GERMANY - Best of Europe 2014 - page 675

manent collection, offering the best look at German history under one roof, anywhere. The
modern annex features good temporary exhibits surrounded by the work of a great contem-
porary architect. While this city has more than its share of hokey “museums” that slap to-
gether WWII and Cold War bric-a-brac, then charge too much for admission, this thought-
fully presented museum—with more than 8,000 artifacts telling not just the story of Berlin,
but of all Germany—is clearly the top history museum in town.
Cost and Hours: €8, daily 10:00-18:00, Unter den Linden 2, tel. [phone],
www.dhm.de .
Audioguide: For the most informative visit, invest in the excellent €3 audioguide, with
six hours of info to choose from.
Visiting the Museum: The permanent collection packs two huge rectangular floors of
theoldarsenalbuildingwithhistoricalobjects,photographs,andmodels—allwell-described
inEnglishandintermingledwithmultimediastationstohelpputeverythingincontext.From
the lobby, head upstairs (to the “ first floor ”) and work your way chronologically down.
This floor traces German history from 1 B.C . to 1918, with exhibits on early cultures, the
Middle Ages, Reformation, Thirty Years' War, German Empire, and World War I. You'll
see a Roman floor mosaic, lots of models of higgledy-piggledy medieval towns and castles,
tapestries, suits of armor, busts of great Germans, a Turkish tent from the Ottoman siege of
Vienna (1683), flags from German unification in 1871 (the first time “Germany” existed as
a nation), exhibits on everyday life in the tenements of the Industrial Revolution, and much
more.
History marches on through the 20th century on the ground floor, including the Weimar
Republic, Nazism, World War II, Allied occupation, and a divided Germany. Propaganda
posters trumpet Germany's would-be post-WWI savior, Adolf Hitler. Look for the model
of the impossibly huge, 950-foot-high, 180,000-capacity domed hall Hitler wanted to erect
in the heart of Berlin, which he planned to re-envision as Welthauptstadt Germania, the
“worldcapital”ofhisfar-reachingThirdReich.Anothermodelshowsthesoberingrealityof
Hitler's grandiosity: a crematorium at Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in occupied
Poland.TheexhibitwrapsupwithchunksoftheBerlin Wall,reunification, andaquicklook
at Germany today.
For architecture buffs, the big attraction is the Pei annex behind the history museum,
which complements the museum with often-fascinating temporary exhibits. From the old
building, cross through the courtyard (with the Pei glass canopy overhead) to reach the an-
nex. A striking glassed-in spiral staircase unites four floors with surprising views and lots
of light. It's here that you'll experience why Pei—famous for his glass pyramid at Paris'
Louvre—is called the “perfector of classical modernism,” “master of light,” and a magician
of uniting historical buildings with new ones. (If the museum is closed, or you don't have a