Hauptbereich
Museum Island Berlin / Mitte
Museumsinsel
© Bildarchiv Lehnartz
Berlin's world-famous Museumsinsel (Museum Island) is wedged between the River Spree and Kupfergraben. The buildings on the island house the archaeological collections and art collected in the 19th century. The Altes Museum, built in 1830 and designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel, was the first building on the Museum Island and the first public museum in the Prussian state. It was followed by the Neues Museum (1859), the Alte Nationalgalerie (Old National Gallery, 1876), the Bode Museum (1904) and the Pergamonmuseum (1930).
During the Second World War, up to seventy percent of the museum buildings were destroyed. The Masterplan Museum Island, which was adopted at the Foundation of Prussian Cultural Heritage's council in 1999, aims to restore the buildings as well as return, reunify and reorganize the collections which were divided between East and West after the war. Also in 1999, the Museum Island Berlin was added to the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage list. When the Neues Museum opens in October 2009, it will mean that all five of the Museum Island's institutions will once again be open to the public.
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