Im Güldenen Arm

Im Güldenen Arm is a museum house in Potsdam, built around 1737 during the city’s second Baroque expansion. The house originally served as a residence in Potsdam.

Its original construction makes it the oldest surviving restored house from that expansion. Restoration between 1994 and 1997 preserved the building after years of decline and protected its historic fabric.

The decorative portal reflects the work of wood sculptor August Melchior Ehrhardt. Inside, the permanent exhibition ‘The Simple Utility Form’ presents rural and bourgeois ceramics collected by Siegfried Lachmann.

The ceramics collection occupies the house’s upper floor. Lower rooms display works by various artists, while the garden hosts literature events and small concerts.

The building contains black tile stoves from the eighteenth century. Im Güldenen Arm also served as a guesthouse with permission to serve drinks.

Monument preservation authorities prevented demolition before the building received emergency support after German reunification. The Technical Relief Agency secured the structure against collapse.

The Brandenburg Cultural Association runs the museum and event house. Its rooms connect Potsdam’s Baroque urban history with domestic objects, craftsmanship and changing cultural uses.