"Bierburgen", in English castles of beer, is what people called the large breweries that shaped the growth of the Prenzlauer Berg district in the 19th century. On Schönhauser Allee, workers bottled Schultheiss beer until 1968, when the outdated factory closed. A furniture store moved in, and East Berlin’s youth partied in the popular Frannz-Club. Other areas of the complex were unused and decaying.
The condition of the historic old buildings surrounding the site also deteriorated over the years. The state-directed housing construction focused on newly built cities based on the socialist model. However, since the demand for housing could never be met and many rejected a life according to the norm, the area became a magnet for the creative scene. Despite constant surveillance, it succeeded in challenging the rules of the SED dictatorship with many actions.
When the new freedom dawned in 1990, creative people occupied the ramshackle buildings of the Kulturbrauerei. They wanted to work there permanently and manage themselves. To this end, they founded a non-profit company, and, with support by the state, developed a concept of utilisation and renovation.
Until 2000, the ensemble was renovated at a cost of 100 million D-Marks. The building structure of the Kulturbrauerei, which has been a listed a historical monument since 1974, was largely preserved, an underground parking garage being the only really new construction. About a third of the 40,000 square metres of rental space was reserved for the non-profit company. Thus, a mixture of different cultural facilities of the independent cultural scene, a cinema, several clubs, restaurants and a concert hall came into existence here.
A museum also finds its space in the Kulturbrauerei. Since 1994, the Sammlung Industrielle Gestaltung, in Englisch Industrial Design Collection, has been showing in changing exhibitions the works of designers in the GDR. Due to the difficult condition of the large collection, it was transferred to the Stiftung Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland in 2005. Since then, this unique collection has been documented, preserved and made available for national and international loan. Numerous objects have been on display since 2013 in a new exhibition as well as at its locations in Berlin, Leipzig and Bonn.
Together with the real estate company that owns the industrial monument, the owners of the Kulturbrauerei changed several times. In 2021, it became clear that the cultural use was not permanently ensured in the nineties. The district of Pankow therefore drew up a development plan to make up for this. Even if the tenants on the site have to struggle with the price development of rents and changed framework conditions, the Kulturbrauerei with its diverse offers remains an important flagship of the city.
