Homebase in the James-Simon-Galerie: Museum Island gets a place of information for its anniversary - opening on 9 September with the "Insel erzählen" project
Press release from 09/01/2025
Actress Meike Droste meets the former head curator of the cuneiform collection at the Museum of the Ancient Near East, Joachim Marzahn
To mark its 200th birthday, Berlin's Museum Island is being given a "home base", which will be located in the basement of the James-Simon-Galerie. Visitors can come here to find out about the development of the "island", its architectural history and the diversity of its collections. The information centre is sponsored by the Kuratorium Preußischer Kulturbesitz and supported by the Thonet company.
The "Homebase" will be opened on 9 September 2025 at 7 pm by SPK President Marion Ackermannand the Chairwoman of the Board of Trustees of Prussian Cultural Heritage, Helen Müller.
The "Insel erzählen" project will be launched at the same time. The "Homebase" will be a place for sharing experiences, memories, adventures and anecdotes with and about the Museum Island. On the "Homebase" sofa, a prominent guest will meet someone who has been working on the Museum Island for years. The event will kick off with film and theatre actress Meike Droste, who is known from the crime series "Murder with a View", and Joachim Marzahn, the long-standing head curator of the cuneiform collection at the Museum of the Ancient Near East. The discussion will be moderated by Shelly Kupferberg.
"This new series is intended to initiate a city dialogue about the Museum Island. We want to encourage the Berlin public and visitors to the city to share their stories and experiences of the Museum Island with us. What do they think of when they remember visits to the island? It could be an anecdote, a photo or a memory from the museum shop. We would like to publish these episodes on the MI-200 website and later present them in the 'Homebase' itself. It should be a great narrative of the 'island' from the perspective of our guests. I am delighted that the Prussian Cultural Heritage Board of Trustees is supporting the project," says SPK President Marion Ackermann.
The Chairwoman of the Board of Trustees of Prussian Cultural Heritage, Helen Müller, emphasises: "The Museum Island makes Berlin a cultural metropolis. But what does this UNESCO World Heritage Site actually trigger in visitors? What do people take away with them when they visit the museums? What do you look for when you come here? This is what the 'Insel erzählen' project is all about, which we as the Board of Trustees were happy to support. The success of the Museum Island is measured quantitatively by the millions of visitors. But this is about the qualitative - and indeed emotional - significance of the island. I am delighted that this initiative will enable many people to engage in dialogue with competent museum experts."