{"id":156507,"date":"2026-08-31T19:09:19","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T19:09:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/156507\/"},"modified":"2026-08-31T19:09:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T19:09:19","slug":"right-in-the-heart-of-the-city-spanning-18500-m%c2%b2-stands-a-building-that-has-evolved-from-a-jewish-department-store-to-a-gdr-power-center-and-finally-into-berlins-most-exclusive-member","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/156507\/","title":{"rendered":"Right in the heart of the city, spanning 18,500 m\u00b2, stands a building that has evolved from a Jewish department store to a GDR power center and finally into Berlin\u2019s most exclusive members\u2019 club"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Soho<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhoto: @sohohouse \/ Instagram<\/p>\n

Are you fans of unique architecture with a long history? Then Berlin is the perfect place for you. The city is full of nostalgic traces of times gone by, which are still reflected in numerous buildings today. Whether it\u2019s a bar that used to<\/a> be a GDR beauty salon<\/a> or a \u201cuniversity on the water\u201d located in a former rainwater retention basin at Tempelhof Airport<\/a> \u2014many places in Berlin have a history that\u2019s hardly apparent at first glance. And today we\u2019re telling you about a very special building: The history of what is now Soho House Berlin at Torstra\u00dfe 1 is extraordinary, because nearly 100 years of Berlin\u2019s history can be traced at this single address.<\/p>\n

\"\"Photo: @sohohouse \/ Instagram<\/p>\n

From a Jewish department store through the Nazi era and the GDR to today\u2019s exclusive members\u2019 club, the building has weathered completely different eras. It was constructed between 1927 and 1929 based on designs by architects Gustav Bauer and Siegfried Friedl\u00e4nder. Built in the New Objectivity style, it originally served as a credit department store for Jona\u00df & Co. AG and is now a designated historic landmark.<\/p>\n

Behind the department store were the Jewish businessmen Hermann Golluber and Hugo Haller. The concept differed from traditional luxury department stores, as goods could be purchased on credit and paid for in installments. This meant customers didn\u2019t have to pay the entire purchase price at once; instead, they could make a down payment and settle the remaining amount later. The building was also architecturally impressive. It offered approximately 15,000 square meters of usable space across seven floors. Interestingly, the roof already played a special role back then. It housed a restaurant\u2014a remarkable parallel to how Soho House uses the roof today.<\/p>\n

\"\"Photo: @sohohouse \/ Instagram<\/p>\n

When the National Socialists came to power, a dark chapter began in the building\u2019s history. The Jewish owners were forced out of their business and persecuted as part of the so-called \u201cAryanization.\u201d Hermann Golluber managed to emigrate in 1939. Although large parts of Berlin were destroyed during World War II, the building on Torstra\u00dfe survived the bombings relatively unscathed. As a result, it was ready for use again shortly after the war ended. Within just a few years, not only did its function change, but so did the political system whose representatives worked behind its walls.<\/p>\n

Although large parts of Berlin were destroyed during World War II, the building on Torstra\u00dfe survived the bombings relatively unscathed. As a result, it was back in use shortly after the war ended. Within just a few years, not only did its function change, but so did the political system whose representatives worked within its walls.<\/p>\n

In 2010, Soho House Berlin opened in the former credit department store and political power center. Today, behind the historic facade lies a private members\u2019 club and a hotel featuring dining options, fitness facilities, a movie theater, and a rooftop pool.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo: @sohohouse \/ Instagram Are you fans of unique architecture with a long history? Then Berlin is the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":156508,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[99],"tags":[112,190],"class_list":["post-156507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-berlin","tag-berlin","tag-germany"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@dk\/117191702653918057","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=156507"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156507\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/156508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=156507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=156507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=156507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}