Alexander Haus

Het Alexander Haus werd in 1927 door de vooraanstaande Duits-Joodse arts Dr. Alfred Alexander gebouwd als huis aan het meer. With clients such as Albert Einstein, Marlene Dietrich and Max Reinhardt, the house became a meeting place for scholars, musicians and actors in the 1920s and 1930s. Following the rise of the Nazis, the Alexanders fled to England in 1936, and shortly afterwards the house was seized by the Gestapo. In 1945, the house’s occupants witnessed the brutal Soviet occupation and later the division of Germany into East and West. In 1961, the Berlin Wall was built through the property’s garden. After reunification, the house was squatted by drug-users. It has been empty since 2005.

In 2013, members of the Alexander family returned to Groß Glienicke and embarked on a process of reconciliation with the local residents. Members of the Alexander family and local residents set up the ‘Alexander-Haus e.V.’ charity and negotiated a long-term agreement with the city government to use the property, renovate the house and make it available to the public. The Alexander Haus will be a centre for education and reconciliation. The intention is to use the extraordinary history of the Alexander Haus to bring people together from diverse backgrounds and communities, and to make a more inclusive and tolerant future.

A matching grant of Lerak Foundation made the start of the restoration possible.

‘The grant from ICF was hugely important in kick-starting the renovation. It unlocked a donation from the State of Brandenburg which awaited matched funding, and enabled the house to be made safe against the elements over the winter months, with a new roof and guttering and more. The involvement of ICF also encouraged other donors to come forwards and enabled us to embark on – and by now almost complete – the full renovation programme. Thank you so much for your interest in our project, and for the confidence you placed in us’