iAltes MuseumMitte
Founded on Antiquity: Berlin's First Museum
The upper-floor show revisits the museum's 1830 beginnings, reuniting antiquities from its first display around a large model of Schinkel's original building.
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One exhibit is a plain piece of pine. Schinkel had over 3,000 trunks like it rammed into the island's mud to carry this building, and a 1:50 model at the centre of the show lets you look down into that foundation. You're standing in a building that sinks about a millimetre a year, says Andreas Scholl, director of the antiquities collection.
The show marks 200 years since the foundation stone and brings back antiquities from the 1830 opening display. The FAZ's Andreas Kilb called them typical pieces rather than treasures; the Berliner Morgenpost found some of doubtful artistic value. Copies of the papers laid in the stone include the full cost sheet, capped by the king at exactly 700,000 thalers. Berliners raised on BER jokes get to read a construction budget fixed to the thaler.
Come for how Berlin's first museum was built, not for star objects. It's on the upper floor, included in the €14 Altes Museum ticket, and runs until 10 January 2027.
Look for
The piece of pine
A plain length of wood stands in for the more than 3,000 locally felled pine trunks Schinkel had rammed into the ground under the museum.
The 1:50 model
Built at TU Berlin in 2011 and set at the centre of the show, it opens up the building so you can see the timber piles beneath.
The foundation-stone papers
The stone itself has never been found, but the drafts survived: copies include the full building accounts for the king's budget of exactly 700,000 thalers.
Good for
- Locals Who've Seen It All
- Nerding Out
Skip if
You want star objects: the FAZ says these are typical pieces of the collection, not treasures.
Also at Altes Museum
On now nearby
Nearby
Image credits
9
- Founded on Antiquity: Berlin's First MuseumPhoto: Johannes Laurentius
- 100 Years of the Dictionary of the Egyptian Language© Ägyptisches Wörterbuch
- Destiny in the Stars: The Beginnings of the Zodiac© Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Ägyptisches Museum und Papyrussammlung, Foto: Sandra Steiß
- Dioscuri – The Given Day© Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Ägyptisches Museum und Papyrussammlung / Rendering: Studio Michael Müller
- Altes MuseumJean-Pierre Dalbéra / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
- Neues MuseumFred Romero / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
- Alte NationalgalerieManfred Brückels / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
- Deutsches Historisches MuseumAvda / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
- DDR MuseumAndreas Praefcke / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0