Ribbeck Palais

The Ribbeck House is the oldest still existing residential building and the only preserved late Renaissance building in Berlin; it is located on Breite Straße in Berlin-Mitte.

Built in 1624 by Kammerrat Hans Georg von Ribbeck, the house directly adjoins the equally preserved Alter Marstall. The Marstall was rebuilt by Michael Mathias Smids between 1665 and 1670 on behalf of the Great Elector, and Smids integrated the additionally purchased Ribbeck House. The Ribbeck House, which is now a listed building, by no means corresponds to its original state:

In 1804, a third floor was added in place of the four dormer gables decorated with volutes. By order of the king, however, the old Renaissance gables were again used as the crowning element. In the 19th century, several extensions were made, which were removed in 1964.

During World War II, the building was damaged and rebuilt by the early 1950s. The richly decorated 17th-century round-arch portal had to be replaced by a copy in the 1960s. During the reconstruction of the house in 1986, a cross vault was discovered and restored in the cellar.