Meistersaal

The Meistersaal is an historic concert hall in Berlin, Germany. Built in 1910 as a chamber music concert hall, the building today enjoys protected building status. It is located in Berlin-Mitte near Potsdamer Platz. Its major claim to fame stems from the times when it was Studio 2 of Hansa Tonstudio. Since the 1990s, the Meistersaal has found use as a location for all manner of events.

In 1910 the Real Estate Association of Berlin and its Suburbs – which later became the Guild of Maisons – bought the plot of land on the Köthener Straße 38, with the view to building there a head office for the association. After three years of construction the building was completed with offices for the association together with some solicitors' offices as well as a bookshop and was officially opened by the association’s chairman, Otto Heuer, in 1913. Even in its early days many small meetings and concerts were held within its 266-square-metre (2,860 sq ft) chamber music room located at the building's centre. The name Meistersaal was first coined as part of the invitation for tender for the project. The room found further use as the venue for the graduation ceremonies of the newly qualified guildsmen.

In the 1920s the Meistersaal started to build a reputation for itself amongst the blooming artistic scene in Berlin. On the ground floor of the building the publishers Malik-Verlag, under the management of Wieland Herzfelde, and the Gallery George Grosz took up residence here. And on January 27, 1921 Kurt Tucholsky performed a reading in the Meistersaal.

Furthermore, stars of the nascent silver screen made regular appearances here such as the silent film actor Carl de Vogt and Ludwig Hardt staged frequent performances in the Meistersaal. As a result of some rather controversial exhibitions held in the ground floor gallery, which took a critical look at social issues of the times and gained some notoriety in Berlin, The Guild of Masons, who considered themselves to be representatives of conservative morality, refused to extend the leases to their unpopular tenants. Therefore, the Malik-Verlag house was forced to find new premises in 1926. Today their presence here is commemorated by a plaque.

...
Wikipedia