Juval Dieziger

Swiss-born Juval Dieziger calls himself ‘business hippie’ and a ‘visionary with a grip on reality’. He is a cook, waiter, and actor, originally from Emmental in Switzerland, who settled in Berlin in the late nineties. Eventually, he opened his own restaurant in Bar25, one of the most popular clubs in Berlin. Since 2011, he has been one of the operators of the KaterHolzig, another favorite place.

Dieziger is also the driving force behind the Holzmarkt, a huge dream that is coming true. Holzmarkt is a new village in the center of Berlin, on the banks of the river Spree. A space for creativity, living, and work.

Construction of the site started early in 2015. Developed by a cooperative, the Holzmarkt is to be shaped into a long-term vibrant place where the structures created ‘promote change, small-scale design, and sustainability’. The Swiss Foundation Abendrot was won as a partner. As a sustainable pension fund the foundation invests the entrusted retirement savings in accordance with ethical, environmental and social criteria.

True to the name, the Holzmarkt will be a constantly changing market, where there is space for new and young talents to establish themselves. And, most importantly, a place that is freely accessible for all citizens, honoring growing public resistance to the dense and lifeless development of the riverbanks elsewhere in the city. Already, the design of one of the buildings to be built has been nominated for the MIPIM Award in Cannes, described as ‘an exemplary building complex that aims to respond to the social, economic and ecological questions of our time.’