Pergamon Museum Berlin

The Pergamon Museum is really three museums in one. There's the Collection of Classical Antiquities, the Museum of Ancient Near East and the Museum of Islamic Art. Together they create an overview of the development of western civilisation, from its Mesopotamian precursors.

Origins

It all began with archaeological digs in the 19th century, and the finds being reassambled in various German museums. The first Pergamon Museum from 1901, so named after the reasembled Greek Pergamon Altar which it housed, did not survive for long due to the unstable land upon which it was built.

Wilhelm von Bode had the initial vision of a three great museums; one for Antiquity, a Near east Museum and a German Museum for medieval developments based on classical art. The architect Alfred Messe designed the monumental three wing building to create three museums in one. During construction the proposed exhibitions of the museums were passionately argued. The Market Gate of Miletus in particular caused much discusssion. Dating to 120AD it was not considered to be representative of the best classical architecture. It was Kaiser Wilhelm II to force the inclusion - eventhough it required the elimination of von Bode's German Museum.

Realisation

The construction suffered many setbacks due to funding problems in the 1920s. The Ishtar Gate was nearly omitted due to cost, and it was Walter Andre, director of the Near East Collection who ensured its reconstruction. The Pergamon Museum opened in 1930, eventhough the building was not yet finished, and access was restricted to the large halls on the main floor. The exhibition rooms were not opened until 1934. After 25 years construction, the Museum had to close its doors after a mere five years at the outbreak of the Second World War.

Second World War

During World War II many exhibitions were disassembled and stored in bunkers and unused mines. The pieces that could not be moved were sandbagged with walls around them. During the intense bombing of Berlin in the closing phase of WWII, the museum suffered several direct hits amongst which a large explosion in the middle of the Pergamon Altar, another bomb hit the Market Gate of Miletus,and one went through the Islamic Art floor destroying part of the Mshatta facade, and landing in the Processional Way towards the Ishtar Gate. Following liberation the museums suffered furthermore from considerable looting. The damage from this period was so extensive that the Miletus Gate is currently again under further renovation to repair delayed cracks caused by bomb damage.

Cold War

The friezes were returned from the Soviet Union, and by 1959 the Pergamon Museum was completely rebuilt, with only a few years before the construction of the Wall. The Museums were not immune to the divisions of the cold war. While located in the Eastern sector, part of the collection ended up in West Berlin. After the fall of the USSR in 1989, the collections have been reunited again, and in 1998 the museum opened its doors in fully restored splendour.

Future Plans

The peace will be interupted again in 2011 to completely renovate the building and to finally construct Alfred Messel's fourth wing, a collumned hall across the courtyard which will feature a reconstructed Egyptian temple and the facade of an Assyrian Palace to complete the visitor's voyage through the civilisations from Sumerians and Babylonians, then the Egyptians, the Greeks and the Romans, ending with Islamic Art, which imparted Antiquity to us after its decline. These connections are ever more critical to show we are all joined by a shared history.