Right in the heart of east Berlin, an old cabaret theater, dating back to 1905, has been discovered under 30 tonnes of rubble. A real estate company will be putting the building to good use.
The building became a popular entertainment venue in the 1920's, but by 1930, it was closed down, possibly due to the Nazi crackdown on Germany's thriving theater scene.
The building was used as a dumping ground for garbage during World War II, which gradually destroyed the theater's beautiful interior architecture. After the war was over, the historic building, which was situated in Gartenstrasse 6, continued to deteriorate and was never repaired. The building's delicate frescoes, curving staircases and once mirrored walls, fell into complete ruin.
Spiegel Online interviewed Dirk Moritz, founder and CEO of the Moritz group. He was visiting a public swimming pool with his daughter in central Mitte, when he spotted the rundown three-story building.
He said that the windows were boarded and that it was "deserted and dilapidated".
"Something just didn't seem right with the building," he says.
Purely out of curiosity, Moritz asked the caretaker for the keys to have a look inside the building. Inside he found around 30 tonnes of garbage, including everything from old sofas to shoes to construction rubble. Three years later in 2011, the Moritz Group secured the property.
"Something just didn't seem right with the building," he says.
Purely out of curiosity, Moritz asked the caretaker for the keys to have a look inside the building. Inside he found around 30 tonnes of garbage, including everything from old sofas to shoes to construction rubble. Three years later in 2011, the Moritz Group secured the property.
The plan is for the century-old cabaret theater to be completely renovated by the Moritz Group, for an estimated $2.2 million.
The company has reportedly also acquired the remains of the building and plan to turn it into a trendy exhibition or mixed-use art gallery.
Due to the location, which is a mainly residential area, it is unfortunately difficult to make it into a cabaret venue.
However Moritz does plan on bringing back at least some of the original atmosphere and continues to dig into the building's past. "We would be ecstatic if someone turned up with an old menu from the restaurant or a program from the theater," he says.
The company has reportedly also acquired the remains of the building and plan to turn it into a trendy exhibition or mixed-use art gallery.
Due to the location, which is a mainly residential area, it is unfortunately difficult to make it into a cabaret venue.
However Moritz does plan on bringing back at least some of the original atmosphere and continues to dig into the building's past. "We would be ecstatic if someone turned up with an old menu from the restaurant or a program from the theater," he says.
Moritz was careful to say that unlike most real estate developers in Berlin, who are often despised for their big building projects, the Moritz Group only pursues the more complicated and ambitious properties and tries to put them to better use, which in this case is well within reach.
Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/337649#ixzz2DFCLuzim
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