On a sunny but brisk October day, my husband and I drove to the south western outskirts of Berlin to spend the afternoon at Haus am Waldsee, an art center that has been active since 1946.

The villa, originally named Haus Knobloch, was built in 1922 at the request of a Jewish manufacturer. The Knobloch family eventually moved to Argentina in the late 20’s and sold the property.

The villa was temporary lived in by Karl Melzer, the deputy director of the Reich. By 1945 the space was occupied by different sectors of the art world, including the Berlin Philharmonic and in 1946 was officially named Haus am Waldsee.

The Haus became a safe haven for artist that were silenced during Nazi Germany and also attracted majors players in the art world such as Pablo Picasso and Max Ernst.

Katja Blomberg has been director since 2005 and has utilized this space for exhibits, concerts, artist’s dinners, talks, design workshops, visual arts, and so much more. A strong community of art lovers have transformed this space into a cultural sanctuary that hold their standards high in remaining one of the leading venues for contemporary art in Germany.

I decided to skip the exhibit inside of the home because of COVID-19, but took my sweet time roaming around the 10,000 square meter sculpture park by the Waldsee. My husband ordered some coffee from the café and enjoyed the view from one of the colorful chairs on the patio. Afterwards we walked around the Havel Lakes and made the most of the sunlight and people watching. A perfect day trip I must say.