Pergamon Museum in Berlin closed for 14 years

 

The Pergamon Altar in the Pergamonmuseum in Berlin

" The Germans, usually so reluctant to be late, are apparently 40 years behind schedule in building Berlin’s Pergamon Museum. The Economist calls it “yet another German construction debacle.” In 1999, Germany’s then chancellor, Gerhard Schröder, showed up at a ceremony to mark the renovation of Berlin’s Old National Gallery, one of five significant cultural institutions that make up the Museumsinsel (Museum Island) in Berlin, including the Pergamon Museum. “We’ll manage this,” Schröder told the crowd. “But they didn’t,” The Economist writes. “The reconstruction has failed to meet any of its original deadlines or budgets, and is still far from finished after more than twice Mr Schröder’s target time-span has elapsed. In fact, after decades of snafus, work on renovating the Pergamon Museum, the jewel in the Museum Island crown with its first-class collection of ancient near-eastern, Hellenistic and Islamic art, only started last year.” The publication says the museum’s renovation could now take “40 years, perhaps even more.” ARTnews

Mavi Boncuk | 

A restoration project has been launched at the famous Pergamon Museum in Berlin, the capital of Germany. It has been announced that the museum will remain closed until 2037 due to the restoration work to be carried out on the south wing. According to the German outlet Deutsche Welle, a portion of the early 20th century building is in “poor structural condition,” that has rendered it unfit for visitors and exhibitions. The restoration efforts will address structural damage caused by factors including moisture and outdated technical systems.

The Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation announced that the restoration work that started in 2012 on the north wing of the museum will now start on the south wing and that the south wing will remain closed for 14 years.

The restoration will not be the only work carried out during this huge 14-year undertaking. Architectural plans have been drawn up to build an entirely new fourth wing, as well as the Archaeological Promenade, an impressive underground path connecting the various archaeological museums on Museum Island. The restoration project also includes plans to renovate open-air facilities and rebuild the 'Pergamonsteg', a bridge that once crossed the Kupfergraben and connected Pergamon to Friedrichswerder.

The statement continued by stating that this step was necessary for the renovation to continue as planned and that the work that had previously started on the north wing of the museum was planned to be completed and reopened in 2027.

The Antikensammlung is one of the world’s most important collections of Greek and Roman art. The collection is presented in three separate buildings on the Museumsinsel Berlin: in the Pergamonmuseum, the Altes Museum, and the Neues Museum. The exhibition in the Pergamonmuseum features full-scale reconstructions of architectural monuments from Greek and Roman antiquity.

The main attraction is undoubtedly the Pergamon Altar (180–160 BC). Its relief frieze is a masterpiece of Hellenistic art. It depicts the Olympian gods in battle with the Giants. A shining example of Roman architecture, by contrast, is the Market Gate of Miletus dating from around 100 AD.

The altar was located on the city's akropolis. It was about 35 meters wide and 33 meters deep. The base was decorated in a relief with the Olympian gods battling monstrous giants. There is a second relief that depicts Telephus the legendary founder of Pergamon and the son of Herakles. 

The prolonged closure raises questions about the status of repatriation conversations involving the altar and other high-profile antiquities in the museum’s collection. Germany has not detailed plans to make official returns of the Pergamon’s antiquities.

In January, a German government official publicly voiced support for returning the storied Greek altar to its countries of origin. Turkey, which has been active in seeking a legal title to its displaced cultural property, has long called for the altar’s return. Germany acquired it under a 1879 agreement with the Ottoman Empire.