Before it burned in 1945, Schloss Biesdorf was a richly decorated villa. What did its rooms actually look like? On Wednesday 18 November 2026, 6–8pm, Professor Renate Oelhaf gives a Schloss Biesdorf lecture on the historic colour scheme of the interiors, under the title Polychromie und Monochromie. Entry is 6 €, paid in cash on the night. The talk is in German.
The lecture belongs to the series "VHS zu Gast im Schloss Biesdorf", run with the Volkshochschule Marzahn-Hellersdorf, and takes place in the Heino-Schmieden-Saal, named after the villa's architect.
What to expect
The villa was built in 1867/68, altered for the Siemens family in the late 1880s, burned out in April 1945 and rebuilt in full only in 2016. Much of what the rooms looked like has to be pieced together from fragments, photographs and comparison with other houses of the period. Oelhaf presents her thinking on how the interiors were painted and where colour gave way to restrained single-tone surfaces: the polychromy and monochromy of the title. For anyone who has walked through the restored rooms, it explains choices that are easy to take for granted.
Good to know
- When: Wednesday 18 November 2026, 6–8pm
- Where: Heino-Schmieden-Saal, Schloss Biesdorf, Alt-Biesdorf 55, 12683 Berlin
- Entry: 6 €, cash only, paid on site
- Booking: registration requested by email to [email protected] or by phone on 0176 57327702
- Language: German
- Getting there: S5 Biesdorf or U5 Elsterwerdaer Platz, about ten minutes on foot
Nearby
On Saturday 21 November the house shows the film collage GUDEHUS at 4pm, preceded by a free tour of the current exhibitions at 2pm. The art space in the former GDR amusement park, Spreepark Art Space, opens its new show the next day.