Museum für Spätantike und Byzantinische Kunst SMB

On the Museumsinsel in Berlin, the Antikensammlung Berlin der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin presents an extensive exhibition of ancient art from Greece, Rome, Etruria and Cyprus. Among the best-known exhibits are the Pergamonaltar and large-scale architectural reconstructions such as the Markttor von Milet; the collection also encompasses numerous sculptures, vases, terracottas, bronzes, sarcophagi, gems and precious metalwork. The permanent exhibitions are distributed across the Alte Museum, das Neue Museum und das Pergamonmuseum.

The collection grew over centuries through purchases, donations and inheritances as well as through targeted excavations in the Mediterranean region. In the 19th century, opening up to research and systematic cataloguing led to a modern understanding of the museum; in addition, casts of ancient works were assembled to support study and comparative displays. With the archaeological campaigns, outstanding architectural fragments entered the picture collection, creating a need for large exhibition halls.

During the Second World War the holdings were relocated, some were destroyed, others plundered or removed as wartime loot; only in the following decades were many pieces returned, though not all.

After 1945 the Antikensammlung developed into two separate complexes: on the rebuilt Museumsinsel in the East the emphasis was on monumental architectural elements, while in Charlottenburg in the West the focus was on minor arts, vases, gold jewellery and portraits; additional objects entered the collection in West Berlin through purchases and donations.

With the reunification of the holdings in the early 1990s, a new phase of consolidation, reconceptualization and restoration began. Parts of the monumental works were painstakingly conserved and temporarily displayed at other locations. Under the Masterplan Museumsinsel, extensive rearrangements and restorations have been carried out; some key objects, such as the Pergamonaltar, were temporarily relocated and are intended to be made permanently accessible again once the comprehensive work is completed.