1. Sacred Destinations
2. Germany
3. Berlin
4. Pergamon Museum

Pergamon Museum, Berlin

Facade of the Pergamon Museum in Berlin. Photo © Holly Hayes. View all images in our Pergamon Museum Photo Gallery.

The monumental Zeus Altar from Pergamum. Photo © Holly Hayes.

Lion on the famous Ishtar Gate, Pergamon Museum. Photo © Holly Hayes.

Room of Greek sculptures. Photo © Holly Hayes.

Mihrab and tapestries in the Museum of Islamic Art. Photo © Holly Hayes.

The Aleppo Room built for a Christian family in Aleppo, 1600-03. Photo © Holly Hayes.

Detail of an Assyrian relief depicting a lion hunt. Photo © Holly Hayes.

The Pergamon Museum (German: Pergamonmuseum) is a fantastic museum in Berlin that consists of three submuseums: the Collection of Classical Antiquities (Antikensammlung), occupying the architectural halls and the sculpture wing, the Museum of the Ancient Near East (Vorderasiatisches Museum) and the Museum of Islamic Art (Museum für Islamische Kunst). With specialities like these, this is one of the best places in Germany to see religious art.

What to See

The star of the Classical Antiquities department is the Zeus Altar (180-160 BC), which is so large that it has a huge room all to itself. The frieze took over 20 years to reassemble from thousands of fragments uncovered in modern-day Bergama, Turkey. Steps lead from the museum floor up to the colonnade. Most fascinating is the frieze around the base, which depicts the struggle of the Olympian gods against the Titans. It is strikingly life-like, with figures that project as much as a foot from the background.

This department also contains the Market Gate of Miletus as well as sculptures from many Greek and Roman cities, including a statue of a goddessholding a pomegranate (575 BC), found in southern Attica, where it had been buried for 2,000 years. It was so well preserved that flecks of the original paint are still visible on her garments.

The Near East Museum contains one of the largest collections anywhere of antiquities from ancient Babylonia, Persia, and Assyria. Among the exhibits is the Processional Way of Babylon with the Ishtar Gate, dating from 580 BC, and the throne hall of King Nebuchadnezzar II (604 - 562 BC). Cuneiform clay tablets document a civilization that created ceramics, glass, and metal objects while Europe was still overrun with primitive tribes.

In the south wing of the museum is the Museum of Islamic Art, featuring miniatures, carpets, woodcarvings and illuminated manuscripts.

The museum provides an excellent 30-minute, English-language recorded tour, which you can pick up at the entrance.

Quick Facts on the Pergamon Museum

Map of the Pergamon Museum

Below is a location map and aerial view of the Pergamon Museum. Using the buttons on the left (or the wheel on your mouse), you can zoom in for a closer look, or zoom out to get your bearings. To move around, click and drag the map with your mouse.

References

1. Personal visit (March 4, 2008).
2. Pergamon Museum – State Museums of Berlin (official website)
3. Frommer's Germany 2005

More Information

• Pergamon Museum, Berlin - Go Historic
• Photos of Pergamon Museum - here on Sacred Destinations

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