With the first complete presentation of the furniture from Haus Lemke in Berlin, the Kunstgewerbemuseum is displaying one of the most extensive original interior designs preserved from the work of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.

The furnishings from Haus Lemke are clearly based on the designs developed by Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich since the mid-1920s. Irrespective of the spectacular modern tubular steel furniture, veneered wood furniture remained the basis of the interior design. In keeping with the style of the sophisticated interior design of their time, they combine the material aesthetics of elegant wood set in strictly geometric forms and spatial proportions with an equally elaborate workmanship of stone, glass, and metal surfaces.

Haus Lemke: ‘The Mies van der Rohe Haus’ in Berlin-Lichtenberg

Built in 1932 – 33, Haus Lemke is known today as the “Mies van der Rohe Haus”. Located on Obersee lake in Alt-Hohenschönhausen (Lichtenberg district), the building, located on a lakeside plot with extensive gardens, surprises with its modest dimensions. The furnishings, based on designs by Mies van der Rohe’s office, were installed well after the building was handed over to the owners in April 1933. During this time, Mies presented his initial plans for the study, although these were not implemented. The planning was presumably continued in 1934 with Lilly Reich. Former employees such as Friedrich Hirz were presumably also consulted The study and bedroom were furnished entirely according to the new designs, while already existing furniture was used in the living room. According to Martha Lemke’s recollection, the furnishing was not completed until 1937. It was featured in the Deutsche Bauzeitung that same year with a photograph by Max Krajewsky, who took a series of interior photographs at the time.

With the end of the war and the eviction of the owners in 1945, the house began to be used for a variety of purposes, including as a car repair shop and warehouse. Until 1989, this led to extensive conversions and dismantling, and to changes to the entire ensemble of house and garden. Listed as a historic monument by the East Berlin city government in 1977, it came under the municipal sponsorship of the district, now Berlin-Lichtenberg, with the political transition in 1990. The house was opened to the public and with its renaming as the “Mies van der Rohe Haus” was given a contemporary use as a municipal gallery. Finally, between 2000 and 2002 a thorough renovation was carried out in accordance with conservation guidelines.

The restoration and conservation of the furniture were made possible by generous funding from the Kulturstiftung der Länder (Friends of the Cultural Foundation of the German Federal States) and the Julius-Lessing-Gesellschaft, Freundeskreis des Kunstgewerbemuseums.

A special exhibition of the Kunstgewerbemuseum – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin