Cities
Germany Potsdam Brandenburg Museum

Im Güldenen Arm

About

Im Güldenen Arm is Potsdam’s oldest authentically restored house from the city’s second Baroque expansion, built in 1737 and now preserved as a museum and cultural venue. Located on Hermann-Elflein-Straße, this timber-framed building stands out as the only surviving example of its architectural type, making it a rare urban artifact. Originally constructed as a residential home, it was later restored in the 1990s with support from the monument preservation office and now operates under the Brandenburgischer Kulturbund e.V. The museum’s permanent exhibition, Die einfache Gebrauchsform, showcases rural and bourgeois ceramics from the 17th to mid-20th century, drawn from the Siegfried Lachmann collection. Visitors can admire four distinct types of black-tiled stoves and the original room layout, which reflect everyday life in early Potsdam. The golden arm above the entrance, carved by sculptor August Melchior Erhardt, symbolizes craftsmanship and lends the house its name. Today, Im Güldenen Arm serves as both a historical exhibit and a venue for cultural events, embodying Potsdam’s layered heritage.

Potsdam Germany
Im Güldenen Arm
Location

The Museumshaus Im Güldenen Arm is located at Hermann-Elflein-Straße 3 in the center of Potsdam, just a short walk from Brandenburger Straße and Nauener Tor. Built in 1737 during Potsdam’s second Baroque expansion under King Frederick William I, it is the city’s oldest fully restored timber-framed house and a rare surviving example of its architectural style. The building once belonged to wood sculptor August Melchior Erhardt, whose golden arm emblem still decorates the façade. Now run by the Brandenburg Cultural Association, the museum features a permanent exhibition of traditional ceramics from the 18th to 20th centuries and hosts rotating art and cultural displays as well as small concerts and readings in its courtyard. Nearby attractions include St. Peter and Paul Church, Brandenburger Gate, the bustling shopping street Brandenburger Straße, and the Dutch Quarter, offering rich historical and cultural surroundings.​

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