2016 - News - Detail Page - Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz

David Chipperfield Architects was responsible for the planning of the building project with Julian Harrap as restoration architect. The total construction costs are around 200 million euros. This was well below the budget of 233 million euros. Fortunately, some of the risk factors that had to be taken into account at the start of planning for this unusual construction site did not materialise. Since 2003, the federal government has provided all the funds for the building investments of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation.

In around ten years of planning, restoration and reconstruction, the museum, which was severely damaged and partially destroyed during the Second World War and remained a ruin until the time of reunification, was rebuilt and the remaining parts carefully restored. The new blends in with the old, but remains clearly recognisable as a contemporary addition. The preserved building can fully unfold its aesthetic effect. The traces of damage and thus the history of the house remain recognisable. The house has also been equipped with contemporary technology.

All individual measures were carried out in close consultation with the relevant authorities for the protection of historical monuments, as is also the case with the other building projects on the Museum Island, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Depending on the type and extent of the damage, an individual solution was sought for the restoration, refurbishment, extension or reconstruction of each room. The preservation of the historical elements took priority in all considerations. This careful treatment of the cultural heritage is in line with the Venice Charter of 1964, an internationally recognised guideline for the preservation of monuments.

The degree of destruction at the Neues Museum varied greatly. In the best-preserved room, the Niobid Hall, almost all of the surface decorations were still in place. During its restoration, the missing parts were replaced, which only becomes recognisable on closer inspection. In other places, entire parts of the building had been completely destroyed (north-west wing, south domed hall) or in significant parts (central staircase hall). Here, the historical room volumes and structures were taken up in a modern design language during reconstruction. In most of the rooms, the state of preservation and thus the type of addition was more graduated and much more differentiated. The special techniques used in the construction of the Neues Museum in the 19th century also had to be taken into account: Iron girders, particularly light ceiling constructions made of clay pots or types of plaster such as stucco lustro or marmorino.

The Neues Museum was the second building on the Museum Island to be built by Friedrich August Stüler (1800-1865), starting in 1843. It was opened to the public for the first time 150 years ago and is now experiencing its rebirth after seventy years: At the outbreak of war in 1939, it was closed and its collections were removed from storage. Two bombing raids severely damaged the building during the Second World War: in November 1943, the famous staircase hall with the wall paintings by Kaulbach was completely burnt out and in February 1945, the north-west wing and the south dome hall were destroyed. The damage was so severe that the building was not initially restored by those responsible in the GDR - like the other buildings on Museum Island. As a result, the weather caused further damage over the following decades. It was not until 1985 that it was decided to rebuild the building and an emergency roof was installed in 1986.

Following reunification, the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation took over responsibility for the Museum Island. In 1993, a first competition was organised to restore the Neues Museum, which did not produce a satisfactory result. David Chipperfield emerged as the winner of the second competition in 1997. His plans have now been realised. They are an integral part of the Museum Island Masterplan adopted in 1999. Construction work on the Neues Museum began in 2003. Around 300 specialised companies were involved in the building project, including around 150 restorers.

In the coming months, the Neues Museum will be furnished with artefacts from the Egyptian Museum, the Papyrus Collection and the Museum of Prehistory and Early History, supplemented by works from the Collection of Classical Antiquities. The bust of Nefertiti will also return to the building where it was first presented to the general public in 1924. In October 2009, the Neues Museum is scheduled to reopen as the third refurbished building on the Museum Island, after the Alte Nationalgalerie in 2001 and the Bode Museum in 2006. This will be the first time in seventy years that all five buildings on the Museum Island will be open to the public.

But first, visitors can get an impression of this regained jewel of the Museum Island on the Open Days from 6 to 8 March 2009 (10 a.m. - 6 p.m.).