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Milestone for a new cultural forum: berlin modern celebrates topping-out ceremony
Press release from 10/17/2025
Shell of the extension to the Neue Nationalgalerie largely completed - Minister of State for Culture Weimer, SPK President Ackermann and Director Biesenbach emphasise the new building's charisma and importance for the collections of 20th century art
The topping-out crown now hovers over berlin modern, the new home of the Neue Nationalgalerie. On 17 October 2025, the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation (SPK) celebrated the topping-out ceremony for the building, which is being constructed according to plans by Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron with Vogt Landscape Architects, with the construction workers involved in the presence of Minister of State for Culture Wolfram Weimer.
The new berlin modern building will be a centre for 20th century art in all its forms of expression. It is being built because the world-famous collection of the Neue Nationalgalerie can currently only be shown in small sections. At the same time, berlin modern will reorganise the Kulturforum as an urban space with a unique interplay of various cultural and scientific institutions.
A tour of the Mies van der Rohe building and the new building will allow visitors to explore art and thus the history of the 20th century in its many forms and disciplines - from German Expressionism and international modernism to Pop Art, Conceptual Art or Minimal Art, architecture, photography, film and 20th century design. Works from the Art Library and the Museum of Prints and Drawings will be on display in separate rooms. The presentation will also include works from the Ulla and Heiner Pietzsch Collection (around 160 works), the Marx Collection (almost 200 works) and the Marzona Collection (around 300 works).
At the topping-out ceremony, all the speakers, including SPK President Marion Ackermann, Finance President Christian Kaiser, Head of Federal Construction Baden-Württemberg, and architect Jacques Herzog, emphasised the unifying power of the new building for the Kulturforum and the radiance that 20th century art could develop here. Director Klaus Biesenbach, who has worked on the institutional co-operation and the temporary greening of the Kulturforum since taking office, opened the view of the future presentation and the possibilities of berlin modern.
Following the speeches, head foreman Andreas Baeskow (ANES Bauausführungen Berlin GmbH) spoke "Raise the crown". Accompanied by musicians from the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, the almost two and a half metre high topping-out wreath was raised. Finally, the topping-out ceremony was held together, organised by Thaipark Berlin in reference to Rirkrit Tiravanija's work untitled (pad thai vs khao soi), which won one of the first two prizes to be realised in the art-in-architecture competition for berlin modern.
The Mirror Piece performed on the occasion of the topping-out ceremony is a performance created in 1969 by the American artist Joan Jonas. Performers carry mirrors and Plexiglas panes in synchronised, choreographed movements. As the piece unfolds, the moving mirrors reflect and fragment the audience, the performers and the surroundings, blurring the boundaries between audience, performers and architecture.
An open house for everyone - connecting, hospitable and participatory
The independent, open form of berlin modern emphasises people and their interaction with art. Visitors will continue to encounter art directly and on all sides of the building. The new building not only fulfils a long-cherished wish of the Neue Nationalgalerie, but also finally completes the Berlin Kulturforum. The new rooms and paths as well as the planned planting will create a long-lost quality of stay. Since Klaus Biesenbach took office as director of the Neue Nationalgalerie, these plans have been intensified in order to make the building even more hospitable, lively and participatory - with street galleries, quiet and study zones, a cinema, large ticket-free areas and more restaurants.
A green building
The ecological sustainability of the building is a key concern for everyone involved. The large-scale photovoltaic system on the roof is the most visible sign of this. It helps to ensure that the museum's primary energy requirement is significantly better than the current legal requirement.
Lots of greenery will ensure an improved microclimate throughout the Kulturforum. Vogt landscape architects have developed a planting concept that already takes future climate changes into account.
Construction work since 2019
The ground-breaking ceremony for berlin modern, then known as the "Museum of the 20th Century", took place in December 2019. After preparatory construction measures, including clearing the site, the excavation pit was created on a base area of around 8,000 square metres at a depth of around 16 metres. Due to the local conditions, the excavation pit enclosure had to be constructed as a watertight trough structure with walls around 25 metres deep. Structural work on the building began in 2023 and the foundation stone was laid in February 2024. Around 70 people are currently working on the construction site. Work on the building envelope (roof and façade) will follow in the further course of construction until structural completion. Inside the building, the interior work (floor, ceilings, walls) and the installation of the technical building equipment will take place. Once the construction site areas have been cleared, work can begin on the outdoor facilities.
The art will come from 2029
Structural completion is planned for 2029, when the art will move in. This will be followed by the initial museum-specific furnishings (including depots, workshops, etc.) and the installation of the opening exhibition. This also includes the relocation of 5,000 works from the Neue Nationalgalerie, 30,000 works from the Kupferstichkabinett and numerous works from the art library, as well as the works from the Marx Collection, which are currently still on display at Hamburger Bahnhof - Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart. The SPK plans to use the building as a place of art during this installation phase and to gradually make it accessible to visitors.
Costs and parties involved
The total costs (including risk provisioning) are currently forecast at 507 million euros, with a downward trend emerging.
The new berlin modern building is being managed by the Landesbetrieb Bundesbau Baden-Württemberg on behalf of the Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz (SPK) as the client and owner. The museum at the Kulturforum Berlin was designed by the architects Herzog & de Meuron with Vogt Landscape Architects. The new museum building is being realised together with a large interdisciplinary team of experts and a large number of construction companies.
Press images:www.preussischer-kulturbesitz.de/newsroom/presse/pressebilder.html
Instagram: @berlinmodern
