Liebermann-Villa at Berlin Wannsee

Yesterday the Bernstein Family went to the lovely Liebermann-Villa at Berlin Wannsee in order to check out the home of Impressionist artist Max Liebermann. Surprisingly, we chrashed into the Villa's 100th anniversary celebrations.

Max Liebermann (1847 - 1935) built his very own "Casa Rustica" on a property in the prominent Alsen neighborhood at Berlin Wannsee, where he resided during the summer months. His "Castle at the Lake" with its beautiful garden was the subject of lots of his later masterpieces. He lived there with wife and daughter until he died in 1935, all frustrated since his dreams of the assimilation of the Jews into German society apparently failed.

Surpressed by the Nazi regime in his career and freedom, Liebermann is reported to have said about the topic: "I can not eat as much as I would like to vomit". The tragic downfall of the Liebermann house and family speeded up after Liebermann's death. The Villa continued to be the house of his wife Martha until it was taken away by Nazi authorities who used it as a home for their famale entourage.
Later, Martha commited suicide in 1943 in order to avoid deportation to a concentration camp.




After the Second World War the famous Villa served as a hospital where Liebermann's former studio was tured into an operating room, then rented out to an aquatic sports club house until finally in 2006 the house was opend to the public as a Museum in honor of Max Liebermann.