bolle-dairy-berlin-history

History

THE HOME OF EVENT SPACES. THEN AND NOW.

  • Built in 1890 as a factory chapel and ballroom for the dairy C. Bolle
  • Founded by entrepreneuer Carl Bolle
  • Inaugurated in 1893 by the last German Empress Viktoria Auguste
  • Served as a production hall for margarine, interim church, cinema, and theatre

The BOLLE Festsäle is a contemporary witness to Berlin’s first significant economic upswing. Built in the age of the industrial age and ceremoniously inaugurated in 1893 in the presence of the last German Empress Auguste Viktoria, the festival halls are characterised by the founding spirit and grandeur of those days. They radiate foresight, lived values and an unmistakable solidity. Ceiling heights of up to eight metres, unplastered brick walls, high steel strut windows, cast-iron pillars and a love for detail that is evident in every corner of the listed building make the Bolle Festsäle a prime example of Berlin’s industrial architecture.

THE HISTORY OF MOABIT

With nearly 80,000 inhabitants, the most populous district of the Berlin borough of Mitte has much more to offer than a notorious prison and Europe’s largest criminal court. First mentioned in the 13th century as a cattle pasture and hunting ground for the Brandenburg electors around 1600, there are numerous theories about the origin of the name Moabit. The most plausible one is that the word comes from Huguenots, who were the first to settle there in 1717 and laboured in vain with the cultivation of mulberry plantations and silkworms.

Moabit was named in reference to the biblical land of Moab, which provided refuge to the Isreaelites after their exodus from Egypt, and the French word for living “habiter“. With the establishment of large industries such as the royal powder mills and the Borsig ironworks, economic success grew, leading to the incorporation of Moabit into Berlin in 1861 and paving the way for the success story of the BOLLE dairy. Today, Moabit stands for its diversity, its potential, and its central location in a city that is bursting at the seams.

PREFERRED MILK AND THE LATEST GOSSIP

The namesake Carl Bolle was one of the pioneers of Berlin’s economic boom. He cemented his reputation by establishing the city’s most advanced large-scale dairy: the BOLLE dairy. On today’s Spree-Bogen site, Bolle created production facilities and workshops, accommodation for the majority of his 2,000 employees, social facilities, stables, vehicle fleets, and sanctuaries. The trained master bricklayer owed his nickname „Bimmelbolle“ to the fact that hundreds of his horse-drawn carts, with bell-ringing drivers and milkmaids, drove through Berlin’s streets delivering fresh milk along with the latest gossip free to the door.

ADVERTISING FILM OF THE DAIRY C. BOLLE FROM THE 1930s

TREASURES OF THE FOUNDING ERA

The ballrooms were originally a ballroom and factory chapel, later a production site for margarine, then the Welt Kino, one of Berlin’s first film houses, and finally became the venue for the Berlin Kammerspiele. During the extensive renovation phase, the unique charm of industrial architecture was highlighted and translated into the modern age. Treasures from the founding era were revealed, such as pitch pine floorboards, an old staircase with artfully intertwined iron ornaments, old office quarters, and the ballrooms.

HISTORICAL INSIGHTS

BOLLE TODAY

  • One of the most impressive event venues in Berlin
  • 2013/14  extensive renovations under strict monument protection criteria
  • Conversion of the cinema screening room into the BOLLE Milchbar
  • Technical equipment at the highest level, extended roof terrace

NEW ROOF AND BAR ADDITIONS

Two new highlights have been added to the BOLLE Festsäle in the form of the extended roof terrace and the former film screening room, which has been converted into the BOLLE Milchbar. The ensemble’s rooms are characterized by the entrepreneurial spirit of their namesake, with many detailed restorations and the most modern equipment.