15.03.2010
Neues Museum
On the evening of 15 March 2010, Germany's Federal President, Horst Köhler, visited the Neues Museum accompanied by his wife, Eva. The esteemed guests were greeted by Hermann Parzinger, President of the Foundation of Prussian Cultural Heritage, together with Michael Eissenhauer, General Director of the National Museums in Berlin.
The presidential couple were then guided through the reopened building by Friederike Seyfried, Matthias Wemhoff and Andreas Scholl, the directors of the three collections held in the Neues Museum. The world famous bust of Nefertiti was a point of particular interest for the couple. Another aspect of the exhibition that seemed to capture their imagination was the religious-historical background of the Amarna Period, while they were also both visibly taken in by the unique Berlin Gold Hat in the Museum of Prehistory and Early History's collection.
Mr. and Mrs. Köhler were deeply impressed by the prevailing sense of harmony in the restored building between the architectural structure itself and the many exhibits housed inside it. After the ravages of the Second World War, the Neues Museum was left as a ruin for almost 60 years. In October of last year it was reopened in a grand ceremony, after being restored by the architect David Chipperfield, and has been open to the public ever since.