Gründerzeit Museum at Gutshaus Mahlsdorf

Women's Salon at the Gründerzeit Museum.

The Gründerzeit Museum, founded by Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, houses numerous exhibits from the Gründerzeit, a Golden Age for Germany that spanned the years 1870 to 1900.

The Gutshaus Mahlsdorf (English: Mahlsdorf Manor House) has housed the Gründerzeit Museum since 1960 and is the second-oldest surviving building in the village after the village church. The Mahlsdorf Collection displays numerous objects from the German Gründerzeit period. Visitors can tour 17 fully furnished rooms in the museum, including a collection of mechanical music boxes. A distinctive feature of the exhibition rooms is their meticulously detailed, cohesive furnishings, which transport visitors on a journey back in time.

Highlights at the Gründerzeit Museum

In the basement of the building, located in the center of the Mahlsdorf district, visitors can explore Berlin’s oldest Zille pub, complete with a club room and a "Hurenstube" (back room). The museum's showpiece is the Garden Hall, which was designed as a ballroom with its tall mirrors and chandeliers. All of the rooms are furnished with numerous original objects such as furniture, clocks, wall decorations, lamps, home accessories and more.

About Charlotte von Mahlsdorf

The Gründerzeit Museum in the Gutshaus Mahldorf was opened on August 1, 1960, by Charlotte von Mahlsdorf. She had saved the building from demolition two years prior and housed her growing collection of artifacts from the Gründerzeit era in its many rooms. Von Mahlsdorf was a transvestite and is considered an icon of the LGBT community.

Address, Opening Hours and Contact Information

• Address:
  Hultschiner Damm 333
  12623 Berlin
  City map
• Phone: [phone]
• Internet: www.gruenderzeitmuseum-mahlsdorf.de (in German)
• Opening Hours: Wednesdays and Sundays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (no groups and tour groups). Closed on public holidays (except Easter Sunday and Pentecost Sunday). Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays through Saturdays for groups and tour groups only (by appointment).
• Admission Fee:
  €7, children ages 4 to 12 €3, high school and college students €5
• Please note: Visits to the museum are only possible as part of a guided tour (approximately 60 minutes), which includes a demonstration of the mechanical musical instruments. The tours are conducted in German.