07.01.2013
Pergamonmuseum
As of today, the Pergamonmuseum on the Museumsinsel Berlin is accessible to visitors via the entrance at Bodestrasse 1-3. This means that to get to the museum visitors cross the Colonnade Courtyard, between the Alte Nationalgalerie and the Neues Museum.
Access via the former entrance at Kupfergraben is no longer possible due to the extensive renovation work scheduled to take place over the coming years. In fact, as soon as Yadegar Asisi's Pergamon Panorama has been dismantled, scaffolding will be erected on the Pergamonmuseum's forecourt so that work can begin. The renovations will be staggered so that the museum will never be forced to close completely and will always be open to visitors at least in part.
The renovations will entail the construction of a fourth wing, in keeping with the original plans of the building's architect, Alfred Messel, who died before the museum opened in 1930. Cologne-based architect Oswald Mathias Ungers, who died in 2007, designed a glass walk-way between the two wings that will run along the Kupfergraben beside the river. This fourth wing will significantly enhance the visitor experience, allowing visitors to make a complete 'circuit' through the Greco-Roman, ancient Near-Eastern, and Islamic departments, passing all monumental architectural structures held in the museum along the way. In addition, the renovation work also entails the construction of an underground walk-way that will connect the Pergamonmuseum with the Bode-Museum and Neues Museum on either side of it, all at lower-ground level. Named the Archäologische Promenade (or Archaeological Promenade), the starting point for this walk-way will be located in a central entrance building, servicing the entire Museumsinsel Berlin. That building is already under construction and is to be named the James-Simon-Galerie. It will be situated directly besides the Neues Museum.
For more details on the future plans for the buildings on the Museum Island, encompassed under the 'Masterplan Museumsinsel' project, check out the special website: www.museumsinsel-berlin.de