Berlin History - GLS History

The GLS campus includes 5 houses, their architecture reflecting German history: The oldest building dates back as far as 1867, the youngest was built on debris left by WW II bombings.

All 5 houses have always functioned as schools - whether under Prussian Wilhelm II, under Hitler or after the war in communist Germany. 2005 the Berlin Senate sold all buildings to GLS. GLS renovated them, converting them into a language school with own guesthouses.

     1871

... Bismarck founds the Deutsche Reich (considered as the origin of modern Germany). 4 years before that the oldest house on campus has been built - as a school. Today it is one of the 2 guesthouses on campus, and you can stay and live in the former class rooms.

     1918

... WW I ends - in contrast to WW II bombings are more or less limited to the front, sparing the cities. Life goes on there: The old brickstone house in Kastanienallee continues to be used as a school.

     1933

... Hitler is elected and comes to power.  The "Golden 20ies" are over, and styles change - in architecture, too:  The Nazis prefer it strict, bulky and monumental, and this preference you´ll see reflected in house 3, today the GLS office.

     1945

... bombs destroy some of the neighbouring houses. The people living there seek shelter in the cellars of the school (which still look the same today: see foto above). The school buildings aren´t damaged by bombs - they last and continue to function as school.

     1949

... , 4 years after WW II,  the GDR is founded, the new communist Germany. And the school buildings end up on GDR territory. Whatever is built from now on (like the house above, now part of the language school) looks totally different: simple & functional.

     1961

... the Berlin wall is built and architects add a new building to the campus: a cafeteria (foto above, today a lounge). The style is socialist architecture at its best: form follows function.

     1990

... the 2 Germanies reunite. 14 years later, in 2004, the public school on campus is closed due to a lack of students. After that artists invited by gallery owner Wolfgang Krause use the campus for their project "Leerstelle", then in 2005 GLS buys the buildings and moves its school (founded in 1983 and formerly located in Berlin Schoeneberg) to Kastanienallee.