Museum Island in Berlin – history, photo, description, prices 2021, opening hours, map
Museum Island in Berlin – a picturesque corner of the northern tip of the Spreinsel Island, surrounded by the waters of the Spree River, attracts tourists, a bright constellation of unique museums with a huge collection of masterpieces of world art. Such a number of museums collected on a small island patch is not found all over the world. History shows that the construction of the museum complex, which is included in the list of UNESCO World Cultural Heritage, lasted 100 years.
Story
The area, today called Museum Island, was a real swamp in the 13th century. Two centuries later, several channels were laid from the bend of the Spree River, draining the swampy area. In the 19th century, Emperor Wilhelm II, who ruled the country, took over the idea of creating a cultural center of Berlin on this site. He supported the plan proposed by the archaeologist Alois Hirt to build a gallery on the island, where artifacts and works of modern art collected during archaeological excavations were to be put on display.
The foundation was laid by the construction of the Old Museum, which opened its storerooms to the townspeople in 1830. After 29 years, the opening of the New Museum took place, and in 1876, visitors saw the picturesque masterpieces in the Old National Gallery. At the beginning of the 20th century, the grandiose cultural construction continued. The Monbijou Bridge was extended to the island, and the building of the museum, later named after the art critic Bode, was added to the museum complex. The year 1930 was marked by the celebration of the centenary of the founding of the Museum Island with the presentation of the Pergamon Museum. Since then, art lovers have called the capital of Germany “Athens on the Spree”.
Unrealized development plans
The rapid growth in the number of exhibits made it necessary to expand the exhibition space, which gave rise to various plans for the construction of new buildings and the improvement of the Museum Island.
Museum Island today
The Monbijou Bridge on both sides of the city leads to the Bode Museum, visible from afar. The majestic building, architecturally similar to a triangle, is crowned at the top with a massive dome. Parallel to its southern façade is the monumental building of the Pergamon Museum, connected to the city by a footbridge thrown over the canal. Next to Pergamon, the building of the Old National Gallery attracts attention, reminiscent of the main facade of the architecture of ancient Roman temples.
Near the entrance to the repository of masterpieces of world art, there is a monument to Friedrich Wilhelm IV, who saddled a horse. A three-sided colonnade encloses the lawn in front of the gallery, decorated with ornamental shrubs, a fountain and equipped with benches. On summer evenings, musicians perform here, orchestras play and films are shown. The western section near the Lustgarten park was decorated with the architecture of the Altes Museum. On the opposite side, the divine beauty of the Berlin Cathedral is amazing.
Museums
The architectural and cultural ensemble of the island is represented by 5 museums, which have a bright palette of the heritage of world culture left to mankind by the creators of different peoples and eras. Let's take a brief virtual tour of them.
Bode Museum
From the city shore, the Bode Museum looks like a castle floating on a river. The museum began its work in 1904 thanks to the initiative of the famous art critic and collector Wilhelm Bode, who inspired Kaiser Friedrich to finance construction work. The museum building was built in neo-baroque architecture and is crowned with a huge dome, from the base of which two wings diverge as sides of a triangle. The central façade draws attention with Doric columns and allegorical statues of art forms.
Initially, the museum exposition consisted of artifacts and objects of artistic creativity donated by the Electors of Brandenburg. Today in the museum halls amazing collections of objects of culture and life of the Byzantine era, medieval coins and statues are exhibited. Under the arches of the Great Domed Hall, visitors are greeted by an equestrian sculpture of the Great Elector of Brandenburg. Of the exhibits on the first floor, the figures of the wooden sculptural composition “The Triumph of the Cross”, dating from the beginning of the 13th century, are of particular interest.
The Kameke Hall exhibits a collection of sculptures made by famous Italian sculptors from the Middle Ages to the 18th century. A series of multicolored glazed statues is displayed in the Basilica. But the main museum treasure is the Florentine altar of the 17th century, amazing with the luxury of the Italian Renaissance. In the halls of the Museum of Byzantine Art, there are many exhibits of the Roman and Byzantine empires from the 3rd to the 15th centuries. The hall dedicated to the culture of the Romans impresses with high relief images on sarcophagi, figurative sculptures, skillful ivory decorations and mosaics.
In the Byzantine Hall one admires the craftsmanship and themes of the mosaic icons. A separate room is dedicated to ritual objects from Egypt, used by priests in performing rituals. The highlight of the museum is the Mint Cabinet, which has more than 4 thousand coins, which occupied four halls. It presents the world history of money from minted in Athens in the 6th century BC, ancient Roman and medieval coins of different countries and peoples to coins of the 20th century. Only here there is a chance to see a huge gold coin with a face value of 1 million dollars.
Pergamon Museum
The two-story Pergamon Museum is a neoclassical building, decorated with compositions of Doric columns on the facade, erected in 1930. It was named after the priceless discovery of archaeologists – the Pergamon Altar of Zeus, discovered during construction by engineer Karl Human on the land of the former Pergamon kingdom in Turkey. In the ancient world, an altar with a high relief image of the battle of Zeus with the Titans on the frieze was considered a wonder of the world. Today it is the most valuable exhibit of the museum, dating back to 180-160 BC. For a monumental altar with a colonnade, located on a 120-meter frieze, a huge hall was specially designed. Three museum wings are reserved for collections:
In 2011, a panorama was opened in the Pergamon complex, taking viewers into the thick of life of the townspeople of ancient Pergamum of the 2nd century BC.
New Museum
The new museum, established in 1855, was badly damaged by bombing during World War II. It has recently been restored from ruins in a guise that is as close as possible to the original original. Identity can be traced on the facades and inside: in the design of hall vaults, mosaics on the floor and murals. In the revived museum, which revealed its treasures to tourists in 2009, you can spend hours walking around the Egyptian Museum and the Museum of Prehistory and Early History, marveling at the uniqueness of genuine historical and cultural objects.
The Egyptian collection takes you back to the time of Ancient Egypt 1500-500 BC, striking with hundreds of sculptures and busts of pharaohs, their tombs and mummies. According to the statuettes of ordinary people and household items, masks and clothes of priests, a picture of the life and beliefs of the ancient Egyptians is recreated. Of particular interest is the Egyptian courtyard, elevated from the ground floor to the first. In it, as if hovering above other halls, there is a gallery of portraits of the family of Pharaoh Akhenaten: his daughters and wife. The pearl of the Egyptian collection was the bust of Nefertiti, created in the XIV century BC, found during excavations in Tel el-Amarna.
In one of the halls there are fragments of ancient walls depicting hieroglyphs and drawings that give an idea of the architecture of Ancient Egypt. Of interest are wooden boats, which sailed in the era of the pharaohs in 3200-2240 BC. The collection of ancient papyri with elegant drawings and writings is surprising. The dimensions of some letters are so long that they reach several meters.
The Museum of Prehistory and Early History has collected more than 6 thousand exhibits from the Paleolithic to the Middle Ages, found in Europe and Asia. Thematic halls recreate episodes from the life of Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons, showing scenes of hunting, everyday life, and tools. One of the halls illustrates the plots of German and Scandinavian mythology, in the other expositions – finds from Cyprus, Ancient Etruria, the cultural heritage of the ancient Greeks and Romans.
The antique collection presents a wide range of art and everyday objects. Here are exhibited: a bust of the Greek philosopher Socrates, a gallery of busts of Roman philosophers, statues of gods, bronze household items and jewelry, vases, glassware and ivory, musical instruments of a unique shape.
The most mysterious darkened room is reserved for a unique exhibit – the Berlin Golden Hat, created during the pro-Celtic civilization in 1000-800 BC. The world's tallest 88 cm hat is made of gold leaf with the image of unknown characters. Some researchers suggest that the hat served as a headdress for priests during funeral rites, while others consider it to be the calendar of the ancient Celts. The history of the hat remains a mystery to scientists.
Old National Gallery
The old national gallery was designed according to the royal drawings of Friedrich Wilhelm IV. The majestic building in architecture is associated with an ancient Roman temple. The first connoisseurs of painting were met here in 1876 with an exhibition of 262 art paintings provided by the German bourgeoisie. Today, in the enfilades of the gallery, paintings of famous European masters of the 19th century are impressive in size, genres, types and styles. Canvases, painted in the styles of romanticism and classicism, introduce the artistic work of famous German painters.
Impressionism and Biedermeier are represented by the work of French artists Claude Monet and Edouard Manet. Admirers of the modernist style will reflect on the plots of the paintings written by Lovis Corinth, Max Liebermann and Adolf Menzel. Looking through the artistic masterpieces of the famous masters of the brush: Cezanne, Degas, Delacroix and Van Gogh, visitors forget about time. Painting exhibitions are complemented by skillful Nazarene paintings and sculptural figures.
old museum
Located near the Berlin Cathedral, the Old Museum is a building with Ionic columns, crowned in the center with a round dome, guarded by eagles on the top of the facade. The view of the monumental ancient building creates a mood for the perception of the creativity of Ancient Hellas, the Roman Empire and the Etruscans, which entered the museum's treasury. In front of the entrance, visitors are greeted by equestrian sculptures and a grand granite bowl 7 meters in diameter, weighing 76 tons. Museum expositions occupy two floors. The thematic halls of the Antique Collection on the first floor are represented by collections of vases and friezes, weapons, gold and silver jewelry, bronze and clay figures.
The space of the round domed hall-rotunda is reserved for Greek stone and marble sculptures, located on pedestals between slender Doric columns in chronological order. The second floor is dedicated to the art of Ancient Rome and the Etruscans. He introduces the portraits of Cleopatra and Caesar, the sculpture of Emperor Claudius, sarcophagi, frescoes, the “Battle of the Centaurs” mosaic, marble bas-reliefs depicting the processions of the gods. Here you will see several Fayum portraits, traditionally created for the tomb on the thinnest gold sheets during the life of a person. A prominent place is occupied by erotic sculptural compositions made of stone and bronze, vases and medallions with erotic scenes.
Archaeological Center
The monumental gray building of the Archaeological Center, built on a former 19th century barracks, contrasts with the nearby Neo-Baroque building of the Bode Museum. The exterior finish, close to the color of the soil, emphasizes the massiveness and shape of the building. The interior is dominated by the white color of the walls, floors and stairs, enlivened only by the exhibits located on an area of almost 11,700 sq.m. The Archaeological Center is a place where archaeological finds in the museum funds and artifacts for newly created expositions are studied. Within the walls of the archaeological center are: a specialized library, an archive, restoration workshops and scientists' offices.
Opening hours and ticket prices
Opening hours of the Pergamon Museum and the Old National Gallery: daily from 10.00 to 18.00, on Thursday – until 20.00. The rest of the museums are open every day except Monday: on Tuesday, Wednesday and from Friday to Sunday – from 10.00 to 18.00, on Thursdays until 20.00. It is possible to purchase tickets for visiting both all and individual museums.
The price of a standard ticket for visiting 1 museum is:
Reduced tickets for children are 2 times cheaper upon presentation of a birth document.
Where is it located and how to get there
We can say that all roads in Berlin lead to the Museum Island. It is easy to get there from any district of the capital: