Documentation and recommendations for action Mäusebunker
Festival für urbanes Wohlergehen ...rund um den Mäusebunker
In September 2024, the iconic Mäusebunker in Steglitz-Lichterfelde became a vibrant center of urban culture and community. On behalf of the Senate Department for Urban Development, Building and Housing, Urbane Praxis e.V. invited the Berlin neighborhood, artists, urban planners and numerous other stakeholders to celebrate the “Festival for Urban Wellbeing …around the Mäusebunker”. Together with the neighborhood and urban society, we opened the open spaces around the Mäusebunker. The program was free and outdoors: from exploratory tours of the site and local creatures, community jogging and other exercise activities, guided tours on the history of the Mäusebunker and the festival’s purpose, to cooking together with local plants, building activities, as well as many other workshops on the topic of health, performances, music and discussions. The site was also open outside of the program and offered various activities such as mini golf, sauna afternoons and exhibitions.
Patrick Steinhoff, District Councillor for Urban Development, Steglitz-Zehlendorf district: “The Mäusebunker has been a listed building since 2023. This means that the building will be preserved. The festival offered the opportunity to open up ideas and perspectives for a permanent use of the building. I am all the more pleased that many local players from Steglitz-Zehlendorf came together to make the festival a real success. At the same time, all citizens had the opportunity to take a close look at the Mäusebunker. I very much hope that one or two preconceptions about the building were dispelled.”
Senate Building Director and State Secretary for Urban Development Prof. Petra Kahlfeldt praised the summer of action: “The Urban Practice team has impressively succeeded in reviving the otherwise inaccessible site on the Teltow Canal for a short time with an inspiring, lively festival program. Once again, the cultural, aesthetic and social significance of this iconic architecture rightly took center stage and provided a unique backdrop for a refreshing dialogue between architecture and the public on the future of the Mäusebunker.”
Dr. Christoph Rauhut, State Conservator and Director of the State Monuments Office (LDA): “With its extraordinary design in the style of Brutalism, the listed Mäusebunker has become an internationally renowned brand. As part of the “Mäusebunker model procedure”, the State Monuments Office has long been committed to a contemporary conversion of the site and sees the festival as a positive signal for urban society.”
The festival was not only a place for open exchange, but also for artistic expression: numerous performances and installations invited visitors to experience the space in unexpected ways. The Mäusebunker itself became a stage for completely new perspectives on the experience of architecture and public space.
Link to the digital Documentation: https://www.urbanepraxis.berlin/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Dokumentation_Maeusebunker-.pdf