Since its founding in 1996 as a theater, the Sophiensæle has been an important center for the independent performing arts. But the history of the building goes back much further: Built at the beginning of the 20th century as the clubhouse of the Berlin Craftsmen’s Association, it was a place for professional training and further education, exchange, and culture—such as Yiddish theater. From the end of the 1910s, the building developed into a central political meeting place for the Berlin workers’ movement. When the Nazis came to power, the association was banned and the building was auctioned off in 1940. During the Second World War, forced labor camps were set up in the building, including for so-called “Eastern workers”. In the GDR, the building housed the workshops of the Maxim Gorki Theater from the 1950s until the Sophiensæle was founded as Berlin's independent theater after reunification. What remains visible and tangible of this history? How do we encounter it today as a cultural institution? The Sophiensæle invites you to learn more about this history.