On September 13th 1913, Fritz Bühler opened the dance hall “Bühlers Ballhaus“ (Bühler’s Ballroom) in the back of Auguststrasse 24/25. The venue quickly became a prime address for a mix of the Berlin’s haut-monde and blue-collar labourers, all on a quest to find a relaxed Schwoof (the Berlin vernacular term for ‘dance’).
The venue became known as Clärchens Ballhaus after Bühler was killed in World War One and his widow, Clara—a Prussian farmer’s daughter and one of the first women in Berlin to allegedly earn a driving licence—took over the business.
When exactly the buildings were erected no one knows as official records were lost during World War Two. One rumour has it that they were commissioned by Kaiser Wilhelm II’s butler (!).
The front building was so badly damaged by bombing that it had to be torn down, which made the entrance to the Ballhaus visible from the street. The decimated area was latterly turned into a pleasantly ramshackle garden that today serves pizza, beer and other unpretentious delicacies to patrons.
In his 1929 novel Berlin Alexanderplatz, Alfred Döblin had his hero Franz Biberkopf come here for a drink with his friend Meck, who has just been restored to health after losing an arm. “They wander down to the Alex in their same old jogtrot, then a short way through the Gipsstrasse, where Franz takes him …