U2 Travel Guide

U2 Travelguide » Berlin » Breschnew-Villa


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Located in Potsdam's Nauen suburb, you will find the Mirbach Villa, built in 1874. Still shown by a writing on the balcony, Chamberlein Ernst Freiherr von Mirbach called it "Villa Camilla" after his wife. The von Mirbach family was close to Empress Auguste and the Prussian Army and, in 1945, was evicted by Soviet soldiers.
Due to its location in an upscale neighbourhood close to Cecilienhof Castle and the park around a lake (Heiliger See), the villa soon attracted the attention of Soviet civil servants and was used as guesthouse by the KGB. Among others, Leonid Brezhnev stayed here during his visits to Berlin.

During the Achtung Baby sessions in Berlin in fall/winter 1990, Bono followed Brezhnev's footsteps and also stayed in the Mirbach Villa. Several sources consistently report that one night, when on his way to the bathroom or kitchen and being in his "birthday suit" (or simply: butt naked), Bono met some strangers in the hallways, stating that this villa was their property. They turned out to be descendants of Mirbach, who - following the German re-unification - wanted to reclaim their predecessors property. And it can be assumed that they probably were rather suprised to meet a famous rock star there.
However, it took until 1994 to untangle the legal situation and to return the property to the Mirbach family. Today, the villa is completely refurbished and the individual apartment units are available to rent.

Adress

An neuen Garten 25, 14469 Potsdam

Directions

Berlinkarte Nr. 20 | S7 to Potsdam Hauptbahnhof, then bus 603 to Potsdam Glumestraße. The villa is just a 2-3 minutes walk from the Glumestraße.


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