NEUES MUSEUM

Description

Essentials about the Neues Museum in brief

As one of the five museums on Berlin’s Museum Island (and thus part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site), the Neues Museum presents more than 9,000 objects from prehistory and early history, the Egyptian period and antiquity on an area of around 8,000 square meters. The museum combines exhibits from three collections that are related to each other in terms of space and content: the Egyptian Museum and Papyrus Collection, the Museum of Prehistory and Early History, and the Collection of Classical Antiquities. This cross-cultural and cross-epochal presentation enables visitors to trace the development of prehistoric and early cultures from the Near East to the Atlantic and from North Africa to Scandinavia in an unprecedented breadth and abundance.

The building of the Neues Museum

For a long time, the treasures of the Neues Museum were not accessible, as it suffered heavily from the destruction of the Second World War. It was not until 1986 that work began on reconstruction, but a conscious decision was made not to faithfully restore the original building. The final restoration of the museum began in 2003, resulting in a very successful unification of the still preserved old building fabric with modern additions and alterations. In 2009, the New Museum was finally able to reopen its doors to the public.

The highlights of the Neues Museum

The main attraction of the Neues Museum is the world-famous portrait bust of the Egyptian Queen Nefertiti. Other highlights of the Neues Museum include the famous Berlin “Green Head” from the late period, precious silver vessels from the Treasure of Priam, the well-preserved “Berlin Gold Hat” from the Bronze Age and a 700,000-year-old Paleolithic hand wedge.