Berlin Backyards
Between everyday life, labour and encounters
Berlin is the city of backyards: dense, diverse, lively. Who meets here? How are these spaces changing? And what is going on there?
Location
Museum Ephraim-Palais
Poststraße 16
10178 Berlin
Opening Hours
Tue – Sun | 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. (also on public holidays)
Mon closed
Tickets
7 euros (single ticket) | 15 euros (combi-ticket*) | free admission (under 18 years or with reduction)
* Valid for our three museums in the Nikolaiviertel (Museum Nikolaikirche, Museum Ephraim-Palais, Museum Knoblauchhaus) on two consecutive days .
Berlin backyards have a lot to tell. Since the industrial revolution in the 19th century at the latest, Berlin has been a center of attraction for people from other regions of Germany and from other countries. The history of the city has therefore always been a history of migration.
Due to enormous population growth, spatial expansion and structural densification, Berlin is characterized by backyards like no other city. They are used for residential, educational, commercial, artistic, culinaric and many other purposes. Their history is diverse, just like the people who live there. With the special exhibition “Berliner Höfe” (Berlin Backyards) on the 3rd floor of the Museum Ephraim-Palais, the Stadtmuseum Berlin invites you to explore these urban spaces between past and present.
The backyards are exemplary of urban coexistence with all its contradictions. They show how people shape space. And they encourage us to take a closer look: What can backyards tell us about Berlin? What about ourselves? In short: What is going on there?
Graphics, photography and history
The special atmosphere of the Berlin backyards has repeatedly inspired graphic artists, draughtsmen and photographers to create images. In the exhibition, highlights from the museum collection meet the artistic works of urban researchers Duygu Örs and Sinthujan Varatharajah, which were created especially for “Berliner Höfe”. Using sounds and light, they deal with different sensory impressions from backyards that Örs and Varatharajah encountered in Wedding.In addition, the junior curators from the Refik Veseli School in Kreuzberg and their mentor Yella Hoepfner present their own spaces in the permanent exhibition “BerlinZEIT” on the first and second floors of the museum. Their individual stories interact with objects from the collection.
Biographical data
Duygu Örs is a researcher, art educator and curator specialising in cultural and urban research. Since 2019 she has headed the education and mediation work of the Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art, since 2025 with Jas Wenzel. At the Institute for Sociology and Cultural Organisation (ISKO) at Leuphana University Lüneburg, she is working on the role of the museum in the ‘Right to the City’ movement. She is also a co-founder of the curatorial research collective Curating through Conflict with Care (CCC).
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
Sinthujan Varatarajah (சிந்துஜன் வரதராஜா) writes and researches in Berlin. As a political geographer, Varatarajah focuses on issues of statelessness, im-/mobility and displacement from the perspective of infrastructure, logistics and building culture. Varatarajah has published several books since 2022. Varatarajah’s next book, ‘Where Time Stands Still’, will be published by Carl Hanser Verlag in spring 2026.
Take part in the photo call!
You too are in demand: our photo call ‘Berlin jetzt!’ (Berlin now!) invites you to send in your personal pictures of Berlin’s backyards. This will create new, unexpected views of seemingly everyday places. Extended until 18 September!
“So let’s go to the Ephraim Palace again. It’s well worth it. The city museum has succeeded in creating an exceptionally high-quality exhibition with a great feel for the city.”
Permanent exhibition
Also visit our large Berlin exhibition on the 1st and 2nd floors of the Museum Ephraim-Palais!
Info & Service
Opening Hours
Tue – Sun | 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. (also on public holidays)
Mon closed
The visitor rules of the Stiftung Stadtmuseum Berlin apply.
Directions
Poststraße 16
10178 Berlin
Tickets
Admission
Combi-Ticket
15 euros
Valid for our three museums in the Nikolaiviertel (Museum Nikolaikirche, Museum Ephraim-Palais, Museum Knoblauchhaus) on two consecutive days (please note opening hours)
Single Ticket
7 euros
Day ticket for the Museum Ephraim-Palais
Free admission
With proof of reduction
For children & young people under 18, students, trainees, FSJ/FÖJ/BFD volunteers, Berlin-Ticket-S holders, severely disabled persons (with mark B) & accompanying person, refugees (with valid work or residence permit /eAT and Ukrainian passport or valid residence permit from Ukraine), recipients of residence permit /eAT and Ukrainian passport or valid residence permit from Ukraine), recipients of transfer benefits (citizen’s allowance, ALG I), holders of the Berlin-Brandenburg volunteer card, holders of the Super Holiday Pass / Berlin Family Pass, ICOM members, members of the German Museums Association, members of the Verein der Freunde und Förderer des Stadtmuseums Berlin e. V., KulturPass holders, media representatives with a valid press card
Contact
Infoline
+49 30 240 02 – 162
Mo – Fri | 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Write E-Mail
Accessibility
The Ephraim-Palais is accessible without steps. All exhibition areas are accessible via an elevator. There are barrier-free toilets in the building.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Variant 2:
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