Berlin - Old Museum Altes Museum

The Old Museum, situated on the Museumsinsel (Museum Island), is Berlin's oldest museum and the third oldest in Germany after the Fridericianum in Kassel (1779) and the Glyptothek in Munich (1816-30). Built by Karl Friedrich Schinkel in 1824-30 as a "Royal Museum," it is in the style of a Greek temple, with a portico of eighteen Ionic columns. It was burned down in the Second World War, rebuilt in 1960 and reopened six years later.

Must-see attractions nearby:

Brandenburg Gate

Charlottenburg Palace

Pergamon Museum

Gendarmenmarkt

Zoological Gardens

Under the Lime-Trees Avenue

Museum of Applied Art

The entrance bears the following inscription in Latin: "To the study of antiquity and the beauties of art." In front of the wide flight of steps stands a huge granite dish carved by Christian Gottlieb Cantian from a glacial erratic in 1827-30. It measures 6.9 m/23ft in diameter, weighs 76 tons and has been nicknamed "the biggest soup-spoon in Berlin." Two sculptures flank the museum entrance. On the left, Albert Wolff's "Youth" on horseback is slaying a lion, and on the right is the "Amazon on horseback fighting a tiger" by August Kiss.

While Berlin's museums are being re-organized, the Old Museum is used only for temporary exhibitions.

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Berlin - Old Museum Altes Museum

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