The Behnhaus has a long architectural history dating back to the Middle Ages. The oldest part is the basement, which is now accessible thanks to renovation work. Its walls date from the late 13th century. The house was built in its present form around 1800 in the Neoclassical style. The builder and first owner was the merchant Peter Hinrich Tesdorpf (1751–1832). The artistic design of the living areas in the wing was realised by the Danish architect Joseph Christian Lillie (1760–1827). The house owes its name to the Behn family, who were its last and longest-standing residents, living here from 1823 to 1920.
The last resident of the house, Johannes Heinrich Behn (1847–1920), had his office here in the reception room (illustration). The current design is based on the early 19th-century decor – the green, patterned wallpaper is a reproduction of the original wallpaper, a section of which can be seen here.
The floor plan of the house shows the layout of a typical Lübeck merchant's house: the front building is characterised by the large hallway, which leads to the office (now the museum shop and ticket office) and a reception room (where you are now). The entrance hall was connected to the kitchen, which was linked to the dining room on the first floor by a service lift. To this day, the three interconnected salons are still located there. The entrance hall extends to the first floor, where it is surrounded by a gallery. The second floor housed the servants' quarters and the guest rooms. The living quarters were located over two floors in the rear wing.
During the restoration of the reception room, these historic wallpapers were uncovered. It was decided to reconstruct the second verifiable wallpaper throughout the entire room. In addition to examining the wallpapers, the various finishes on the wood panelling were also revealed.