Museums and Art

Pergamon Museum (Pergamon), Berlin, Germany

Pergamon Museum (Pergamon), Berlin, Germany

Opening hours

The museum is open from 10:00 to 18:00 every day except Thursday (from 10:00 to 20:00)

We welcome all visitors to our site! Today we will talk about Pergamon Museumwhich is located in the center of Berlin. The process of building the museum was long and difficult. The first building of the Pergamon Museum was built back in the distant 1897-1898. And by 1901, the first visitors entered the museum. During this period of the museum’s existence, its exhibit contained various interesting architectural finds from Pergamum and Priene (which is why museums got its name).

But the number of exhibits in the museum remained, and besides, a crack was found in the museum building, so it was decided to demolish the museum and erect a new building in its place. Already in 1907, Alfred Messel (a famous architect of that time) began designing a new building for the museum, but he died in 1909, and therefore, his work was continued by the equally talented architect Ludwig Hoffmann, who was a friend of Messel.

The First World War and other revolutions that took place in Germany had a very bad effect on the construction of the building for the Pergamon Museum. Only in 1930 the project was completed. But the troubles did not stop there. During the Second World War, the museum’s exposition suffered a great deal, which, by then, already included finds from Babylon, Ashur, and Egypt.

It should be noted that after the war ended, many exhibits of the museum were exported to the USSR. Today, most of the exhibits were returned to the museum, but some are still stored in the Hermitage and the Pushkin Museum. Pushkin.

Pergamon Museum is visited by about a million people every yearmaking it the most visited museum in Berlin. On the territory of the museum you can meet anyone, including current Russian and foreign stars. There were Boris Grebenshchikov, Karl Lagerfeld, Viktor Yanukovych, Tom Hanks, and this is not a complete list.

Before starting the story directly about the museum itself, I want to talk about one funny incident that occurred not so long ago. When representatives of the press (and they happen to be there quite often) asked one of the museum guards to show something interesting, he did not hesitate to take everyone to the roof, where he pointed to the video camera with which the museum guards tried to look into the windows of Angela Merkel’s apartment . I must say that they did not succeed, but, the next day, German newspapers were full of headlines. The security guards of the Pergamon Museum looked into the bedroom of the Federal Chancellor.

About the exposition of the Pergamon Museum

Antique Collection, Asia Pacific Museum and Museum of Islamic Art - These are the three main expositions of the Pergamon Museum in Berlin.

The original building of the museum was built for the famous exhibit - Great Altar of Zeus. This exhibit was discovered by Karl Human when he came to Turkey to build roads and bridges. But the real reason for visiting this country was the excavation of the kingdom of Pergamon, where the altar was found. The Turks, at that time, were little interested in the value of the altar, so he soon ended up in Germany. The altar depicts the battle of the gods and titans, and is dedicated to Zeus and Athena.

No less popular in the Pergamon Museum Assyrian reliefs. They depict various mythical creatures, animals, military processions. In the West Asian hall you can observe the main gates of Babylon, dedicated to the goddess Ishtar.

We move to the second floor of the Pergamon Museum, where the Islamic exhibition is located. The epicenter here is frieze adorning the facade of the Umayyad castle. He is very huge and beautiful. On it you can see interesting animal figures and patterns of plants that were carved by ancient stone-cutters. I must say that the frieze was completely destroyed. Museum workers bit by bit restored it, and now everyone can see it in the Pergamon Museum.

Also in the Islamic exposition (it was opened in 1904) you can see a unique collection of carpets, which was presented to the Wilhelm von Bode Museum (a famous Berlin historian).

Another no less famous name of the museum is Pergamon.

Watch the video: Германия. Берлин: Пергамский музей. Germany, Berlin: Pergamonmuseum (June 2021).