Bode Museum, Art museum on Museum Island, Berlin, Germany
The Bode Museum stands at the northern tip of Museum Island and displays sculptures from the Middle Ages to the 18th century, Byzantine artworks, and an extensive coin collection across several floors. The rooms are arranged around a domed hall, which forms the center of the building with its equestrian statue of the Great Elector.
Ernst von Ihne designed the building on commission from Frederick III, and it opened in 1904 under the name Kaiser Friedrich Museum. The renaming in honor of Wilhelm von Bode, the longtime director, took place in 1956 after World War II.
The name honors Wilhelm von Bode, who shaped the collections as museum director and introduced the spatial connection between sculptures and paintings. This arrangement follows his vision that visitors should experience sculptural and painted works in conversation with each other.
The building is divided into thematic areas organized by period and region, allowing visitors to select individual focal points according to their interests. Audio guides and information panels make navigation easier through the multi-story exhibition rooms.
In May 1945, fires and looting destroyed around 400 paintings and 300 sculptures, causing entire collection areas to disappear. After reunification, some objects returned from Soviet storage facilities.
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