Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Saving the
Museumsinsel
Top 10 Events in
the Altar's History
1 The Pergamon Altar is
built, c.160 BC
2 Excavation by Carl
Humann, from 1870
3 Transfer of the Altar to
Berlin, 1902
4 Start of construction of
Museumsinsel, 1909
5 Pergamon Altar inaugu-
rated in Berlin, 1930
6 Reception for the
Olympic Games at the
Altar, 1936
7 Bombs destroy the
museum, 1943
8 Reconstruction of the
Museum, 1957
9 The IOC dines at the
Altar, 1992
0 Renovation to be
completed, 2008
The “island of museums” is a
treasury of antique architecture
- yet it was slowly decaying.
Since 1992 a total of 1.6 mil-
lion euros has been spent on
the renovation and moderniza-
tion of Museumsinsel. A “master
plan” was hatched by renowned
architects, such as David Chipperfield and O M
Ungers, which would transform the complex into
a unique museum landscape - just as it had first
been conceived in the 19th century by Friedrich Wil-
helm IV, when he established the “free instutition for
art and the sciences”. By 2008, all museums will be
linked by an “architectural promenade”, creating a
conceptual as well as a structural link between the
various parts (and providing disabled access). This
promenade will consist of a variety of light rooms,
courtyards and vaults as well as new exhibition halls.
The core of the complex will be a new central
entrance building. Once renovated, the museums will
gradually reopen - the Alte Nationalgalerie opened in
December 2001. In 1999, the Museumsinsel was
declared a World Heritage Sight by UNESCO.
The Palace of
Mshatta
Pergamon and Asia Minor
From 241 until 133 BC, the antique city of Perga-
mon was the capital of the Hellenistic Pergame-
nian Empire, ruling the northwestern region of
Asia Minor. Apart from many temples, the town,
which is now known as Bergama, and is in
Turkey, also boasted a famous library.
A 17th-century carpet with floral motifs from western Anatolia
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