Its program centers on a sustained reflection of site, context, and experience. Taking its location in Berlin’s eastern neighborhood of Alt-Hohenschönhausen, with direct access to a park and a lake, as a starting point for a broad institutional vocabulary, Mies van der Rohe Haus focuses on a holistic program of site-specific exhibitions, newly commissioned works, and cross-institutional collaborations, opening it to diverse audiences and differing perspectives on duration, attention, and the transmission of knowledge.
Mies van der Rohe Haus was established in 1990 in the former Haus Lemke, which was built in 1932–33 by architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe as a residence for Karl and Martha Lemke. Shortly after the end of the Second World War, the Lemkes were forced to vacate the building, after which it was used by the GDR’s Ministry for State Security and underwent structural alterations. After the fall of the Wall, the site became part of initiatives to make former Stasi properties accessible to the public. In this context, the Mies van der Rohe Haus was established as an exhibition space. Between 2000 and 2002, it was restored in accordance with heritage conservation standards and returned to its original condition.