Visitors guide to the Museumsinsel, Berlin



Posted: Monday, June 15, 2009

by Paul Symonds
http://www.investsicily.com

Museumsinsel or Museum Island gets its name from the fact that it is home to many world famous museums and because it is located between the Kupfergraben and the River Spree on the Spreeinsel Island. Technically, Museumsinsel is the northern half of the Island and the Southern half is named Fischerinsel or Fishers' Island. The museums on this island are home to some of the finest collections of art and archaeological wonders of the 19th century. Of all the museums on the island, the Pergamon museum is very popular with tourist since it houses a replica of the Pergamon museum.

Originally, the Museumsinsel was a residential area until King Frederick William IV decreed that the whole area be devoted to art and science. His predecessor King Frederick William III made the first step towards the development of the Museum Island in 1830 by making the art in the museum more accessible to the public. In the year 1999, UNESCO listed this museum complex as a World Heritage Site. Today, the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation or the Stiftung Preuischer Kulturbesitz maintains the museums and its many art collections.

The opening of the Pergamon Museum in 1930 marked the completion of the Museumsinsel complex. The WWII resulted in the destruction of around 70% of the buildings of the Museumsinsel and it was only after the German reunification that much of the collection was recovered. Currently the complex is undergoing a modernization and reconstruction programme.

The first museum in this area was the Altes Museum or Old Museum, which was designed by Schinkel. This museum hosts a wonderful collection of classical antiques. Next to be built was the Neues Museum or New Museum that was completed in 1859 under the supervision of Friedrich August Stler who was a student of Karl Friedrich Schinkel, the designer of the Old Museum. The New Museum is being restored in order to accommodate the Museum of Pre and Early History as well as the Egyptian Museum.

Stler subsequently designed the Alte Nationalgalerie which was completed in 1876 to accommodate a collection of 19th Century art that was donated by a banker called Joachim H. W. Wagener. The last museum to be completed was the Pergamon Museum which contains a collection of classic antiquities, the Museum of Islamic Art and the Museum of Ancient Near Eastern Art.

For visitors to Berlin who are looking to visit this delightful island, it is possible to get there by public transport. The closest U-Bahn station is the Friedrichstrasse, and travellers on the S-Bahn can use the Hackesche Markt station as well. For tourists who would prefer to take the bus, they will need to find one that goes to either Lustgarten or Universittsstrasse.

Paul writes about Berlin travel & culture and Rome flights and travel.

Paul Symonds (MSc, BA Hons) is the editor for http://www.investsicily.com and http://www.wellnessandsauna.co.uk. With a Masters degres in Computer Based information systems, a Sicilian wife, Paul lives in England.
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