Golden Bar

The Golden Bar in Haus der Kunst was renovated in 2010 and has reopened under new management. It is now home to a daytime café with a rotating menu and extended business hours.

When the “Haus der deutschen Kunst” [“House of German art”] opened in 1937, the bar was part of the central restaurant and its garden terrace. The catering concept included a “Bierstüberl” [small pub] in the cellar and was generally similar to what patrons might have found in hotels, art centers, or luxury liners.

The name of the bar is a reference to Karl Heinz Dallingers wall paintings from 1937 that were created on the suggestion of the bars architect Ernst Haiger. The origins of the wines and spirits served are shown on maps and in landscapes on a golden background. In addition to the German wine regions at the center, the depictions include Europes wine countries and the British isles (whiskey and gin) and even the Caribbean (rum and tobacco).

The mural exudes worldliness an important factor for the National Socialist rulers of the house, who, for example, showed up at the Olympics in Berlin in 1936 and at the Worlds Fair in Paris in 1937. This also conveniently disguised the racist core of the National Socialists “temple of art”, which was expressed in the “Große Deutsche Kunstausstellungen” [“Great German Art Exhibitions”].