Neues Museum

At the northern edge of the Lustgarten in Berlin‑Mitte, the Alte Museum shapes the historic ensemble of the Museumsinsel, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The building was erected in the 1820s at the behest of König Friedrich Wilhelms III.; it is regarded as an important example of German Classicism. To the east it adjoins the Berliner Dom, to the south the rebuilt Berliner Schloss, and to the west the Zeughaus. Today the Alte Museum houses the Antiquities Collection as well as part of the Coin Cabinet and attracted around 215,000 visitors in 2023.

In the early 19th century the idea gained ground of making formerly closed art collections accessible to the public for educational purposes; this aim also underlay the construction project. Royal acquisitions of large antiquities collections and a state-appointed commission led to the decision to present primarily “high art” in the new building. For the north side of the Lustgarten an antique‑inspired, academic building was conceived, which together with the surrounding representative buildings forms a symbolic axis of secular, military, religious and cultural power.

The planning required extensive foundation work because of a connecting canal; around 3,000 pine piles were driven. Construction began in 1825 and was completed around 1830; initially the building served as the Königliches Museum and housed the painting gallery. In World War II the building suffered heavy damage from air raids and was gutted by fire in 1945. In the 1950s and 1960s it was the first museum building on the island to be largely restored; in the process fresco fragments and a historic link to the neighbouring building were lost. Restorations of the rotunda, the grand exterior staircase and other parts continued into the 2000s.

The architecture draws on ancient models: a two‑storey cube on a plinth, a portico with 18 fluted Ionic columns and a rotunda, reminiscent of the Pantheon, rising to 23 metres with a coffered dome. Figural and equestrian sculptures as well as groups of horse tamers and Pegasus adorn the grand exterior staircase and the corners of the structure. Inside, the exhibition rooms are arranged around two courtyards; the rotunda with its Corinthian colonnade is today used for the display of larger sculptures.

Originally created for the “high art” of all Berlin collections, the building became from 1904 the home of the Antiquities Collection, which returned after interim storage following the reconstruction. Etruscan and Roman exhibits are shown on the upper floor, while the main floor is dedicated to Greek art. Since 2015, as part of the program “Multaka – Treffpunkt Museum,” intercultural guided tours for Arabic‑ and Persian‑speaking visitors have been offered; since the end of 2023 the Antiquities Collection of the Alte Museum has been involved.