Museum Island in Berlin - details and images
Museum Island in Berlin has received from the membership of the UNESCO World Heritage. This island of museums has been designed to be "a sanctuary of art and science." The five museums are included in the Museum Island are located between Kupfergraben and river Spree.
This extraordinary group of museums has been started by King Friedrich Wilhelm III who made possible the construction of the Royal Museum in 1830 - today Altes Museum (Old Museum). The museum was built to allow the general public and could see the royal art treasures of Germany. But however, the island was not conceived until around 1840, when he did Fredrich August Stuler proposal to create a cultural center on the island, praised the idea and applauded by everyone. In 1859, the New Museum that was completed later in 1876, will be completed and Old National Gallery.
Kaiser Friedrich Museum (today the Bode Museum) was added in 1904 and last year the museum, the Pergamon Museum was also completed in 1930. Unfortunately, almost 70% of buildings were destroyed during the Second World War and after the war the collections were divided between East Berlin and West.
At the end of the 20th century and a reconstruction program was initiated and the network upgrade was meant to restore the five museums. Old National Gallery (Nationalgalerie Other) was reopened in 2001 with great pomp. Here is one of the largest collections of sculptures and paintings from the 19th century in Germany. Tourists will find numerous works by German artists of the century but also some works by French impressionists.
Restored and reopened in 1966, Old Museum (Altes Museum) hosts Greek and Roman exhibits although it was originally designed to expose the artistic treasures of the Royal Family. Built by the city's greatest architect, Karl Friedrich Schinkel, the building resembles a Greek temple with Corinthian. The museum was closed in November 2009 for renovations.
Bode Museum reopened in 2006 after almost 10 years of renovations. This museum exhibits an extensive collection of sculptures, one of the largest numismatic collections in the world and a selection of paintings from Gemaldegalerie.
New Museum (Neues Museum) was opened in 2009 and hosts a collection of Greek and Egyptian art. This museum has a relation with the Altes Museum. The most famous exhibit of the museum is the bust of Queen Nefertiti.
The Pergamon museum can admire a collection of Greek and Babylonian antiquities, which include Ishtar Gate from Babylon, but also huge Pergamon Altar.
On the island there are other important buildings. One of them is the Cathedral, Berlin's Protestant cathedral, built in the late 18th century as a replica of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.
Right near Berlin Cathedral Stadtschloss there was an enormous palace in the 19th century. In 1950, the building that was considered a symbol of Prussian militarism was demolished by East Germany in 1976 and was replaced by the Palast der Republik, which in 2006 was also demolished. In 2007 a project to rebuild the old palace (Stadtschloss) was approved by Parliament.
Near the palace is the former Marstall, royal stables. Large baroque building is just a wing of the former resort built in 1669 by Dutch architect Michael Matthias Smids. The building is now used as a library and archive.
Address:
Museumsinsel Bodestrasse 1
10178 Berlin, Germany
Transportation:
U-Bahn/S-Bahn: Friedrichstrasse
Tram: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 13, 15, or 53
Information source 
Information source
If you think that the photos or text published in this page infringes copyright laws please notify us using the Contact Page specifying the page url and the content that infringes copyright. Direct Booking uses third party materials and cannot control or verify the origin of the content. Direct Booking will remove any infringing copyright materials from its website and will inform the infringed party about doing so.
