Berlin Arsenal

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themselves. After internal reconstruction by Hitzig the building became a Military Museum and a Hall of Fame celebrating the feats of the Brandenburg and Prussian armies. The building was severely damaged in the Second World War, and was rebuilt under the guidance of the architect Otto Haesler between 1948 and 1961, being finally completed in 1965.

The Arsenal building, on a square plan, has a clearly articulated facade (by de Bodt), 90 m/295ft long, which is relieved architecturally by projections and recesses. The cornices, balustrades and sculpture are in sandstone, the main structure in brick revetted with plaster. The ground floor has round-arched windows, while the narrow windows of the upper floor have alternately rounded and triangular pediments, some topped by allegorical figures. The sculptural decoration, such as the antique helmets on the keystones of the external windows, is mainly by Schlüter, the 22 heads of dying warriors in the inner courtyard (the "Schlüterhof") in particular being outstanding examples of German monumental sculpture. The allegorical female figures on projecting bases at the main entrance (by Guillaume Hulot) represent Pyrotechnics, Arithmetic, Geometry and Mechanics. Hulot also created the figures on the roof, for example the "Mars Group," based on designs by Jean de Bodt.

Until September, 1990 the Arsenal housed the Museum of German History, which was founded in 1952 and was the leading historical museum in the GDR. It has now become the home of the German Historical Museum, which previously lacked its own exhibition rooms and resided provisionally in Berlin-Charlottenburg. Considerable controversy surrounds this museum, as it houses only temporary exhibitions on historical themes, with no plans for any permanent displays.