Martin Maischberger to Become New Director of the Antikensammlung in Berlin

08.07.2025
Antikensammlung

At the end of 2025, archaeologist Andreas Scholl will retire after more than twenty years as director of the Antikensammlung (Collection of Classical Antiquities). Martin Maischberger, currently deputy director, will succeed him.

Martin Maischberger (b. 1964 in Munich) studied classical archaeology, ancient history and Italian philology in Berlin and Perugia, subsequently receiving his doctorate at Freie Universität Berlin in 1995. After working at the German Archaeological Institute (DAI), a restoration firm and at Freie Universität Berlin, he was hired in 2005 as an academic researcher at the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin’s Antikensammlung, where he has been deputy director since 2007. Exhibitions he has organised include Die griechische Klassik. Ideal und Wirklichkeit (2002), The Last Hours of Herculaneum (2005), Pergamon: Masterworks from the Ancient Metropolis with a 360°-Panorama by Yadegar Asisi (2018) and, quite recently, The Bronzes of San Casciano: A Sensation from the Mud. Maischberger’s research has included the excavations carried out by museums between 1875 and 1914, with a focus on the provenance of artefacts unearthed at Samos, Miletus and Didyma. He is a member of numerous advisory boards and associations, and he is superbly networked, both within the scholarly archaeological community and the museum sector.

Maischberger wants to link the collection’s presentation more closely with topical matters. “The encyclopaedic breadth of the antiquities collection offers numerous points of reference for contemporary topics, as was seen, for instance, in the recent exhibition Goddesses and Consorts – Women in Ancient Myth, according to the archaeologist. “I would also like to intensify the dialogue between ancient and contemporary art.” Alongside the existing contacts in the countries of origin – Italy, Greece and Turkey – he plans to expand international collaboration with other major museums. Maischberger also considers provenance research on the collection a priority.