Sommerfest Haus am Waldsee

An Art Venue with Garden and Lake

The Haus am Waldsee at Argentinische Allee 30 in Berlin-Zehlendorf (Steglitz-Zehlendorf district) is one of Berlin's oldest and most renowned art institutions for international contemporary art. Built in 1923 as a private villa, the complex with its spacious garden directly on the Waldsee lake has been showcasing international contemporary art since 1946 — many important Berlin careers began here, and many world-renowned artists had one of their first solo exhibitions in Zehlendorf.

The Summer Festival — The Art Venue Opens Its Garden

Once a summer, Haus am Waldsee opens its entire grounds — villa, café, garden, and lake shore — for an all-day festival that combines the current exhibition with independent artistic interventions, performances, readings, and family workshops. Admission to the festival grounds is free (regular admission applies to the exhibition: €9/€6 reduced).

What Makes the Summer Festival Special

• Artistic Interventions in the Garden: from a water bar art project and inflatable PVC sculptures to performance readings
• Live Music in the Garden: concerts with contemporary music (classical, experimental, cello performances)
• Family Workshops: children paint large fabric panels in the garden using ice cubes, water guns, and brushes
• Readings: well-known German writers read in the garden (2025: Jenny Erpenbeck)
• Café Service: culinary offerings on site
• Accessible: wheelchair-accessible grounds, family changing tables

Zehlendorf as a Berlin Art Address

Haus am Waldsee is located in one of Berlin's greenest and quietest residential areas — Zehlendorf-Süd, near Mexikoplatz and Grunewald. The summer festival makes this special place accessible to a broad, intergenerational urban public once a year — a Berlin art weekend that is explicitly also intended for families and takes place, unlike the major Berlin art institutions, directly on the water, not in a city block.