Gesamtmetall Villa Voß Berlin

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Voßstraße, located north of Leipziger Platz, connects Wilhelmstraße to Ebertstraße and the Beisheim Center near Potsdamer Platz. Developed in 1872, it is named after Count von Voß-Buch, an infantry general who resided in a villa on the site and permitted part of his grounds to be used for this connection. At the time, the city aimed to link to the burgeoning urban life around the Potsdam Railroad Station, which opened in 1838. Voßstraße also delineates the quiet suburban area of the district, settled in the eighteenth century and previously used for agriculture until the city wall's demolition in 1865. While Potsdamer Platz became a major traffic junction, Leipziger Platz emerged as a desirable residential area for wealthy industrialists, nobility, and high-ranking civil servants, transforming the rural landscape into a posh quarter filled with villas and townhouses. At 16 Voßstraße, Jewish banker Friedrich Meyer owned an elegant palatial home in the Italian Renaissance style, which served as both his family residence and his bank's offices. After his death, a cousin took over the business, while his son Richard, a philologist, established a popular salon that attracted intellectuals, artists, industrialists, and bankers for lively discussions.