Everyday Life in Biedermeier Berlin

Humboldt, Schinkel and the Knoblauch Family

Knoblauchhaus

Eduard Gaertner’s painting ‘The Hauschild Family’s Living Room’ (detail) from 1843. It depicts how Berlin’s middle classes lived during the Biedermeier period.

The ‘Berlin Salon’ is dedicated to the architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel and the scholars Alexander and Wilhelm von Humboldt, who were famous guests of the Knoblauch family.

Guided tours of the exhibition offer an insight into the domestic culture of a bygone era.

The exhibition features original historical objects.

Welcome to the Biedermeier period! One of the last remaining Berlin houses from that time offers insights into the daily life of the middle classes between 1815 and 1848. The permanent exhibition at the Knoblauchhaus tells the story of the people of that time and of social life in the city.

Location
Knoblauchhaus
Poststraße 23
10178 Berlin

Opening hours
Tue – Sun | 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. (also on public holidays)
Mon | closed (except Whit Monday)

Admission
7 euros (single ticket) | 15 euros (combi-ticket*) | free admission (under 18 years or with reduction)

*Valid on two consecutive days for the Museum Ephraim-Palais, the Museum Nikolaikirche and the Museum Knoblauchhaus.

The exhibition on the first floor of the museum introduces you to the Knoblauch family. You’ll learn about the role they played in Berlin. On the second floor, artefacts, pictures and documents show how people lived during the Biedermeier period – and how the economy, politics and architecture shaped their everyday lives. With the free audio guide, you can explore the exhibition in German, English, Spanish or Turkish.

Reconstructed interior

The kitchen in the Knoblauchhaus, furnished as it was in 1830.

In his study, Carl Knoblauch worked as a Berlin city councillor at home.

Carl Knoblauch loved the paintings of the Italian artist Raphael. He decorated a room with copperplate engravings of his works.

The everyday life of the middle classes

In the reconstructed interior of the living rooms, you will immerse yourself in the Knoblauch family’s home. Furniture, pictures, carpets and other items offer a glimpse into everyday middle-class life – including the ornamental plants that were coming into fashion at the time. Personal items make the rooms feel as though the residents had only just left.

The Knoblauch Family

Carl Knoblauch ran his father Carl Friedrich Knoblauch’s silk trading business. He was also active in political, cultural and social matters. You will meet his wife Henriette and his brother, the architect and pupil of Schinkel, Eduard. He is regarded as one of the most important architects of the 19th century. His best-known building is the New Synagogue on Oranienburger Straße.

Carl Knoblauch’s daughter Marie died at a young age. His son Hermann worked as an experimental physicist at the universities of Berlin, Bonn, Marburg and Halle (Saale). Like his father, he was involved in politics.

Portrait of Marie Knoblauch (1818–1834), by August Hopfgarten (1807–1896), oil on oak panel, from around 1834

One section of the ‘Berlin Salon’ focuses on the lives of the Humboldt brothers.

‘The Berlin Salon’, on the upper floor of the Knoblauchhaus, explores Carl Knoblauch’s network of contacts in Berlin. The silk merchant and politician had connections with leading figures of his time – such as Karl Friedrich Schinkel, Alexander von Humboldt and Wilhelm von Humboldt. Their life stories offer a glimpse into the ideas and changes that shaped Berlin during the first half of the 19th century.

Info & Service

Opening Hours

Tue – Sun | 10 am – 6 pm (also on public holidays)
Mon closed

Differing opening hours:
Sat | 29.08. | 10 a.m. – 2 a.m. (Long Night of Museums)
Thu | 24.12. | Closed (Christmas Eve)
Fri & Sat | 25. + 26.12. | 12 p.m. – 6 p.m. (First & Second Christmas Day)
Thu | 31.12. | Closed (New Year’s Eve)
Fri | 01.01. 2027 | 12 p.m. – 6 p.m. (New Year’s Day)

The visitor rules of the Stiftung Stadtmuseum Berlin apply.

Directions

Poststraße 23
10178 Berlin

Google Maps

Bus & Train

Contact

Infoline
+49 30 240 02 – 162
Mon – Fri | 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Write E-Mail

Accessibility

not barrier-free

Tickets

Admission

Combi-Ticket
15 euros
Valid for our three museums in the Nikolaiviertel (Nikolaikirche, Ephraim-Palais, Knoblauchhaus) on two consecutive days (please note opening hours)

Single Ticket
7 euros
Day ticket for the Knoblauchhaus

Free admission
With proof of reduction
for children and adolescents under 18 years of age, students, trainees, FSJ/FÖJ/BFD volunteers, Berlin Ticket S holders, severely disabled persons (at least 50% GdB) and their Personal Assistant, refugees (with a valid work or residence permit/eAT and a Ukrainian passport or valid residence permit from Ukraine), recipients of transfer payments (Bürgergeld, ALG I), holders of the Berlin-Brandenburg Ehrenamtskarte, holders of the Super-Ferienpass / Berliner Familienpass, ICOM members, members of Deutscher Museumsbund, Verein der Freunde und Förderer des Stadtmuseums Berlin e. V. (except for the Museumsdorf Düppel), Förderverein Museumsdorf Düppel e. V., and Förderkreis Museum Knoblauchhaus e. V., media representatives with a valid press card.