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The foundation stone for Karl Friedrich Schinkel's Altes Museum was laid on 9 July 1825 - and the success story of the Museum Island began. To mark the 200th anniversary, the SPK and the collections located on the "island" will stage the unique Museumsquartier - with exhibitions, events, open-air exhibitions, concerts, cinema evenings and activities for everyone. With the support of visitBerlin, the Kolonnaden Bar will also return in summer 2025. The UFA Film Nights offer cinema magic on Museum Island with milestones of early film art in the city's most beautiful open-air cinema. And the Long Night of Museums will once again attract tens of thousands of visitors to the island. Governing Mayor Kai Wegner has taken over the patronage for the anniversary.

Hermann Parzinger, President of the SPK, says: "We are very much looking forward to the anniversary! At the heart of our programme is cultural education and the idea of bringing Berliners to their 'island'. We have set ourselves the goal of bringing every school class in Berlin to the Museum Island at least once over the next five years. After all, it is not just a place for visitors from abroad, who we naturally invite to visit us just as warmly!"

The Museum Island was modelled on the Greek Acropolis with its temple motif and the Roman Forum. King Frederick William IV had already sketched out the Berlin version of this idea in different variations and arrangements during his time as crown prince. The unfinished plans were continued by his successors. The construction of the Kaiser Friedrich Museum, now the Bode Museum, on the northern tip of the island in 1904 gave the Museum Island its distinctive appearance. The building, which rises powerfully from the water, forms the bank wall itself. The Pergamon Museum, the most recent museum building, also creates an impressive image with its soaring temple façades. The planners and builders took the same great care with which the buildings were designed and constructed as they did with the open spaces. They developed these from the respective floor plans of the building ensembles. The buildings, open spaces and water areas are thus interwoven in a unique way, complementing and enhancing each other in their sublime and impressive effect.

And inside? Outstanding collections on the millennia-old history of art and culture in Europe and the Mediterranean region - from the first evidence of human creativity to the traces of the Neanderthal man and the diverse cultural artefacts of the Near Eastern, Egyptian and ancient works of art that founded the fame of the Museum Island. The bridge between Byzantine and Islamic art and medieval sculpture and the great works of the Renaissance is unique. And then there is the art of the 19th century - from Menzel to Manet. Not forgetting Schadow's group of princesses.

Matthias Wemhoff, Director of the Museum of Prehistory and Early History, says of the programme: "A visit to the Museum Island is like a journey through time and space. Full of impressions that can also provide support and orientation for our time. Every year until 2030, one of the large museum buildings will invite visitors to discover its rich collections - with unconventional and new approaches."

Three major special exhibitions will open in 2025, the first of the five anniversary years. "Foundation Stone Antiquity. Berlin's first museum". The special exhibition looks at the architecture and history of the Altes Museum as the nucleus of today's Collection of Classical Antiquities and the Museum Island World Heritage Site. 2025 "Myths in stone. Göbeklitepe and the World of the Last Hunters" takes visitors to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Göbeklitepe in south-east Turkey. "Goya - Monet - Degas - Bonnard - Grosse. The Scharf Collection" in the Alte Nationalgalerie will present the German private collection of 19th and 20th century French art as well as contemporary international art in its entirety for the first time. There will also be spectacular presentations of archaeological exhibits from Italy and Romania. More details about the programme will be published during the first quarter of 2025.

The anniversary is supported by the Stiftung Deutsche Klassenlotterie Berlin, the Kuratorium Preußischer Kulturbesitz and our mobility partner Flix.

Press photos at: https://www.preussischer-kulturbesitz.de/newsroom/presse/pressebilder.html