Kunsthaus Tacheles

Kunsthaus Tacheles was a legendary artists' squat on Oranienburger Strasse, occupied by young artists in February 1990 just weeks after the fall of the Wall - the sole surviving wing of the 1908 Friedrichstrassenpassage department store, which the GDR authorities had been demolishing. Until eviction in 2012, the building hosted 22 years of international street art, underground clubs, studios, a cinema and bars; its graffiti-covered facade became an icon of post-reunification Berlin's wild years and a fixture on every tourist map. Today the luxury Am Tacheles quarter spans the block; only one preserved stair tower and remnants of the facade recall the squat era. Visitors wanting to grasp the atmosphere can stop into the neighbouring Fotografiska Berlin housed in the complex.