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The passage was located at the edge
of the old city wall and alongside the
area of 19th century urban expansion.
Despite the promising site, the
joint-stock company had to file a
petition for bankruptcy after half a
year. The Wertheim Company that
followed as a tenant and tried to
establish a conventional department
store went bankrupt before the outbreak
of World War I in 1914. The
bankruptcy assets went to the
Commerzbank, which undertook
modifications to the structure at the
beginning of the 1920s. In 1928 the
German AEG company took over
the arcade as a tenant and established
the Haus der Technik (House of
Technology), redesigning parts of
the complex with a view to promoting
its products. The world’s first
television programme was shown
here to report the 1936 Berlin
Olympic Games.
After 1933, an increasing area was
taken over by organisations of
Hitler’s National Socialist Party. In
1941 ownership passed to the statecontrolled
labour union called the
German Work Front and the Central
Land Office of the SS (Storm-troopers)
moved in. The building was
probably used for planning and production,
probably of arms. From
1943 the attic was used to hold
French prisoners of war and roof
windows were blocked to prevent
their escape.
Under the German Democratic Republic
In 1948 the Haus der Technik moved out of the building, which fell into disrepair
because of the erection nearby of the Berlin Wall. One part was occupied
by a film theatre, the School for Foreign Trade, the GDR School of Artists and
a unit of the Army. Because of some wartime damage, there was partial
demolition.
After German reunification, on February 13, 1990 an international group of
artists from the east side occupied the building as squatters. They were
known as the Tacheles, this being a Yiddish word meaning free, open and
explicit speech. Supporters joined them from all over the world and the
Tachele charitable association was formed to promote international cultural
exchange and to preserve the “art ruin” permanently. A moratorium was
obtained on the demolition and subsequently the listing of the building as a
historical monument. Architect Carl-Georg Schulz mediated between the
squatters and the public authorities and implemented certain safety measures
for which the City provided funds while minor repairs were carried out
by Tacheles. Meanwhile, there was thriving cultural activity in and around
the ruin, which became the scene of underground art, rock and pop, cinema
and theatre performances and even new media.
In 1998 a powerful German investor known as the Fundus Group became
owner of the building and its surrounding area (22,000 sq.m). and Tacheles
obtained a 10-year leasing contract for a symbolic rent.
Early in the year 2000, the office of Carl-Georg Schulz was charged with planning
the reconstruction of the building, although with a budget of only ∈5.25
million there were limits imposed. The basic principles adopted were conservation
and protection, without actual restoration, of the existing structure
and the addition of new structural elements that were clearly and explicitly
modern and new. The Tacheles Association was satisfied with the conservation
of the “ruin” character, the art-friendly ambiance and an acceptable rent
to pay.
There will be a supermarket, retail outlets, services, trade, a hotel, a boardinghouse
and residential developments together with public and semi-public
open spaces. “The main really interesting counterpoint in the whole block is
the lively Tacheles. It is to be hoped that the potential of this constellation
will be perceived permanently.”
16 NNU SPIRIT