“Work with us, plan with us, govern with us!” – Economy and daily life in a state-owned enterprise in Prenzlauer Berg
VEB Treffmodelle specialized in the production of women’s outerwear, primarily coats. Its main production site was located at Greifswalder Straße 212/213.
Textile production was for export to the Soviet Union as well as to the Federal Republic of Germany and other Western European countries, and to a small extent also for sale in the GDR. In the mid-1980s, major investments were made in order to significantly increase production.
The discontinuation of state subsidies and the introduction of the Deutsche Mark on July 1, 1990 resulted in major economic difficulties for the company. Gradually, demand fell. New management attempted to serve a higher-quality market under the name Greiber Classicmode GmbH, but the endeavor ultimately failed in 1994 and production had to be discontinued.
After years of vacancy, the Treuhandliegenschaftsgesellschaft (TLG) began renting out the space with reasonable rates to artists, freelancers, and young companies in creative industries in 2002. The music club Miles (later Magnet Club) and the Eigenreich Theater were also among the tenants. The development of the site into a cultural location, which was also supported by the Pankow district council and the Berlin Senate Chancellery, stalled in 2007 when the property was sold to a yield-oriented investor.
A year later, the buildings were largely vacated, with only the Magnet Club and the Eigenreich Theater being granted extension agreements until 2010. Larger solvent companies and an organic market have settled in the commercial courtyard, which has since been fully renovated.
