Martin-Gropius-Bau

The Martin-Gropius-Bau opened in 1881 as the Berlin Museum of Decorative Arts in Kreuzberg, designed by Martin Gropius, great-uncle of Walter Gropius, together with Heino Schmieden in an Italian Renaissance Revival style. Its polychrome facade with terracotta reliefs, mosaics, and putti is among the most lavish surviving from the Gruenderzeit. Heavily damaged in the Second World War, the building stood directly against the Berlin Wall on the West Berlin side until 1990. Only the fall of the Wall reopened its main entrance. Today it hosts internationally acclaimed temporary exhibitions on contemporary art, photography, and cultural history. The light-filled atrium with surrounding galleries is among Berlin's most beautiful interiors. The Topography of Terror memorial begins right next door.