Altes Museum

In the 17th century, princess Louise, daughter of Friedrich Wilhelm – also known as The Great Elector – built a beautiful pleasure garden on the tip of an island on the River Spree. Many years later, when one of his descendants ruled over Prussia, the need arose for a museum to house many of Germany’s treasures, which had recently been recovered from France.

Thus, in the 1820s, Berlin’s great architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel devised a plan for a new museum bordering the garden. Built between 1825 and 1830, the Altes Museum was the first in the city, fashioned in the Greek style. It was situated across the garden from the King’s Palace, which was demolished World War II.

Eighteen Ionic columns grace the front of this grand museum. The rectangular shaped building encloses two generous courtyards and a two-story centrally-located rotunda, based on the design on the Pantheon in Rome. The interior of the rotunda contains sculptures of gods of antiquity in the recesses of its walls. Two statues flank the wide outdoor steps. Entitled Amazon and Lion Fighter, they were designed by August Kiss and Albert Wolff.

For more than a century, the Altes Museum was enjoyed by locals and visitors alike. However, as is true for much of Berlin, the museum did not survive World War II. Just prior to the end of the war, a tank truck exploded in front of the museum, destroying it completely.

After the war, the Altes Museum was the first of the group museums on Museum Island to be renovated and it reopened in 1966. Today, it houses the Antikensammlung (Museum of Antiquities) on its main floor. The permanent collection here includes a vast variety of ancient Greek and Roman decorative art including vases and statues.

One of the biggest attractions at the museum was the bust of Queen Nefertiti, discovered in 1912 and dating back to 1360 B.C. Since 2005. She moved to the Neues Museum at the end of 2009. Meanwhile the Altes Museum is now closed for renovations which started that same year. When it reopens, a corridor will connect it to the other museums on the island.