Altes Museum

As part of the scheduled restoration program, the Altes Museum will be given additional exhibition rooms and more space for service areas. Individual refurbishment measures have already been carried out.

3D visualization of the Altes Museum with view of the main entrance and open stairway (Opens a Larger Version of the Image)

As part of the restoration of the Altes Museum, the ground floor will be refurbished and a roof built over the interior courtyards. 3D visualization. © SPK / ART+COM, 2012

Additional Exhibition Spaces Based on Plans by Hilmer & Sattler und Albrecht

The competition to restore the Altes Museum in 1998 was decided in favor of Hilmer & Sattler und Albrecht Gesellschaft von Architekten mbH. One crucial element of the plan is to provide rooms for additional exhibition space and services. The two interior courtyards will be fitted with a glass roof. The building will connect to the Archäologische Promenade (Archaeological Promenade) and hence link with the other buildings of the Museumsinsel (Museum Island) in terms of both space and substance.

Preliminary Measures to Preserve the Fabric of the Building

The date for beginning the thorough restoration has not yet been determined. Specific measures that were urgently needed to preserve the fabric of the building have already been carried out: the refurbishment of the outdoor stairway and restoration of the coffered ceiling in the rotunda.

The Nucleus of the Berlin Museums

The Altes Museum opened to visitors in 1830. Based on plans by Karl Friedrich Schinkel, it was built next to the Lustgarten as the Königliches Museum (Royal Museum). At the time, the area behind it was still a commercial district known as the Packhöfe (Packing Yards). Not until 1841 did this site began to be developed into a “sanctuary for art and science”.