One of the main components to the counterculture of Berlin after the conclusion of the Second World War, was the artistic movement, as Berlin had quickly become the art culture city in Europe rivaling New York and San Francisco of the United States. The main and most prominent art house in Berlin was the Kunsthaus Tacheles (Art House Tacheles). This building was five stories high, located on Oranienburger Street, and has a rich and colorful history that spans more than a century. It was originally built in 1907/08 as a shopping complex, which was initially one of the first and largest of its kind in Berlin. In 1928, the building was bought by a German Electric company called AEG, and it served as a showroom for their products and new technological developments, where it then became known as 'The House of Technology', and the building even hosted one of the first German television transmissions.In the 1930's the building became increasingly used by the Nazi party members and later it became the central office of the SS and during the years of WWII, buildings on Oranienburger Street suffered severe damage from bomb raids causing most of the infrastructure to become destroyed and never fully restored. It was not until after the Berlin wall fell in 1989, that the Kunsthaus Tacheles building was turned into an artist's utopia, a cultural institution and even a tourist's magnet.The building was taken over by artists in 1990 and they transformed it into a creative commune. If you walked down Mitte's Oranienburger Street at any point between 1990 and 2012, you would have likely noticed this vibrant structure located just a short distance from the synagogue. The Kunsthaus Tacheles became the second-most visited art attraction in Berlin even leading actual art museums such as the East Side Gallery and Museum Island. Taken over by artists after the Wall fell in 1990, the building was transformed into a creative commune. At its peak, Kunsthaus Tacheles had a theatre, a bar, an event space, studios and nearly 100 creators from over 30 different countries all came together under one roof as the artists sold their work right from their studios in the building and the doors were open all day every day. There were numerous workshops for the artists with bars for them to enjoy drinks while being surrounded by sculptures and paintings while also having live music played. The Kunsthaus Tacheles also included a garden where artists would display and sell their works of art in as well.

Many people, not only the artists who occupied it, loved the Kunsthaus Tacheles, and when it was in the process of closing down in 2008 many people were upset about the news. Much of the artists that were squatting in the art house were eventually forced out completely in 2012 and it was met with protests asking 'where shall we go now'. A reporter wrote in the Guardian, a UK newspaper, that the" Kunsthaus Tacheles encapsulated the euphoria of the new age and symbolized 'the emergence of Berlin from its long years of darkness,' after visiting in 1992. Now the building was being closed down again and these cultural and artistic people felt like they were being brought back into the darkness that the art house brought them out of initially. Speaking to a large crowd that gathered to say goodbye to the Kunsthaus Tacheles, the curator, Barbara Fragogna stated, ""The last four years were a constant fight to keep this house, and it took a lot of energy, and now it's at a point where we are very tired." So as we can see the artists and people who generally loved visiting the art house fought hard and tough over a four year period from 2008 to 2012 in order to keep the art house, but by the end they knew they did everything that they could to save the house, but there was just nothing they could do anymore. Even though this building does not exist, it is important for us to understand what the Kunsthaus Tacheles meant to these people as it provided them a light at the end of the tunnel after years of being seen as the enemy during World War II and being divided by the comunists and Americans for decades during the Cold War. The Kunsthaus Tacheles building provided these people with hope that their future would be a happy and positive one since the previous sixty or so years for them was such a tragic one.

Falconer, Falconer. "Eviction Noticed: Gentrification in Berlin shutters a bombed-out building where artists had squatted since the Wall came down." Street Theater. (American Scholar: January 1^st, 2013). Accesses on February 24^th, 2019. http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.proxy.library.brocku.ca/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=3&sid=331c2a2b-b8ec-44b9-a69d-5a1b8a6e28fe%40sdc-v-sessmgr03

Giuffo, John. "The Sad, Slow Death of Berlins Kunsthaus Tacheles." Forbes.com https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnguffo/2011/04/12/the-sad-slow-death-of-berlins-kunsthaus-tacheles/#1bf48ace5042 (Accessed on February 24^th, 2019).

Taylor Lindsey. "Life after Tacheles: What's become of the artist squatters?" exberliner.com http://www.exberliner.com/features/culture/life-after-tacheles/ (Accessed on February 24^th, 2019).

Guillaume Trotin. "The Story of Kunsthaus Tacheles – The Home of the Spirit of Art." Berlinstreetart.com. https://berlinstreetart.com/kunsthaus-tacheles-berlin/ (Acessed on February 24^th, 2019).

"Kunsthaus Tachles." IntroducingBerlin.com. https://www.introducingberlin.com/kunsthaus-tacheles (Accesses on February 24th, 2019).