Access
Transition to the PromenadeAltes Museum
Bereichsnavigation 2. Ebene
The Altes Museum, which is quite visible from Berlin's promenade Unter den Linden, forms the southern face of the Museumsinsel. One passes through the Lustgarten to arrive at its main entrance, at which an outdoors flight of steps and a monumental row of columns - an architectural token of dignity - signals the special role which Friedrich Wilhelm III assigned to the presentation of art. The opening up of art for the general public demanded by Wilhelm von Humboldt is also clearly expressed by this building's broadly spanned atrium of columns. Finally, the central rotunda, which was conceived as a space for contemplation and preparation of oneself for an encounter with art, shows, with its obvious allusion to the pantheon in Rome, the political educational objective and the solemn claim of the entire building.
In future, not only will this historic entrance be available, it will also be possible to access the Altes Museum via the Archaeological Promenade, which will meet, or start at, one of the previously unused areaways. This will re-establish direct access to the Neues Museum, which had been provided by a bridge until 1945, and to the other buildings of the Museumsinsel.
