Detlev-Rohwedder-Haus
Former Reich Aviation Ministry, now the Finance Ministry
The huge stone building at the corner of Wilhelmstraße and Leipziger Straße is the largest surviving Nazi-era building in Berlin. Today it houses the Federal Ministry of Finance, and you walk straight past it on the way to Potsdamer Platz.
Built in 1935 and 1936 for Göring’s Aviation Ministry, the complex survived the war almost undamaged. In East Germany it became the “House of Ministries”. The GDR was founded here on 7 October 1949, and here on 16 June 1953 the construction workers’ uprising began that spread across the whole country on 17 June.
On Leipziger Straße two pictures sit one above the other: Max Lingner’s 1952 mural of cheerful socialist construction, and in the ground in front of it a photo of the demonstrators of 17 June 1953. After 1990 the Treuhand privatisation agency was based here; the building is named after its murdered president Detlev Rohwedder.
The building is not open to the public, but the façade and the memorial on Leipziger Straße can be seen at any time. From us, three minutes north along Wilhelmstraße.
Our tip
On the way to Potsdamer Platz, stop briefly on Leipziger Straße, otherwise you miss the mural.
Opening hours and prices change; current details are on the official website.
Frequently asked
Can you visit the Detlev-Rohwedder-Haus?
Inside only on special occasions such as open days. The façade, the mural and the memorial on Leipziger Straße are freely accessible at any time.
Also nearby
- right next door
Weltballon (World Balloon)
Tethered balloon, 150 metres above Berlin
The Weltballon is the big white tethered balloon you can see from half of Berlin. It takes off at the corner of Zimmerstraße and Wilhelmstraße, right next to our café.
Read more - approx. 5 min walk
Checkpoint Charlie
The most famous crossing point of the Wall
From 1961 to 1990 Checkpoint Charlie was the crossing point for foreigners, diplomats and Allied soldiers between East and West Berlin. Today a replica of the guard house stands on Friedrichstraße, with the famous sign “You are leaving the American sector”.
Read more - approx. 5 min walk
Topography of Terror
Documentation centre on the former Gestapo and SS site
Between Niederkirchnerstraße and Wilhelmstraße stood, until 1945, the headquarters of the Gestapo, the SS and the Reich Security Main Office. Today a documentation centre with open-air grounds tells the story of the perpetrators of National Socialism. Admission is free.
Read more - approx. 5 min walk
Trabi Museum
The car of East Germany, up close
The Trabi Museum on Zimmerstraße shows the Trabant in all its versions: saloon, estate, open “Kübel”, racing version and conversions. Plus original adverts, brochures and stories about waiting years for your own car.
Read more
Coffee before, cake after
Typisch Berlin, Wilhelmstraße 42, right at the Weltballon. Daily from 09:00, two floors, Wi-Fi, toilets, terrace. Berliner from €2.20.
