Blocker Blog - Entry 2: First Impressions of the Museuminsel

 

After a couple of weeks exploring the streets of Berlin, I have had a chance to get a first impression of the museums at the center of Berlin, Museum Island, otherwise known as Museuminsel. Even though I had previous knowledge about one of the institutions of the island, the Humboldt Forum, I knew nothing about the other museums. Starting from the north of the island, the museums consist of the Bode-Museum, Pergamonmuseum, Neues Museum, Alte Nationalgalerie, James-Simon-Galerie, Altes Museum, and finally the Humboldt Forum. There are other museums and galleries around the island but for the moment, I will talk about these main institutions for now.

Upon first glance, the buildings of many of these institutions are grand in size and can be classified as Neoclassical, Baroque, and modern. However, beyond that, there are visible signs of damage that can be clearly seen all over the island. Most of these damages are bullet holes; as told by multiple tour guides, these holes come from the events that happened World War Two, with such bullet holes being accompanied by mass explosions from air bombings from 1945. As with the majority of the buildings of Berlin, Museuminsel was left in ruins, with every other brick and column being just usable enough for reconstruction. Most of the institutions took it upon themselves to reuse some of what was left as means to remember the history of the city. 

Beyond that 20^th century legacy there are further design choices of these museums that I was intrigued by. To further talk about the Neues Museum, which for context, holds artefacts that are from Egyptian, Greek, Roman , Byzantine, Germanic, and Pre-Historic origin, the building has a design that resembles something between a Roman temple or a Roman villa. There are even frescoes on some of the surviving walls that were made to fully encapsulate the idea that this building could be in a town like Pompeii or Rome. Other museums on the island like the Pergamon, the Altes, and the Alte Nationalgalerie also resemble temples from the Greek or Roman region. In the case of the Humboldt Forum, it’s design its based on accurate reconstruction of the Schloss Palace, of which once stood where the Forum is today. It is that design that has sparked criticism and controversy on what the Forum stands for based on its history.

The Humboldt Forum, as previously stated, was where the Schloss Palace use to stand, which was were Prussian monarchs would live during the days of the Prussian Empire. Upon the German unification and during the First World War, the palace stood where the Keiser lived; it was then almost completely destroyed in the aftermath of WWII , where the Soviets, who claimed the entirety of the island to be part of East Berlin, used the space to build Palast der Republik, where the Parliament of East Germany would be hosted. Upon the second German unification and the fall of the Soviet Union, the Palast der Republik was destroyed. For the future of the space, it was debated what it would be used for. After 30 years the forum was built, with there being a collection of artefacts with origins from the Americas, Africa, Oceania, and Asia.

With such loaded History that the space has, what gets people critical of the Forum would the imperial weight that the design of the institution has and its history of acquiring most if not all of the artefacts of the collection. The words that I associate with this history would be looting, robbing, and sabotage. However, the institution itself does hold conversations to be had about this history, which ranges from educating the public of history from reflecting upon objects that have been repatriated, such as the Benin Bronzes. My first thoughts upon all of this would be appreciation for allowing conversations around this heavy and negative legacy. However, upon the following months of my stay, I hope to expand my thoughts upon this practice by analyzing how the Forum shows, explains and reflect on all of its artefacts.