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Highlights from the Prussian Foundation
The Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz (SPK, Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation) was founded on 25 July 1957 to “preserve, cultivate and complement” the collections developed by the state of Prussia, which was dissolved after World War II. The foundation is financed mainly by the Federation and by the 16 federal states.
There are five unique institutions beneath the foundation’s roof: the Berlin State Museums, the Berlin State Library, the Secret State Archives PK, the Ibero-American Institute, and the State Institute for Music Research. While each of the institutions belonging to SPK has numerous highlights, we have narrowed the choice down to a total of ten highlights with a focus on the museums.
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- The bust of Queen Nefertiti, from ca. 1340 B.C., is prized for the excellent preservation of color and fine modeling of the face.
- (© picture-alliance/ dpa/dpaweb)
Nefertiti
The timeless beauty of this bust of the Egyptian Queen Nefertiti, made around 1340 BC in limestone and plaster, is the most famous exhibit on Museum Island. The bust was discovered during excavations in 1912 and brought to Germany with the permission of the Egyptian authorities. It is currently on exhibition in the newly renovated Neues Museum.
Schinkel’s Rotunda
The first surprise awaits visitors upon entering the Altes Museum: the rotunda with pillars and statues reminiscent of ancient Rome. The Pantheon, the largest domed building of antiquity, did in fact serve as a model for Karl-Friedrich Schinkel’s museum design of 1830. An easily overlooked, small museum café leads off from the rotunda and provides a refreshing respite after viewing the exhibitions.
Beethoven’s Ninth
The 200-page original score of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony is one of the most valuable treasures belonging to the State Library in Berlin. The manuscript has had an eventful history, having been divided between East and West for decades after the War. The manuscript, with its famous final movement (the European hymn), is now reunited and was included in the UNESCO Memory of the World Register in 2001.
Long Night of Museums
Twice a year, usually in January and August, Berlin stages one of its biggest cultural celebrations, when over 100 museums, collections, archives, memorial centers and exhibition halls stay open until long past midnight. The SPK museums are naturally part of the festivities. During last year’s long summer night they counted 40,000 visitors.
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- The magnificent Ishtar Gate (605-562 B.C.), now in the Pergamon Museum, was pieced together from millions of glazed brick fragments excavated in Babylon.
- (© picture-alliance / KPA/HIP/Ann Ronan Picture Library)
Pergamon Museum
Berlin’s Pergamon Museum holds first place among Germany’s museums. Like a giant magnet, it has attracted the most visitors for many years. In 2007, they totaled 1.13 million. The main source of interest is the monumental architectural exhibits, such as the Pergamon Altar and the Ishtar Gate, one of the city gates of ancient Babylon. The highlight of 2008 is the exhibition Babylon – Myth and Truth.
Mighty Wurlitzer
The variety is vast, ranging from roaring thunder to the bright twitter of birds. Such is the colossal scope of the “Mighty Wurlitzer,” one of Europe’s biggest theater and cinema organs. The instrument, built in 1929, can be admired in the collection of the State Institute of Music Research at the Kulturforum, and can actually be heard every Saturday at noon.
Replica Workshop
The Replica Workshop is the world’s largest institution of its kind and the Berlin state museum’s oldest facility. Plaster replicas have been produced here for more than 150 years. There are molds for 7,000 items from all epochs. Thank goodness! The Quadriga on top of the Brandenburg Gate, which was destroyed in the Second World War, could only be recreated in bronze with molds from the Workshop.
Mega-exhibitions
The “light-flooded glass temple” of the New National Gallery, built according to designs by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe in 1968, exhibits art below ground level. The SPK set new standards here in the exhibition world with its most successful shows. People queued for hours in 2004 and 2007 to see the major works of the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum from New York.
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- The Alte Nationalgalerie, which reopened after extensive renovations in 2001, showcases art created between the French Revolution and the First World War.
- (© picture-alliance / Lou Avers)
Surreal encounter
The SPK’s newest museum is the Scharf-Gerstenberg Collection, which opened in July 2008. On display are high-caliber works by surrealist artists. Completely genuine, but a little unreal, the same building still contains the pillars of the ancient Sahuré Temple and the Kalabsha Gate from the Egyptian Museum’s collection which previously resided here.
Caspar David Friedrich
Room 3.06 at the Alte Nationalgalerie is an absolute must for fans of the Romantic period: it contains the paintings by Caspar David Friedrich, the leading light of the German Romantic movement. They include such famous works as The Lonely Tree and Moonrise over the Sea. Of course, you shouldn’t miss the other works by artists such as Liebermann, Menzel, Courbet, Monet, Cézanne, and Böcklin.
This article was provided courtesy of Deutschland Magazine www.deutschland-magazine.de
