"Haus Lemke – The Furniture of Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich" at the Kunstgewerbemuseum

Since December 10, the German capital has been hosting the exhibition "Haus Lemke – The Furniture of Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich," showcasing one of the most extensive collections of original furniture by the architect and designer. The Kunstgewerbemuseum presents the complete collection of furniture from the Lemke House in Berlin, one of the most extensive surviving sets of original furnishings from the work of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.

Alongside the iconic modern furniture made of tubular steel, developed from the mid-1920s onward, the exhibition features a series of lesser-known plywood pieces. In keeping with the sophisticated interior design of the projects completed during that period, the exhibition presents iconic furniture that demonstrates meticulous attention to the combination of woods and surfaces of stone, glass, and metal.

Exhibition view “Haus Lemke – The Furniture by Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich” at the Kunstgewerbemuseum. Photograph by Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Kunstgewerbemuseum / Stephan Klonk.

Located on the shores of Lake Obersee in Alt-Hohenschönhausen (Lichtenberg district), the Haus Lemke was built in 1932/33. Its design reflects the limited budget of the Lemke couple, who lived without staff and desired a small, modest house that could extend into the garden on sunny days. The building was the last project completed by Mies van der Rohe before his permanent emigration to the United States and concludes a series that includes his own Berlin apartment in Am Karlsbad (1926), the Wolf House in Guben (1927), the Esters and Lange Houses in Krefeld (1928), and finally, the Tugendhat House in Brno (1930).

After a series of preliminary proposals, including some with two stories, an L-shaped house typology emerged. The house, ultimately a single-story dwelling, faces a spacious garden. Inside, the bedrooms, living room, and study are arranged around a terrace. The subtle transition from the interior to the garden occurs via an adjacent terrace, creating a unique connection between the interior and the surrounding landscape.

Presentation featuring tubular steel furniture based on a design by Mies van der Rohe (1927), with the advertising photograph of Gebr. Thonet featuring Haus Lemke (1934) in the background. Photograph by Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Kunstgewerbemuseum / Stephan Klonk.

The installed furniture was based on proposals from Mies van der Rohe's office, which were to be incorporated after the building's handover in April 1933. During this time, Mies presented plans for the study, but these were not implemented. Presumably, the project's organization continued in 1934 with Lilly Reich. The study and bedroom were furnished entirely according to the new designs, while existing furniture was used in the living room. According to Martha Lemke's recollection, the furniture wasn't completed until 1937. It appeared in the magazine Deutsche Bauzeitung that same year with a photograph by Max Krajewsky, who took a series of interior photographs at that time.

With the end of the war and the expulsion of its owners by the Red Army in 1945, the house's use changed, and it began to be used for various purposes, such as a machine shop, laundry, and State Security warehouse. This situation led to extensive renovations, as well as changes to the entire house and garden.

Haus Lemke, terrace with tubular steel furniture. Design of the tubular steel furniture: Mies van der Rohe, 1927. Photograph by Paul Schulz, Berlin, probably 1934 (original print in the Kunstgewerbemuseum - Staatliche Museen zu Berlin).

Karl Lemke was the owner of the prestigious Otto von Holten printing house in Berlin and the managing director of a graphic arts company. After his death in the early 1970s, Martha Lemke bequeathed the Haus Lemke estate to several Berlin museums, including the Kunstgewerbemuseum in West Berlin in 1984.

Listed as a historical monument by the East Berlin municipal authorities in 1977, the Haus Lemke came under the jurisdiction of the district's municipal administration in 1990, opening to the public under its new name, the Mies van der Rohe House. Responding to contemporary needs, the house began to be used as an international center for art, architecture, and research on the life and work of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Finally, between 2000 and 2002, a comprehensive restoration was carried out in accordance with conservation principles.

Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich(?), bedroom from Haus Lemke, 1934/1935. Photograph by Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Kunstgewerbemuseum / Stephan Klonk.

Lilly Reich (?) and Friedrich Hirz, "Ladies' Room" from Haus Lemke, 1934/35. Photograph by Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Kunstgewerbemuseum / Stephan Klonk.

Haus Lemke, four-seater sofa bed with upholstered cushions from the "Ladies' Room". Design: Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich (?), 1934/35, upholstery: cream-colored wool. Photograph by René Müller, Berlin, 2018 (Kunstgewerbemuseum - Staatliche Museen zu Berlin).

Haus Lemke, desk chair from the study. Design: Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich (?), 1934/35, Makassar ebony veneer, (inset) cushion with pigskin cover. Photograph by René Müller, Berlin, 2018 (Kunstgewerbemuseum - Staatliche Museen zu Berlin).

Haus Lemke, stool from the study. Design: Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich (?), 1934/35, Makassar ebony veneer, upholstered cushion with pigskin cover. Photograph by René Müller, Berlin, 2018 (Kunstgewerbemuseum - Staatliche Museen zu Berlin).

Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich(?), Study from Haus Lemke, 1934/1935. Photograph by Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Kunstgewerbemuseum / Stephan Klonk.

Haus Lemke, study with interior furnishings. Design: Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich (?), 1934/35, view from the bedroom. Photograph by Max Krajewsky, Berlin, 1937 (original print in the Kunstgewerbemuseum - Staatliche Museen zu Berlin).

Haus Lemke, study with club chair. Design: Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich (?), 1934/35, view into the hallway. Photograph by Max Krajewsky, Berlin, 1937 (original print in the Kunstgewerbemuseum - Staatliche Museen zu Berlin).

Haus Lemke, study with interior furnishings. Design: Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich (?), 1934/35, view into the study from the hallway. Photograph by Max Krajewsky, Berlin, 1937 (original print in the Kunstgewerbemuseum - Staatliche Museen zu Berlin).

Haus Lemke with garden. Design: Mies van der Rohe, 1932/33. Photograph by Paul Schulz, Berlin, probably 1934 (original print in the Kunstgewerbemuseum - Staatliche Museen zu Berlin).

View more images

Metalocus recommends

Escenario Meguro Hanabusayama by Ryuichi Sasaki Architecture. Photography by Takumi Ota Photography

Delicately carved. Escenario Meguro Hanabusayama by Ryuichi Sasaki Architecture

"Cabin 3PR - Tre │ på │ rad" by R21 Arkitekter. Photograph by Ruben Ratkusic

Material honesty, spatial quality. "Cabin 3PR - Tre │ på │ rad" by R21 Arkitekter

"The Bloom Box" by SoBA. Photograph by Wen Studio

Sensitive to time, weather, and the user. "The Bloom Box" by SoBA

More information

Label

Exhibition

Text

Haus Lemke – The Furniture of Mies van der Rohe und Lilly Reich.

Label

Organizer

Text

Kunstgewerbemuseum - Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Haus Lemke.

Label

Collaborators

Text

The restoration and conservation of the furniture was made possible thanks to funding from the Cultural Foundation of the Federal States of Germany (Kulturstiftung der Länder) and the Julius Lessing Society, Friends of the Kunstgewerbemuseum.

Label

Dates

Text

From 10th December 2025 onwards.
Opening Hours.-
Wednesday.- Friday.- 10:00 – 17:00.
Saturday + Sunday.- 11:00 – 18:00.

Label

Location

Text

Kunstgewerbemuseum. Matthäikirchplatz, 10785 Berlin, Germany.

Label

Photography

Text

Kunstgewerbemuseum / Stephan Klonk, René Müller, Paul Schulz, Max Krajewsky.

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was born in Aachen on the 27th of Marz of 1886 and died in Chicago on the 17th of August of 1969. He was active in Germany, from 1908 to 1938, when he moved to the USA and where he was until his death. He was also considered a “master” of the Modern Movement, since the 50s, and he was one of the fathers of this movement with Walter Gropius, Le Corbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright.

Mies van der Rohe, who in his childhood was guided by masters such as Hendrik Petrus Berlage or Peter Behrens, always kept tabs on the Villlet-Le-Duc’s rationalism or Karl Friedrich Schinkel eclectic classicism, having a strong connection with the architectural historicism. As he said in his manifesto “Baukunst und Zeiwille” about this: “it is not possible to move on looking back”.

In 1900 he began to work with his father in the stone workshop of the family and shortly afterwards he moved to Berlin to work with Bruno Paul in 1902, designing furniture. He planned his first house in 1907, the “Riehl House” in Neubabelsbers and worked from 1908 to 1911 in Peter Behrens’s studio. There he was influenced by structural techniques and designs based on steel and glass, as the AEG project in Berlin. While he was in Behrens’s studio he designed the Perls House.

In 1912 he opened his own studio and projected a house in The Hague for Kröller-Müller marriage. The studio received few jobs in its first years, but Mies, contrary to architects like Le Corbusier, in his first years already showed an architectural policy to follow, being an architect that changed little his architectural philosophy. To his epoch belonged the Heertrasse House and Urbig House as his principal projects.

In 1913 he moved to the outskirts of Berlin with his wife Ada Bruhn with whom he would have three kids. The family broke up when Mies was posted to Romania during World War I.

In 1920, Ludwig Mies changed his surname to Mies van der Rohe and in 1922 he joined as a member of the “Novembergruppe”. One year later, in 1923, he published the magazine “G” with Doesburg Lisstzky and Rechter. During this period he worked in two houses, the Birck House and the Mosler House. In 1926, Mies van der Rohe held the post of chief commissioner of the German Werkbund exhibition and became his president this year. In this period he projected the Wolf House in Guden and the Hermann Lange House in Krefeld and in 1927, he met the designer Lilly Reich, in the house exhibition of Weissenhof, where he was director, and he planned a steel structure block for her.

In 1929, he received the project the German National Pavilion to the International Exhibition of Barcelona) rebuilt in 1986=, where he included the design of the famous Barcelona Chair.

In 1930, he planned in Brün – present Czech Republic -, the Tugendhat Villa. He managed the Dessau’s Bauhaus until his closure in 1933. The Nazism forced Mies to emigrate to the United States in 1937. He was designated chair of the Architecture department at Armour Institute in 1938, the one that later merged with the Lewis Institute, forming the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) and where he took the responsibility to build a considerable extent of the foundations of the Institute from 1939 and 1958. One of the buildings of this complex is the Crown Hall, IIT (1950-1956).

In 1940, he met the person who would be his partner until his death, Lora Marx. He became a citizen of the USA in 1944 and, one year later, he began with the Farnsworth House’s project (1945-1950). During this stage, in 1948, he designed his first skyscraper: the two towers of the Lake Drive Apartments in Chicago, which were finished in 1951. Shortly after, he planned another building of this typology, the Commonwealth Promenade Apartments, from 1953 to 1956.

In 1958 he projected his most important work: the Segram Building in New York. This building has 37 storeys, covered with glass and bronze, which was built and planned with Philip Johnson. He retired from the Illinois Institute of Technology the same year. He also built more towers and complexes as: the Toronto Dominion Centre (1963-1969) and the Westmount Square (1965-1968) and designed the New Square and Office Tower of The City of London (1967).

From 1962 to 1968, he built the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin, which would be his last legacy to the architecture. The building that rose as an exhibition hall is made of steel, glass and granite.

He died in Chicago on the 17th of August of 1969 leaving behind a large legacy and influence to the next generations.

The Mies van der Rohe’s most famous sentences are “Less is more” and “God is in the details”.

LILLY REICH

Lilly Reich (b. Berlin, Germany, 16 June 1885 - d. Berlin, Germany, 14 December 1947). In 1908 she moved to Vienna, where she worked at the Wiener Werkstätte, an association of artists, architects and designers who prusued the integration of all the arts in a common project, without distinction between major and minor arts, after training to become an industrial embroiderer, Lilly Reich began working briefly at the Viennese studio of architect, Josef Hoffmann. In 1911, she returned to Berlin and met Anna and Hermann Muthesius.

In 1912, she became a member of the Deutscher Werkbund (German Work Federation, an association founded in 1907 formed by industrialists, architects and artists that defined the German industrial design). In 1920, she became the first female member of its board of directors. She was also a member of the Freie Gruppe für Farbkunst (independent group for colour art) in the same organisation.

In 1914, she collaborated on the interior design of the Haus der Frau (woman’s house) at the Deutscher Werkbund exhibition in Cologne. She managed a studio for interior design, decorative art and fashion in Berlin until 1924. In the same year, she travelled to England and Holland with Ferdinand Kramer to view modern housing estates. Until 1926, she managed a studio for exhibition design and fashion in Frankfurt am Main and worked in the Frankfurt trade fair office as an exhibition designer.

Reich met Ludwig Mies van der Rohe in 1926 and collaborated closely with him on the design of a flat and other projects for the Deutscher Werkbund exhibition held in Stuttgart in 1928. In 1927, she moved into her own studio and apartment in Berlin. In mid-1928, Mies van der Rohe and Reich were appointed as artistic directors of the German section of the 1929 World Exhibition in Barcelona, probably owing to their successful collaboration on the Deutscher Werkbund exhibition in Stuttgart. In late 1928, Mies van der Rohe began to work on the design for the Tugendhat House in the Czech town of Brno. This was completed in 1930 and, alongside the Barcelona Pavilion, it is considered to be a masterpiece of modern architecture. The interior design for Tugendhat House was created in collaboration with Lilly Reich.

In 1932, Lilly Reich played an important role at the Bauhaus in Dessau and Berlin. In January 1932, the third Bauhaus director, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, appointed her as the director of the building/finishing department and the weaving workshop at the Bauhaus Dessau. She also continued to serve in this capacity at the Bauhaus Berlin, where she worked until December 1932.

In 1934, Reich collaborated on the design of the exhibition Deutsches Volk – Deutsche Arbeit (German people – German work) in Berlin. In 1937, Reich and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe were commissioned to design the German Reich exhibition of the German textile and clothing industry in Berlin. This was subsequently displayed in the textile industry section of the German Pavilion at the Paris World Exhibition of 1937. In 1939, she travelled to Chicago and visited Mies van der Rohe there. Following her return to Germany, Reich was conscripted to the military engineering group Organisation Todt (OT). After the war (1945/46), she taught interior design and building theory at Berlin University of the Arts. Reich ran a studio for architecture, design, textiles and fashion in Berlin until her death in 1947.

Published on: December 21, 2025

Cite:

metalocus, JOSÉ JUAN BARBA, AGUSTINA BERTA

""Haus Lemke – The Furniture of Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich" at the Kunstgewerbemuseum" METALOCUS. Accessed

<https://www.metalocus.es/en/news/haus-lemke-furniture-mies-van-der-rohe-and-lilly-reich-kunstgewerbemuseum> ISSN 1139-6415