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Meistersaal
The Meistersaal is a historic concert hall in Berlin, Germany. Built in 1910 as a chamber music concert hall, the building today enjoys protected building status. It is located in Berlin-Mitte near Potsdamer Platz. Its major claim to fame stems from the times when it was Studio 2 of Hansa Tonstudio. Since the 1990s, the Meistersaal has found use as a location for all manner of events.
In 1910 the Real Estate Association of Berlin and its Suburbs – which later became the Guild of Maisons – bought the plot of land on the Köthener Straße 38, with the intent of building the association's head office on the site. After three years of construction the building was completed with offices for the association together with some solicitors' offices as well as a bookshop. It was officially opened by the association’s chairman, Otto Heuer, in October 1913. Even in its early days many small meetings and concerts were held within its 266-square-metre (2,860 sq ft) chamber music room located at the building's centre. The name Meistersaal was first coined as part of the invitation for tender for the project. The room found further use as the venue for the graduation ceremonies of the newly qualified guildsmen.
In the 1920s the Meistersaal started to build a reputation for itself amongst the blooming artistic scene in Berlin. On the ground floor of the building the publishers Malik-Verlag, under the management of Wieland Herzfelde, and the Gallery George Grosz took up residence here. And on 27 January 1921 Kurt Tucholsky performed a reading in the Meistersaal.
Furthermore, stars of the nascent silver screen made regular appearances here such as the silent film actor Carl de Vogt and Ludwig Hardt staged frequent performances in the Meistersaal. As a result of some rather controversial exhibitions held in the ground floor gallery, which took a critical look at social issues of the times and gained some notoriety in Berlin, The Guild of Masons, who considered themselves to be representatives of conservative morality, refused to extend the leases to their unpopular tenants. Therefore, the Malik-Verlag house was forced to find new premises in 1926. Today their presence here is commemorated by a plaque.
From 1933 the State Chamber Music Orchestra held their concerts in the Meistersaal and in 1936 the Chilean pianist Claudio Arrau held a series of concerts here performing the entire piano works of Johann Sebastian Bach, a feat that aided considerably his subsequent fame and popularity. During the night from the 22 to 23 November 1943 the rear wing of the building was completely destroyed by an allied bombing attack. The Meistersaal itself remained relatively intact although during the war no further events took place there.
In 1945 the Guild was dispossessed by the Allied forces. The building was put under marshal ownership and after some essential renovation work the building was used mostly as a concert hall under different forms of management whilst on the ground floor a cinema was introduced. Although attempts to establish the Meistersaal as a theatre failed to make an impact, the venue became popular for cabaret performers for example the famous magician Fredo Marvelli. In 1948 the Meistersaal was renamed as Ballhaus City and then later in 1953 as Ballhaus Susi. It continued in this guise until the erecting of the Berlin wall in 1961 which brought about an abrupt end to activities. Its location which once placed it at the epi-centre of a bourgeoning capital city, now left it high and dry, cut off from its public, at the centre only of a political dispute.
From 1961 the record label Ariola used the Meistersaal as a recording studio. Amongst the famous artists of this epoque who recorded here were the composer and conductor Robert Stolz, the Tenor Rudolf Schock, Peter Kreuder, Ivan Rebroff, Erika Köth, René Kollo, Norbert Schultze, Peter Alexander as well as the Swedish singer and actress Zarah Leander. Its proximity to the Berlin Wall now left it in a quiet backwater, the ideal pre-requisite for locating a recording studio.
In 1976, the music publishing group Meisel Musikverlage bought the entire building in the Köthener Straße 38 and created within it five Hansa Tonstudio studios. Many of the bomb-damaged rooms were renovated and converted to meet the demands of a recording studio. A restaurant opened on the ground floor, whereas the Meistersaal was reborn as Studio 2. Over the next years, the Meistersaal became famous worldwide within the music industry as it was the recording studio of choice for many pop stars from around the globe, including U2, Iggy Pop, Depeche Mode, David Bowie, Eartha Kitt, Richard Clayderman, Marillion, Mike Batt, David Byrne, Nick Cave, Snow Patrol, Jon Bon Jovi and Supergrass to name but a few. Rubbing shoulders with the international stars were the local heroes of the time, including Peter Maffay, Udo Lindenberg, Udo Jürgens, Roland Kaiser, Nina Hagen, Einstürzende Neubauten, Nena, Marianne Rosenberg, Die Toten Hosen, Heiner Pudelko, Ute Lemper, Trio, Reinhard Mey, Max Raabe, Jack White and Paul Kuhn.
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Meistersaal
The Meistersaal is a historic concert hall in Berlin, Germany. Built in 1910 as a chamber music concert hall, the building today enjoys protected building status. It is located in Berlin-Mitte near Potsdamer Platz. Its major claim to fame stems from the times when it was Studio 2 of Hansa Tonstudio. Since the 1990s, the Meistersaal has found use as a location for all manner of events.
In 1910 the Real Estate Association of Berlin and its Suburbs – which later became the Guild of Maisons – bought the plot of land on the Köthener Straße 38, with the intent of building the association's head office on the site. After three years of construction the building was completed with offices for the association together with some solicitors' offices as well as a bookshop. It was officially opened by the association’s chairman, Otto Heuer, in October 1913. Even in its early days many small meetings and concerts were held within its 266-square-metre (2,860 sq ft) chamber music room located at the building's centre. The name Meistersaal was first coined as part of the invitation for tender for the project. The room found further use as the venue for the graduation ceremonies of the newly qualified guildsmen.
In the 1920s the Meistersaal started to build a reputation for itself amongst the blooming artistic scene in Berlin. On the ground floor of the building the publishers Malik-Verlag, under the management of Wieland Herzfelde, and the Gallery George Grosz took up residence here. And on 27 January 1921 Kurt Tucholsky performed a reading in the Meistersaal.
Furthermore, stars of the nascent silver screen made regular appearances here such as the silent film actor Carl de Vogt and Ludwig Hardt staged frequent performances in the Meistersaal. As a result of some rather controversial exhibitions held in the ground floor gallery, which took a critical look at social issues of the times and gained some notoriety in Berlin, The Guild of Masons, who considered themselves to be representatives of conservative morality, refused to extend the leases to their unpopular tenants. Therefore, the Malik-Verlag house was forced to find new premises in 1926. Today their presence here is commemorated by a plaque.
From 1933 the State Chamber Music Orchestra held their concerts in the Meistersaal and in 1936 the Chilean pianist Claudio Arrau held a series of concerts here performing the entire piano works of Johann Sebastian Bach, a feat that aided considerably his subsequent fame and popularity. During the night from the 22 to 23 November 1943 the rear wing of the building was completely destroyed by an allied bombing attack. The Meistersaal itself remained relatively intact although during the war no further events took place there.
In 1945 the Guild was dispossessed by the Allied forces. The building was put under marshal ownership and after some essential renovation work the building was used mostly as a concert hall under different forms of management whilst on the ground floor a cinema was introduced. Although attempts to establish the Meistersaal as a theatre failed to make an impact, the venue became popular for cabaret performers for example the famous magician Fredo Marvelli. In 1948 the Meistersaal was renamed as Ballhaus City and then later in 1953 as Ballhaus Susi. It continued in this guise until the erecting of the Berlin wall in 1961 which brought about an abrupt end to activities. Its location which once placed it at the epi-centre of a bourgeoning capital city, now left it high and dry, cut off from its public, at the centre only of a political dispute.
From 1961 the record label Ariola used the Meistersaal as a recording studio. Amongst the famous artists of this epoque who recorded here were the composer and conductor Robert Stolz, the Tenor Rudolf Schock, Peter Kreuder, Ivan Rebroff, Erika Köth, René Kollo, Norbert Schultze, Peter Alexander as well as the Swedish singer and actress Zarah Leander. Its proximity to the Berlin Wall now left it in a quiet backwater, the ideal pre-requisite for locating a recording studio.
In 1976, the music publishing group Meisel Musikverlage bought the entire building in the Köthener Straße 38 and created within it five Hansa Tonstudio studios. Many of the bomb-damaged rooms were renovated and converted to meet the demands of a recording studio. A restaurant opened on the ground floor, whereas the Meistersaal was reborn as Studio 2. Over the next years, the Meistersaal became famous worldwide within the music industry as it was the recording studio of choice for many pop stars from around the globe, including U2, Iggy Pop, Depeche Mode, David Bowie, Eartha Kitt, Richard Clayderman, Marillion, Mike Batt, David Byrne, Nick Cave, Snow Patrol, Jon Bon Jovi and Supergrass to name but a few. Rubbing shoulders with the international stars were the local heroes of the time, including Peter Maffay, Udo Lindenberg, Udo Jürgens, Roland Kaiser, Nina Hagen, Einstürzende Neubauten, Nena, Marianne Rosenberg, Die Toten Hosen, Heiner Pudelko, Ute Lemper, Trio, Reinhard Mey, Max Raabe, Jack White and Paul Kuhn.
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