Pergamon Museum, Berlin, Germany - SpottingHistory.com

The Pergamon Museum was designed by Alfred Messel and Ludwig Hoffmann and was constructed in twenty years, from 1910 to 1930. The Pergamon Museum houses original-sized, reconstructed monumental buildings such as the Pergamon Altar and the Market Gate of Miletus, all consisting of parts transported from Turkey.

The museum is subdivided into the antiquity collection, the Middle East museum, and the museum of Islamic art. The museum is visited by approximately 1,135,000 people every year, making it the most visited art museum in Germany.

By the time the Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum on Museum Island (today the Bodemuseum) had opened, it was clear that the museum was not large enough to host all of the art and archaeological treasures excavated under German supervision. Excavations were underway in Babylon, Uruk, Assur, Miletus, Priene and Egypt, and objects from these sites could not be properly displayed within the existing German museum system. As early as 1907, Wilhelm von Bode, the director of the Kaiser-Friedrich-Wilhelm-Museum had plans to build a new museum nearby to accommodate ancient architecture, German post-antiquity art, and Middle Eastern and Islamic art.

This large three-wing museum had been in planning since 1907; when Alfred Messel died in 1909 his close friend Ludwig Hoffman took charge of construction, which began in 1910. The construction continued during the First World War (1918) and the great inflation of the 1920s. In 1930, the building hosting the four museums opened.

The Pergamon Museum was severely damaged during the air attack on Berlin at the end of the Second World War. Many of the display objects were stored in safe places, and some of the large pieces were walled in for protection. In 1945, the Red Army collected all of the loose museum items, either as war booty or, ostensibly, to rescue them from looting and fires then raging in Berlin. Not until 1958 were most of the objects returned to East Germany. Significant parts of the collection remain in Russia. Some are currently stored in the Pushkin Museum in Moscow and the Hermitage in Saint Petersburg.

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Pergamon Museum

User Reviews

Vizma Boļše (5 months ago)
You must reserve a time slot, even with the Berlin Museum Pass. I would not recommend reserving the last time slot (from 17.15) as the museum closes at 18.00 and it is not physically possible to see the whole museum during that time. I was quite disappointed that I could not see half of the exposition due to this issue. The time slots get booked very quickly so reserve your time a few days before.

Nhat Nguyen (5 months ago)
The museum is currently under construction and has only 1/3 accessible. The exhibited item are quite boring except for the Gate of Ishtar. If you have the all access pass then maybe have a quick look.

Marciano (6 months ago)
Very impressive artifacts on display here. The presentation is absolutely gorgeous! The warmth inside ruined it a little bit, hard to have a chill view of all the works when you’re suffocating in a FFP2 mask. I’ll come back in winter I guess.

Anastasios Fotopoulos (6 months ago)
No museum is a bad place to be, but some museums are just More than others. The Pergamum Museum is a must-visit place for travelers and residents of Berlin alike. The archaeological finds in there are astonishing with the Ishtar's gate as the cornerstone of them. The Islamic art section is also magnificent and holding a vast range of not only items, but also parts of houses and calligraphy works. The only one thing that took a little from the experience was that the items were not matched to their descriptions numerically, which made it a bit hard to read

Ari R (7 months ago)
Maintaining museums is art by itself. This one exceeds expectations in so many ways. 1. Family friendly - they offer activity books for children so that they aren't bored out of their nerves 2. The location within the city is fantastic, very practical 3. Providing interactive devices for audio walkthrough is practical 4. Ability to not disown History but remember its flaws held the truth closer than ever A must visit if you're in Berlin

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