Renovation of the Mausoleum Wiesenack and exhibition "Sound of History" at the cemetery Sophien II, Bergstr. 29, 10115 Berlin, listed building

Johann Gottlieb Wiesenack was a spirits manufacturer in Berlin who built a “Schnaps empire” with his distillery in the Kingdom of Prussia and later the German Empire. After the death of his wife Henriette, Johann Gottlieb built the mausoleum around 1887.

The Mausoleum Wiesenack is part of an ensemble of three monumental, historical mausoleums and a wall tomb along  the main roade and two mausoleums at their back. Right next to the Wiesenack mausoleum is the grave complex of Bechstin, the piano manufacturer, which was renovated in 2015.

The mausoleum was in a state of ruin in 2018 and was renovated in two phases.

Client: Foundation for Historical Churchyards and Cemeteries Berlin-Brandenburg, project manager Mrs. Winckler

Renovation funding: Evangelical Cemetery Association Berlin Stadtmitte, State Monuments Office Berlin, German Foundation for Monument Protection, private donations

Project participants: Restorative investigations and documentation: Steinhagen Conservation and Restoration, Team NM: Timo Vosshagen

Permanent exhibition "Sound of History", music in the Mausoleum.  

Since the beginning of the 19th century, the listed Sophien II Cemetery in Berlin-Mitte has been the final resting place for well-known personalities from the music world, instrument makers, singers, choir directors and composers: Carl Bechstein, Wilhelm Bach, Albert Lortzing, Walter Kollo, Arndt Bause, Siegfried Wilhelm Dehn , Theodor Oesten, Carl Hennig, Fritz Buchholz, Gustav Michaelis as well as Adolf Zander, Karl Schwarzmeier, Max Graf and Ilse Malena. 

From world-famous to almost forgotten, their life stories are part of Berlin's biography. The exhibition presents them in pictures and text, with information about their concert venues and places of work in the city. Excerpts of their music - audio samples from the 18th century to the present day - can be played at the touch of a button.

Team

Exhibition column: Pedro Moreira, exhibition concept: Kerstin Stamm and Nina Nedelykov, research and text: Kerstin Stamm, graphics: Annette Ochs Ochs Design, sound and lighting technology: Nils Maushagen & Matija Horvacki, support and advice: Inka Bause, Fam. Wiesenack, Music suggestions: Marguerite Kollo.