Neues Museum, Archaeological museum on Museum Island, Berlin, Germany.
The Neues Museum is an archaeological museum on Museum Island in Berlin-Mitte that displays collections of prehistoric artifacts and ancient Egyptian art. The building spans three stories and connects classical facades with modern interior spaces made of concrete and steel.
Friedrich August Stüler designed the museum in the mid-19th century as the second major exhibition building on Museum Island, opening in 1859. After severe war damage left the structure in ruins for decades, David Chipperfield led the reconstruction between 1999 and 2009.
Visitors today encounter ancient Egyptian rooms on the upper floor where sunlight filters through restored windows onto stone sculptures and painted sarcophagi. The ground level displays tools, pottery and jewelry from early European settlements, arranged in cases that blend old masonry with contemporary glass.
The museum opens Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m., with doors staying open until 8 p.m. on Thursdays. All exhibition rooms are accessible by wheelchair, and elevators connect the three levels.
The reconstruction deliberately left traces of destruction visible: many walls still show bullet holes and chipped bricks. These scars of war stand beside smooth new concrete surfaces and create a dialogue between past and present.
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