Altes Museum, History museum on Museum Island, Berlin, Germany
Altes Museum is a neoclassical museum on Museum Island in Berlin, Germany, featuring eighteen Ionic columns along its facade and a central rotunda inside. The architecture follows strict geometric lines with a broad staircase leading to the columned entrance portico.
Frederick William III of Prussia commissioned architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel to design this building, which opened in 1830 as Berlin's first public museum. The construction marked a turning point in museum history by making art collections accessible to wider society.
The museum opens Tuesday through Sunday from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM, with reduced admission for students and free entry for children under 18. Its central location on Museum Island allows visitors to reach several museums in one day.
The monumental staircase and indoor rotunda display statues of ancient deities, creating a classical entrance sequence. This design reflects early 19th-century ideas about how a museum should appear as a temple of art.
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