Museum Ephraim-Palais

The Ephraim-Palais Museum is a landmarked Rococo building on the edge of the Nikolai Quarter in Berlin-Mitte, now part of the Stiftung Stadtmuseum Berlin. The history of the building is closely tied to Veitel Heine Ephraim, a privileged "protected Jew" and banker under Frederick II. Ephraim financed much of the king's military campaigns and amassed a considerable fortune through various business dealings, some of which he invested in Berlin's economic development. To reflect his standing, he had the building constructed between 1762 and 1769. The architect Friedrich Wilhelm Diterichs designed a four-story city palace whose defining feature is its rounded corner, where the two wings meet at an obtuse angle. This shape is emphasized by a balcony with a gilded railing, putti figures, and Tuscan columns, which also frame the main portal.

Inside, the elliptical motif continues, visible in the oval vestibule and the bright staircase with spiraling steps. The palace served Ephraim as both home and workplace, while a silver refinery operated in the courtyard and the ground-floor shops were rented out. After the builder's death, the house remained in the family for a long time before the city of Berlin acquired it in 1843 and used it for various municipal offices. During the Nazi era, the building was demolished in 1935 to make way for a bridge and a Gauforum. The facade and individual architectural elements survived World War II in a storage yard in Wedding.

In the 1980s, the palace was reconstructed as part of the rebuilding of the Nikolai Quarter. Because the original site was no longer usable due to the widening of the Mühlendamm, the reconstruction took place about twelve meters north of the old location, using the surviving facade elements. The interiors were fitted out with simplified Rococo ornamentation. Since its reopening in 1987, the building has hosted changing exhibitions devoted to Berlin's way of life and everyday themes. It also houses the Stadtmuseum's Graphic Collection, which, with more than a hundred thousand sheets, preserves a pictorial memory of Berlin and the Mark Brandenburg from the 16th century to the present. Since the end of 2023, the building has also featured the newly redesigned permanent exhibition on the city's history.