Berlin Germany Insider Sigtseeing - TOP 10 Sights - Part 3 of 4
Did you know that Berlin has more than 140 Museums? In this
third part we will take a walk through the medieval Museum's
Island.
I strongly recommend using the S-Bahn to go there (station
"Friedrichstrasse"). It's just amazing when you recognize how
the S-Bahn passes between two of the five Museums.
VIIII. Museumsinsel (Museum's Island)
Considering that Berlin has more than 140 museums, this area is
just a tiny part of it. But, the consort of museums found on the
Museum Island is a unique cultural inheritance which unites five
important museum buildings into a heterogeneous but harmonic
ensemble on the River Spree. The oldest museum complex in Berlin
suffered more than 70 % destruction in the Second World War. The
painstaking work of restoration is a long way from being
completed. The island contains the following five edifices:
- "Alte Museum," built in 1830. Its interior, particularly
the domed rotunda, creates a wonderful atmosphere for the
sculpture exhibited and the collection of ancient artworks.
- "Neue Museum," built from 1843-1859, to relieve the Alte
Museum. The interior design presents the history of humankind.
It is decorated in historical styles which relate directly to
the objects exhibited and the epochs they represent.
- "Alte Nationalgalerie", built from 1867-1976 as a 'Temple of
the Sciences'. The building, with its large external staircase
and bronze statue of Friedrich Wilhelm IV. on horseback, was
rebuilt in the 1950s and has been undergoing expensive
restoration since 1997.
- "Bodemuseum," built end of 19th century. With its imposing
dome and splendid entrance hall, the building seems to traverse
the Spree like a ship. The interior contains several rooms,
whose are individually created in a style appropriate to the
epoch exhibited there.
- "Pergamonmuseum," built in 1930, 100 years after the first
edifice on this island. It contains the Roman gate from Milet,
the Altar of Zeus from Pergamon, and the Processional Avenue and
Gate of Ishtar from Babylon.
If you, however, would like to see more museums than these four
alone, I recommend buying the "3-day Museumpass," which cost 12
EUR (reduced: 6 EUR). With it you can visit 70 of the 140
museums on three consecutive opening days.
Now, in the last part we are going into the "Erotic Museum"
and... be surprised what else additionally... :-)
See you!
Kind regards, Marcus Hochstadt