Berlin– Berlin’s Pergamon MuseumTraditionally one of the German capital’s top tourist attractions, it will reopen next year after the first part of a painstaking restoration effort that has kept its centerpiece out of the public eye for more than a decade.
The Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, which oversees many of Berlin’s museums, announced on Monday that the museums will reopen on June 4, 2027.
The centerpiece of the museum is the 2nd century BC Pergamon Altar. Decorated with marble friezes, it was built in Bergama, Türkiye between 197 and 156 BC.
The Pergamon Museum is completely closed from October 2023. Part of the building that includes Pergamon Altar It has been closed for a long time since 2014.
Some sections will remain closed for work even after they reopen next year, notably the wing containing Babylon’s Ishtar Gate. The museum is expected to fully reopen in 2037.
The museum is being restored as part of a long-term plan to reconstruct the neoclassical Museum Island complex, which was built between 1830 and 1930 and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Parts of the island were badly damaged during World War II, and cash-strapped Communist East Germany never fully restored it. Work on three of the five museums has already been completed and a new entrance building for the complex, the James Simon Gallery, was opened in 2019.
