Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
TOP SIGHT
DEUTSCHES HISTORISCHES MUSEUM
If you're wondering what the Germans have been up to for the past two mil-
lennia, take a spin around this engaging museum in the baroque Zeughaus,
formerly the Prussian arsenal and now home of the German Historical Mu-
seum. Upstairs, displays concentrate on the period from the 1st century AD
to the end of WWI in 1918, while the ground floor tracks the 20th century all
the way through to German reunification.
Permanent Exhibit
All the major milestones in German history are dealt with in a European context. The
timeline begins with the Roman occupation and moves on to the coronation of Charle-
magne, the founding of the Holy Roman Empire and everyday life in the Middle Ages. It
then jumps ahead to Martin Luther and the Reformation and the bloody Thirty Years' War
and its aftermath, addresses Napoleon and the collapse of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806
and the founding of the German Empire in 1871. WWI, which brought the end of the mon-
archy and led to the Weimar Republic, is a major theme, as are of course the Nazi era and
the Cold War. The exhibit ends in 1994 with the withdrawal of Allied troops from German
territory.
Displays are a potpourri of documents, paintings, books, dishes, textiles, weapons, fur-
niture, machines and other objects ranging from the sublime to the trivial. One of the oldest
objects is a 3rd-century Roman milestone. There's also splendid medieval body armour for
horse and rider and a felt hat once worn by Napoleon I. Among the more unusual objects is
a pulpit hourglass, which was introduced after the Reformation to limit the length of ser-
mons to one hour. A startling highlight is a big globe that originally stood in the Nazi For-
eign Office, with a bullet hole where Germany should be. Among the newer objects is a
1985 Robotron, the first PC made in East Germany.
The Building
The rose-coloured Zeughaus, which was used as a weapons depot until 1876, was a collab-
oration of four architects: Johann Arnold Nering, Martin Grünberg, Andreas Schlüter and
Jean de Bodt. Completed in 1730, it is the oldest building along Unter den Linden and a
beautiful example of secular baroque architecture. This is in no small part thanks to
Schlüter's magnificent sculptures, especially those in the glass-covered courtyard whose
