Showcasing sculpture from Schinkel’s era to the German Empire, the exhibition Ideal and Form traces this medium’s lines of development across the long 19th century into the Modern period. It invites visitors to rediscover the Berlin school of sculptors, which was internationally oriented even at that time.

The Friedrichswerdersche Kirche (Friedrichswerder Church), planned and built by Karl Friedrich Schinkel from 1824‒30, has been a museum church and also a branch of the Alte Nationalgalerie since 1987. It offers a unique opportunity to experience 19th century sculpture in a largely originally preserved architectural setting from that same period – with changing natural light effects that reveal ever new facets of the works. Encompassing the most comprehensive inventory of 19th century German sculptural works of art, the Nationalgalerie sculpture collection holds a prominent position within Germany’s museum landscape.