“A meeting place of the Berlin Enlightenment” That’s how many describe the Nicolai-Haus. Look at this remarkable building before you. This is the Nicolai-Haus in Berlin’s Mitte district. It’s more than just a pretty face though. This building has a story spanning centuries. A story woven into the fabric of Berlin itself.
Originally two separate plots. These belonged to court employees in the 1600s. After a fire around 1650 or 1660. Court physician Bottcher rebuilt his house. He received the second plot as a gift from the Elector. In 1674. Heinrich Julius Brandes. A future Cölln mayor purchased the property. He expanded it into a two-story building. A central entrance and a gable roof defined its structure. The original foundation and cellars remain today a testament to its long history.
From 1709 onwards. High-ranking military officials and ministers owned the Nicolai-Haus. In 1710 and 1711. The building transformed into a stately palace. Featuring impressive suites of rooms. In 1787 Friedrich Nicolai. A famous publisher and writer bought the Nicolai-Haus for 32500 thalers. That’s nearly four million euros today. He had Carl Friedrich Zelter redesign it. This gave the building its late Baroque-classical appearance. This is largely preserved to this day. The ground floor housed his bookstore and publishing house.
After the Nicolai bookstore moved. The character of the ground-floor shops changed gradually. Numerous commemorative plaques on the facade testify to its illustrious residents. Alongside the Gotzkowsky and Nicolai families. The Partheys. Elisa von der Recke. Christoph August Tiedge. Christian Gottfried Korner. Minna Korner. Dorothea Stock and Ludwig Jonas lived here. The Nicolai-Haus was a central meeting point for the Berlin Enlightenment and Romanticism. Guests included Johann Gottfried Schadow. Karl Friedrich Schinkel. Daniel Chodowiecki and Theodor Korner. The Nicolai publishing house. Founded in 1713 also resided here. Nicolai’s private library was famed containing over 16000 volumes.
From 1910 to 1936. The Lessing Museum was housed here. The Nazis later closed it. The building was also known as the Nicolai-Korner-Lessing-Haus. Between 1936 and 1945. Soldiers were forcibly housed here. Allied air raids and the final battles damaged the garden wing and parts of the left side wing. The damaged facade was restored from 1952 onwards. The interiors became offices and workshops for the Central Institute for Monument Protection of the GDR. The left side wing was rebuilt between 1953 and 1954. Extensive renovations took place between 1974 and 1984.
In 1977 the Nicolai-Haus received monument protection. It became public property in 1986. The Institute for Monument Preservation took over its legal custodianship. Between 1981 and 1990. The small theatre Das Ei used some rooms and the courtyard as an annex. In 1989. The Parthey heirs’ legal claims were settled. After German reunification the Nicolai-Haus became the property of the state of Berlin. It housed the Brandenburg State Office for Monument Preservation until 1998. The art historian Werner Schade has lived in the connecting building since 1968.
The Nicolai-Haus became part of the Stadtmuseum Berlin foundation in the late 1990s. In 2011 the German Foundation for Monument Protection acquired the Nicolai-Haus. This was thanks to a private inheritance. The foundation renovated it. The renovated Nicolai-Haus reopened in March 2016. It now houses the Berlin office of the German Foundation for Monument Protection. It stands as a living monument. A testament to the enduring spirit of Berlin. A place where history comes alive.