MACHmit! Museum für Kinder

A Climbing Structure in the Nave

The MACHmit! Museum for Children is located at Senefelderstraße 5 in the Helmholtzkiez in Prenzlauer Berg, in the middle of a Gründerzeit row of buildings and just a few steps from Helmholtzplatz with its cafés. The building is the former Elias Church: A renovation was too expensive for the congregation, so the church was deconsecrated, renovated for three years, and reopened in 2003 as a children’s museum, based on a seventy-five-year hereditary building rights contract. Much has remained, the church tower clock, the altar area, and the organ, which has been playable again since 2013 and is explained in guided tours. In addition, there are approximately 1,200 square meters of exhibition space on two floors and what everyone sees first: a seven-meter-high, multi-story climbing structure, designed by architect Klaus Block, for which he received an award. The museum is accessible via Eberswalder Straße station on the U2, Prenzlauer Allee S-Bahn station, and tram lines M10 and M2. The idea for all this originated in 1992 in a district project; the first exhibition was a soap shop in the district office, and only then did the building get its nave.

Eight Puzzles, a Table, and Free Climbing

Birthday parties at the MACHmit! Museum for Children are called “Kunstknallschatz” (Art Bang Treasure) and, according to the museum, are designed for children aged five and up, thus primarily for the older kindergarten age groups. A flat rate of 160 Euros is booked for up to ten children and two adults, which includes three hours, a reserved birthday table, a free drink per child, and a tour with eight puzzles through the exhibition. The group is not accompanied; they explore on their own; staff members help if anything is unclear. In addition, the creative workshops at the workbenches and the climbing structure are open for use, for which non-slip socks are required. A small picnic with your own dishes may be brought, but garlands, piñatas, and candles are not allowed. Exhibitions are developed together with children, based on children’s rights and the principle that everyone can participate. Also preserved is a historic printing shop with hand and machine typesetting, where visitors can see how letters used to be put on paper. The building is also partially barrier-free: a ramp leads in, an elevator to the upper level, but the climbing structure itself remains inaccessible to wheelchairs.