Plans to close Berlin’s Russian House have created legal and diplomatic tensions between Germany and Russia, alongside reciprocal steps in the cultural sphere. Following Germany’s decision, the Russian government announced that it would close Goethe-Institut cultural centers in Germany.
Germany announced the closure after holding Moscow responsible for an attempted drone attack targeting Leipzig/Halle Airport in early August. The development in Berlin was also met with protests by different groups outside the Russian House.
On a rainy Friday evening, hundreds of people gathered to demand that the decision to terminate the lease agreement be reversed. Some protesters argued that the decision was political and called for an end to the policy toward Russia. Around a dozen people supporting Russia’s liberal opposition chanted, “Russia without Putin” and “The Kremlin should have no address in Berlin.” Around 100 pro-Ukraine activists highlighted their campaign to close the Russian House, which they have pursued since 2022.
The Russian House’s activities and status
The seven-story center in Berlin-Mitte opened in 1984 in East Berlin as the Soviet House of Science and Culture. Renamed after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the 30,000-square-meter Russian House hosts Russian-language courses, film screenings, cultural events and concerts.
The center’s director, Pavel Izvolsky, said the Russian House aims to build bridges between Germans and Russians. The center’s management says around 200,000 people visit the Russian House each year.
Rossotrudnichestvo, Russia’s state agency responsible for cultural exchange and foreign aid, owns and operates the center. In 2022, the European Union placed Rossotrudnichestvo on its sanctions list, accusing it of being a leading state institution spreading the Kremlin’s soft power and hybrid influence.
In June 2025, an administrative court in Munich ruled that the Russian House fell within the scope of sanctions imposed on Rossotrudnichestvo. Following the ruling, the center’s German bank account was frozen and approval from the German central bank became necessary for banking transactions.
Dispute over the agreement and ownership
Berlin’s implementation of the closure decision may not be directly possible because of an intergovernmental agreement on cultural and information centers signed in 2011-2012. The agreement, which renews automatically, is currently set to expire on June 7, 2027. The German government has until December 6 to terminate it.
The building’s ownership structure also complicates the closure plan. While the building belongs to the Russian Federation, the land is owned by Germany. Under an agreement signed by the two countries in 2013, Russia was granted the right to use the land for 99 years.
The Russian Embassy in Berlin announced that all Russian personnel working at the Russian House and the Russian consulate in Bonn had been asked to leave Germany as soon as possible. However, a person close to the center said that a significant proportion of the employees had not moved to Germany solely for their assignments and that some held European passports.
Propaganda and espionage allegations
Criticism of the Russian House has included the screening of a documentary at the center about the 2022 massacres of Jews in Belarus, which was alleged to portray Ukrainians as Nazis. Claims that the center’s bookstore sold soap shaped like a Russian tank also became a subject of controversy.
Robin Wagener, a lawmaker from the Green Party, argued that the activities were more closely linked to Russian war propaganda in Germany than to reciprocal cultural exchange. Roderich Kiesewetter, a lawmaker from Germany’s Christian Democratic Union, said the center’s energy consumption was higher than would be expected from a cultural institution.
France also accused the Russian House in July of being used as a cover by Russian intelligence services. As a result, the center’s activities began to be debated not only in cultural terms but also from security and foreign-policy perspectives.
Allegations against MnogoKnig
The MnogoKnig bookstore operating at the Russian House on Friedrichstrasse was also accused of being an instrument of Russia’s propaganda apparatus. The Latvia-based chain sells books in Russian, Ukrainian and English, as well as some works banned in Russia.
The bookstore carried “Patriot,” a book by Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, who was killed in Russia, and “I Love Russia,” a work by journalist Elena Kostyuchenko. Last week, Latvia’s State Security Service searched the chain’s four branches in Riga over suspected violations of European Union sanctions.
A person close to the Russian House rejected allegations that coloring books featuring tanks constituted Russian propaganda. The same person said the bookstore also sold books banned in Russia and argued that the center might not be regarded as sufficiently pro-war by its management in Moscow.
