
Molkenmarkt
, is one
of Berlin's oldest public spaces. On its eastern side, Jüdenstrasse -“Jews' Street” was
Berlin's original Jewish ghetto, until they were driven out of Brandenburg in 1573.
When allowed back into Berlin in 1671 they mainly settled near today's Hackescher
Markt (see p.71). Glowering over the road, the large domed
Stadthaus
is reminiscent
of the Französischer Dom (see p.48) but dates from as recently as 1911, a relic of the
days when the area served as the administrative district of Wilhelmine Berlin. Also
on the Molkenmarkt is the smooth zinc-clad
Berlinwasser Holding
building, with its
fiercely angular arches and windows, which belongs to the local water company. he
work of highly acclaimed local architect Christoph Langhof, it cleverly plays on the
Palais Schwerin
, the traditional building next door - one of two pompous buildings
that make up the
Berliner Münze
(Berlin Mint), whose most impressive feature is a
replica of a frieze depicting coining techniques by Gottfried Schadow, designer of the
Brandenburg Gate quadriga.
Dutch Embassy
A couple of minutes' walk along the north bank of the Spree from the Berlin Mint
sits the striking
Dutch Embassy
building, designed by Rem Koolhaas. he concept
intended to blend the security and formality of the civil service with something that
projects Dutch openness. he resulting building has a slightly unfinished look but is
clever in the way that it circulates light and air and with its use of a cube housing the
ambassadorial accommodation, which stands apart from the rest. he embassy staff's
habits were used to inspire the building: in the previous embassy, the entrance hall
was popular for informal meetings so the designers created an enormous hallway as
a centrepiece that extends up to all eight storeys and shapes the building's internal
communication and ventilation.
