19.11.2010
Neues Museum
In a ceremony held today in Baerwaldbad in Kreuzberg, Berlin, the Neues Museum received a key accolade from the EU in the form of the European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards, in the category of 'Conservation'.
Hermann Parzinger, President of the Foundation of Prussian Cultural Heritage, was overjoyed: 'That the Neues Museum has received the highest prize from the European Union for Cultural Heritage, only confirms our efforts in carefully renovating the piece of world cultural heritage that is the Museum Island Berlin, while at the same time modernizing it for future use.'
The venue for the awards ceremony, Baerwaldbad historical public baths, itself also received one of the main Europa Nostra Awards in the category 'Education, Training and Awareness-Raising'. The Europa Nostra Awards are announced each year and honour outstanding achievements in the areas of restoration, research and education. Both projects were already honoured along with four other 'Grand Prix Laureates' earlier in summer, during an international ceremony held in Istanbul, after being selected from a total of 139 projects from 26 European countries.
The Neues Museum has been showered with numerous other prizes for its reconstruction, including: the BDA Prize Berlin 2009 (awarded by the Association of German Architects), a special prize from the Architecture Prize Berlin 2009, the 'Great Nike' (main award) and the 'Nike for Perfection in Detail' from the BDA, the BZ's Culture Prize (awarded by a popular city newspaper), as well as the Travel + Leisure Design Award 2010 in the category of 'Best Museum'. In addition, the Neues Museum also clinched the Royal Institute of British Architects' RIBA Award in 2010 and the RIBA Crown Estate Conservation Award, as well as the Excellence in Design Award from the American Institute of Architecture UK Chapter in the category of 'Historical Preservation/Restoration'.