Three hundred years ago, the grounds of Uferstudios was situated on the Panke island, bordering an artificial mill race on the north side and the Panke to the south.

As public transportation boomed during the 19th Century in the growing metropole of Berlin, the first horse tram line opened between Rosenthaler Platz and Badstraße. So began the first construction on the current premises of Uferstudios. The mill race north of the area was buried and in 1873 the former Panke island was turned into a transportation depot for the Berlin horse tram company. In the following years, more horse tram lines were built and the depot grew to become the central workshop of the company, resulting in the subsequent purchase of a plot of land just north of Uferstraße, expanding the depot’s overall area. Some of the original parts of the building can be found on that plot land, which today is Uferhallen, including the characteristic “Sheddachhalle”, which was designed by Joseph Fischer-Dick.

The development of electrical propulsion systems would soon mean the demise of the horse tram, resulting in a full switch over to electrically powered trams between 1896 and 1902. 

From 1926-1931, Jean Krämer, the “resident architect of the Berlin tram system” and pioneer of modern industrial design rebuilt the land with the same buildings still found at Uferstudios today.

Although the buildings at Uferstudios exhibit the clear lines and shapes of the New Objectivity movement, the structures also feature Krämers penchant for decoration rooted in architectural expressionism. As such, the clear lines and perspectives at Uferstudios are met with ornamental detailing in the facades, leading author Klaus Konrad Weber to name the buildings “maybe the most beautiful… that Krämer ever created”. The Berliner-Verkehrs-Gesellschaft (BVG) was founded on January 1, 1929, who would then take over the premises as their main workshop for trams. In 1934, the main workshop in Gesundbrunnen would host the highest number of workers, at a total of 927 wage-earners and 58 employees. 

Following the war, damage to the premises caused by bombing was repaired and operation slowly resumed. In the post-war period, the compound would continue to be used as an operational facility for trams. Yet, when Berlin was split in two, the westen part of the city shut down tram line operation and in 1961, the compound would no longer be used as a tram facility, but was converted to the main workshop for omnibuses. After the reunification, the facility was renamed the “Central Omnibus Workshop”, specializing in the construction of street furniture and (historic) omnibus replicas.

The central omnibus workshop closed in 2007/2008. The land of the former Panke island, along with the compound north of Uferstraße, would then be sold to the private company Uferhallen Immobilien AG.

At this period in time, efforts were already being made in the Berlin dance scene to expand upon the already extant spaces for contemporary dance in response to the great lack of rehearsal spaces for artists. Uferstudios was developed thanks to the movement of the Berlin dance scene, represented by zeitgenössischen tanz berlin e.V. and the TanzRaumBerlin network, and received a 25-year lease on the compound of the former Panke island with the support of the Berlin Senate. In 2010, renovations to the structure began, funded by the Stiftung Kassenlotterie Berlin with 3.2 million Euro and led by Anderhalten Architekten (planning) and Jahn Architekten (construction).

In 2012, Uferstudios GmbH was granted a long-term lease on the compound at Uferstraße 23 for the duration of 196 years, securing the space for artistic use until the year 2208. A second round of funding from the Stiftung Deutsche Kassenlotterie Berlin, as well as funds from the Berlin State Conservation Agency, led to the renovation of the Heizhaus complex, which re-opened in 2019.

This site has always served movement in urban space, and the shift of focus to contemporary dance will only further this goal for many years to come!