Master Plan Museumsinsel Berlin 2015 - View 2015

Altes Museum

Bereichsnavigation 2. Ebene

In 1810, Wilhelm von Humboldt was commissioned by King Friedrich Wilhelm III "to build up a public, well selected collection of art in Berlin." The year 1830 saw the opening of the Königliches Museum am Lustgarten (Royal Museum at the Pleasure Garden), which had been built in accordance with plans by Karl Friedrich Schinkel. This building added the field of art as a fourth element to the open parallelogram of politics (Schloss, i.e. palace), the military (Zeughaus, i.e. arsenal) and the church (Dom, i.e. cathedral).

The central rotunda harks back to the Pantheon in ancient Rome and, together with the façade of columns, forms one of the most mature works of the classical period, influencing style well into the 20th century. This first museum building in Berlin initially brought together a collection of classical antiquities, a picture gallery and a numismatic collection; in future, this building will be devoted exclusively to classical antiquity.

Near the end of World War II the Altes Museum caught fire and almost burned to the ground. After restoration, from 1966 onward it served as a museum of contemporary art of the DDR (East Germany) and was used for special exhibitions.