Berlin – the Birthplace of Modernity

The Spirit of Innovation and Architecture

This half-day experience explores the modern spirit of the Weimar Republic in its artistic and architectural expressions — later to become world-famous as the Bauhaus. While the Bauhaus was founded in Weimar and later moved to Dessau, it was the vibrant Berlin of the early 1920s that sparked the creative energy that defined modernism.

You will discover iconic works and hidden treasures of the movement, experiencing the vitality of an avant-garde whose ideas continue to resonate today.

Start at the Schaubühne

Meeting point is the cafeteria at the Schaubühne on Lehniner Platz, a 1920s building designed by Erich Mendelsohn. Here we introduce the fundamental principles of modernism: how form follows function. It also shows how function itself becomes a design element. From there, a walk leads to a former chocolate factory in the Erich-Hamann-Haus, preserving original interiors designed by Johannes Itten.

Along the Kurfürstendamm

A double-decker bus takes us along the Kurfürstendamm to selected modernist buildings that survived the war. Amid commercial buildings, transport structures, and residential projects, the spirit of innovation from those years comes vividly to life.

The Femina Palace

One stop takes you to the former Femina Palace on Nürnberger Platz, now known as the Ellington Hotel Berlin. The building was constructed between 1928 and 1931 according to plans by architects Richard Bielenberg and Josef Moser and is one of those metropolitan construction projects that reflect the dynamic change Berlin underwent in the late Weimar Republic.

With its clearly structured façade and functional mix of offices, shops, and entertainment venues, the building reflects the urban architecture of classical modernism. At the same time, the former dance palace is a reminder of the cultural dynamism of those years, when architecture, technology, and social upheaval gave rise to a new form of city.

The Shell House on the Landwehr Canal

A striking example of Berlin Modernism is the Shell House on Reichpietschufer, designed by Emil Fahrenkamp and built between 1930 and 1932. The steel skeleton structure is considered one of the most important office buildings of the late Weimar Republic and is exemplary of New Objectivity architecture.

Particularly striking is the curved façade with its vertical wave forms, which are horizontally structured by long bands of windows. The Roman travertine cladding gives the building an elegant yet functional appearance.

From here, the route leads to the Kulturforum.

Mies van der Rohe and the Pinnacle of Modernism

The architectural highlight of the journey is the Neue Nationalgalerie — Mies van der Rohe’s final masterpiece and an icon of modern clarity.

Finale at the Wintergarten

The excursion concludes with a fine meal at the Wintergarten Varieté, once a central hub of Berlin’s jazz era and a stage where icons like Josephine Baker rose to fame..