Museum Island

(Local Name: Museumsinsel) The world-famous Museumsinsel, situated between the River Spree and the Kupfergraben, is Berlin's oldest exhibition center. Here there are some important museums which are well worth a visit. The heart of Museum Island is the Old Museum, constructed in 1824-30 on the north side of the Lustgarten. It was built at the request of King Frederick William III, who wished the royal treasures to be made accessible to the public. In 1841 Frederick William IV ordered the whole of the land behind the museum to be "an area dedicated to art and knowledge of antiquity." The king also planned his mausoleum on this site. Between 1843-55 the New Museum took shape behind the Old Museum, on the other side of Bodestrasse. The National Gallery building to the right was officially opened in 1876, and in 1904 the Emperor Frederick Museum was built on the far side of the railroad. Today it is known as the Bode Museum. In 1912 work was begun on the Pergamon Museum, but owing to the First World War it was not completed until 1930. Under the guidance of Wilhelm von Bode (1845-1929), who was in office from 1872-1920 and General Manager of Museums from 1905, the collections on Museum Island earned worldwide recognition, on a level with the Louvre in Paris, the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, the Hermitage in St Petersburg and the British Museum and Victoria and Albert Museum in London, Madrid and Vienna. Nearly three-quarters of the buildings on the Island were destroyed in the Second World War. Most of the objets d'art had been previously removed and therefore survived, but at the cost of being scattered in the then-divided Berlin. Now that the city is no longer divided it has been suggested that an attempt should be made to imitate the pre-war layout with comprehensive displays covering the chief world cultures from the Sumerians through to Expressionist painting. However, this idea has been discarded, and in future the emphasis on Museum Island will be on archaeology.