Berlin 2009 - Wingender Hovenier Architecten

Landhaus Lemke, Berlin, 1932-1933
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Mies van der Rohe’s last active year in
Germany was in 1938, before which
he had worked on several courtyard
houses amongst other things. The
country house for Karl Lemke is one of
two house projects that were completed
in this period. The country house sits
flush on its terrace area as an L-shaped
structure: all the openings are glazed at
wall height. The individual wellproportioned
rooms are linked to each
other by room-height doors. The draft
for the original garden design stems
from Hermann Mattern. The small
country house with an area of 1,722
square feet and a view of the Obersee
lake was degraded to form a motor
vehicle workshop after the war. It was
later used by the state security service
again and, following the reunification of
Germany, it was turned into a municipal
gallery. Although the building has been
greatly transformed over the years, it
has been a listed building since 1977.
The house is presently being renovated.