Pfefferberg Theater

The Pfefferberg in Prenzlauer Berg is known as a listed architectural ensemble far beyond the borders of Berlin. It can look back on a varied history: founded as a brewery in 1841 by the Bavarian master brewer Josef Pfeffer, the area with its over twenty buildings reflects a piece of Berlin's architectural and industrial history. After several changes of ownership, Schultheiss-Brauerei AG ceased operations in 1921. The ensemble of buildings, which has now been greatly expanded, was then used for a variety of purposes: it served both for bread and chocolate production and as a production facility for military electronics. During the Second World War it was used as an air raid shelter. After the end of the Second World War, car repair shops and commercial kitchens, pig fattening facilities, and the printing press of the “Neues Deutschland” publishing house were once again located on the site. Very dilapidated due to damage in the Second World War, the “Pfefferberg” ruins were considered a socio-cultural center and hotspot for the creative scene in the 1990s after the fall of the Wall. There is hardly a long-established Berlin cultural worker who has not yet danced here. In 2007, the planning of the monument-friendly reconstruction began. The use of old bricks and steel structures created an exciting synthesis of old and new building materials, which makes the biography of the place as an industrial historical monument tangible.