20.03.2018
Humboldt Forum
On Tuesday, 20 March 2018 at 11 a.m., the newly expanded tactile model of Museumsinsel Berlin was ceremonially handed over in the Lustgarten, which lies between the Kupfergraben and the western side of the Altes Museum.
Since 2011, a bronze model of the Museum Island, donated by the Rotary Clubs of Berlin-Süd and Berlin-Nord, has been on display there to help visitors – both with and without visual impairments – orient themselves and to educate them about the urban development and historical significance of this UNESCO World Heritage Site. Up until now, the model – the work of sculptor Egbert Broerken – depicted the Bode-Museum, Pergamonmuseum, Alte and Neues Museum, Alte Nationalgalerie, and James-Simon-Galerie alongside the Berliner Dom. Now, the Rotary Clubs of Berlin-Süd and Berlin-Nord, as part of their civic engagement, have expanded the model to include the Humboldt Forum in the Palace – which will open in 2019 – in order to provide context for the closely connected institutions of the German capital’s cultural centre.
The newly expanded tactile model, which was updated by Broerken himself, now extends from the Lustgarten to the Berliner Dom and from the Bode-Museum to Schleusenbrücke and Rathausbrücke. The model was fashioned in gold bronze using lost-wax casting, weighs around 700 kg, and has a scale of 1:450. The most significant buildings, waterways, and streets of the surrounding area are labelled in both written script and in Braille.