British heir to the throne visits Berlin's Museum Island
Press release from 04/30/2009
Today, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall are visiting the Neues Museum on Berlin's Museum Island, which, following its structural completion, is now being furnished and prepared for its opening on 16 October 2009. Hermann Parzinger, President of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, and the British architect David Chipperfield will accompany Their Royal Highnesses on their tour of the building. Also present will be the Director General of the National Museums in Berlin, Michael Eissenhauer, and the directors of the collections moving into the building, Dietrich Wildung and Matthias Wemhoff. The dance company Sasha Waltz & Guests will present a piece from "Dialoge 09 - Neues Museum".
Hermann Parzinger explains: "I am delighted that the Neues Museum is not only an outstanding example of careful rebuilding in a historical setting, but also symbolises the good relations between Germany and Great Britain. We hope that the interest of British visitors to Berlin will continue after the opening of the museum. And we are of course looking forward to continuing our collaboration with David Chipperfield, who is also building the new reception building on Museum Island, the James Simon Gallery." As a central visitor centre, it will take over key service functions on the Museum Island from 2013.
The New Museum
On 16 October 2009, the Neues Museum will reopen after 70 years. The building, which was badly damaged in the Second World War and has been preserved as a ruin, has been restored over the last ten years according to plans by David Chipperfield and was handed over to the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation in March of this year as a modern museum building. The guiding principle of the reconstruction was the preservation of the historical elements with all traces of the building's eventful history and the careful handling of the cultural heritage in accordance with the Venice Charter, an internationally recognised guideline for the preservation of historical monuments. The total construction costs were around 200 million euros, which were financed entirely by the federal government. The Egyptian Museum, including the famous bust of Nefertiti, and the Museum of Prehistory and Early History (Staatliche Museen zu Berlin) will present their treasures there from October. Then, for the first time since the Second World War, all the buildings on Museum Island Berlin will be open again.
The Museum Island Berlin
The Neues Museum (built by Friedrich August Stüler 1843 - 1859) is one of the five buildings on Museum Island, which, as a unique ensemble of an educational landscape in the centre of Berlin, also represents 100 years of museum architecture. In 1999, UNESCO placed the Museum Island under its protection as a World Heritage Site. The renovation of the buildings and the contemporary development of the entire museum quarter, including a new entrance building, are based on a master plan. The Altes Museum, Neues Museum, Alte Nationalgalerie, Bode-Museum and Pergamonmuseum present the art and culture of Europe and its roots in the Middle East from its beginnings to the 19th century. With over 3 million visitors a year, they form one of the best-visited museum complexes in the world. Together with the planned Humboldt Forum on the Schlossplatz opposite, which will be dedicated to non-European art and culture, a centre of world cultures is being created here.