13.03.2013
Museum Berggruen
The Staatliche Museen zu Berlin is inviting the general public to celebrate the reopening of the Museum Berggruen with two free Open Days on Saturday, 16 March and Sunday, 17 March from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Please note that due to limited capacities, visitors may have to queue to gain entry to the museum. We apologise for any inconvenience.
Regular opening hours will recommence on 19 March 2013.
Housed in the western Stüler-designed building in Charlottenburg since 1996, the Museum Berggruen has expanded into the adjacent building at Spandauer Damm 17, which originally served as the commandant's quarters for the Prussian military. The new wing was refurbished to designs by architects Kuehn Malvezzi. The two buildings will be connected via a glazed walkway and together provide the museum with 1,250 square metres of exhibition space.
The new wing offers plenty of room to present works from the museum's collection without diminishing the intimate atmosphere for which it is noted. In addition to the permanent collection, owned by the Nationalgalerie, significant new loans from the Berggruen family will also be on display. A further advantage is that the museum can now dedicate more space to the two largest collections in its holdings - the works of Pablo Picasso and Paul Klee.
Freed-up spaces in the entrance area will be used for temporary exhibitions on the history of the collection. A new garden has been created in the courtyard between the two buildings which will be open to both visitors and local residents. The garden and the museum's reopening are guaranteed to heighten the appeal of Charlottenburg's museum district as a whole.
With its impressive collection of works by Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Paul Klee, and Alberto Giacomett, the Museum Berggruen is one of the most important museums for modern art in Germany. The collection is named after the man who created it - the gallery owner and art collector Heinz Berggruen (1914-2007) who lived and worked in Paris after the Second World War. The Nationalgalerie at the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin acquired a total of 165 works from his exquisite collection in the year 2000.