Hackesche Höfe, Berlin

Hackesche Höfe is a connected courtyard complex entered through an arched gateway at Rosenthaler Straße 40. Its eight courtyards were built between 1905 and 1907, with homes, workshops, shops, and cultural rooms woven into one ensemble. The architectural language is Jugendstil, and the courtyard most celebrated for its design was created by August Endell.

Notice the patterned glazed-brick façade around that court: it is the detail that gives this place its unmistakable character. Endell’s interiors have largely disappeared, but the courtyard itself remains well preserved. The complex opened on the 23rd of September 1906, and its unusual mixture of living, making, commerce, and culture was new for its time.

In 1909, Kurt Hiller and Jakob van Hoddis founded Der Neue Club here. Its literary evenings, called the Neopathetisches Cabaret, drew audiences numbering in the hundreds. A plaque here commemorates van Hoddis, who was persecuted and killed under National Socialism.

The present street façade comes from the 1997 renovation and follows the design of an earlier façade by Kurt Berndt. Today, the courtyards combine creative workplaces, small design shops, cultural venues, and apartments, keeping the complex’s mixed-use idea alive.