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Virtual tour of the Bode-Museum opens to public

21.12.2015
Bode-Museum

Visitors can now explore 35 rooms of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin's Bode-Museum virtually from their home computers or on their smartphones. The virtual tour seamlessly stitches together 62 photographs, each providing a 360° panorama. The final product captures nearly the entire ground floor of the museum as well as a great deal of the first floor. The virtual tour also provides information on each of the 850 photographed sculptures and paintings, and over 300 links to SMB-digital, the online database of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. An embedded introductory video presents the platform's various functions and demonstrates how to navigate through the tour. The tour can be accessed through the Bode-Museum's page on the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin's website or through the direct link: bode360.smb.museum

The idea for a panorama tour was developed by members of the Kaiser Friedrich Museumsverein, an association that supports the Gemäldegalerie and the Skulpturensammlung of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. The project was conceived of and carried out through thevolunteer labour of association member Wolfgang Gülcker. 'The most exciting aspect of the work was the way it made use of my professional skills as a software developer, my love of ancient art, and my interest in photography and manipulating photographs. There was also the desire to contribute to the appeal of this marvelous museum', Gülcker commented.

Julien Chapuis, head of the Bode-Museum said: 'The tour created by Wolfgang Gülcker is a tremendous gift for us, because it not only makes large parts of the museum digitally accessible, it also allows visitors to experience it spatially. Of course a virtual visit to the museum cannot replace coming in person – but the fact that art lovers from around the world can now see the kinds of treasures we have and how we've presented them is a wonderful addition to our programme. People who were not familiar with the museum can now experience its beauty and understand how worthwhile a visit in person would be. And those who already know and love the Bode-Museum have the chance to engage with the collections in a more in-depth way'.

Since October 2013, a virtual tour of the Münzkabinett (Numismatic Collection) of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin and its four showrooms in the Bode-Museum has been available online. Here, select individual views of the display cases are linked with the Münzkabinett's interactive catalogue (IKMK). The tour can be accessed through the Münzkabinett's page on the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin's website.