Germany

Egyptian Museum and Papyrus Collection

Well this is a childhood dream, pictures from a history textbook. Here she is - Nefertiti, beautiful, perfect, with a long neck and slanting eyes! Well, how can this be missed while in Berlin? !!

Egyptian Museum (Ägyptisches Museum und Papyrussammlung), photo by Frank M. Rafik

Museum Creation

The Egyptian Museum grew out of the Egyptian collection of Frederick William III. The museum was formed in 1828 on the recommendation of the German scientist encyclopedist Alexander von Humboldt. The first head of the Egyptian department, originally housed in the Montbijou palace in Berlin, was a merchant from Trieste, Giuseppe Passalacqua. It was his archaeological collection that formed the basis of the department. In 1842-1845, the exposition was replenished with archaeological finds of the expedition of Karl Richard Lepsius.

Finally, in 1850, the Egyptian Museum (Ägyptisches Museum und Papyrussammlung) was located under the arches of the New Museum on Museum Island, the author of the building project was Friedrich August Stüler.

Bust of Nefertiti (c. 1338 BC), photo by Magnus Manske

In 1920, James Simon presented the museum with a bust of the Egyptian queen Nefertiti, he financed an Egyptian excavation led by Ludwig Borchardt in Amarna and managed to take artifacts to Germany. The bust is the most valuable exhibit of the museum. A personal room with special lighting has been allocated for him.

Museum exhibit, photo by kairoinfo4u

During the Second World War, the museum funds were divided, as in 1943, the New Museum was seriously damaged, and many exhibits burned down. The collection was taken to different parts of the country, the bust of Nefertiti was stored in the mine of the saltworks of the Thuringian land, then it was taken out and exhibited at the Wiesbaden Museum. After the war, the main part of the collection of the Egyptian Museum, remained in eastern Germany, since 1967, exhibited in the Shtuler building.

Egyptian Museum - one of the interesting museums in Berlin

Papyrus, photo by kairoinfo4u

Since 2009, the Egyptian Museum has been housed in the restored New Museum. Due to the large volume of archaeological finds and their large size, exhibitions are problematic. According to the plans of the Museum Island, monumental sculptural and archaeological objects of the collection, like the courtyard of the memorial temple of Sahura and the gates from the Kalabshi temple complex, will be displayed in the Pergamon Museum.

The new museum, which houses the collection of the Egyptian Museum, photo Janericloebe

How to get there

Take the U2 metro to Spittelmarkt, Märkisches Museum, Hausvogteiplatz, Klosterstraße, or U6 to Friedrichstraße;
by tram M1, 12 to the stop Am Kupfergraben or M4, M5, M6 to the stop Hackescher Markt;
City train S5, S7, S75 to Hackescher Markt station or S1, S2, S25 to Friedrichstraße station.

Watch the video: Egyptian Museum of Berlin, Germany (November 2024).

Popular Posts

Category Germany, Next Article

Sights of Sardinia: 10 most interesting places. Part I
Regions of Italy

Sights of Sardinia: 10 most interesting places. Part I

Sardinia is an island located quite far from mainland Italy. For this reason, both climatic conditions and cultural features are quite different from traditionally Italian. Most of the island is occupied by picturesque beaches surrounded by bizarre cliffs, olive and nut groves, various natural and historical sights of Sardinia, causing the constant interest of tourists from all over the world.
Read More
La Spezia - the most eastern resort of Liguria
Regions of Italy

La Spezia - the most eastern resort of Liguria

La Spezia, located on the shores of the bay of the same name, is the easternmost city of the Ligurian Riviera. The picturesque bay is often called the Bay of poets in memory of the great English romantic poets Byron and Shelley, who lived on its coast in the 20s of the XIX century. At various times, La Spezia's guests were also George Sand, David Herbert Lawrence, Alighieri Dante and other creative personalities.
Read More
Unopened Basilicata
Regions of Italy

Unopened Basilicata

Basilicata is one of those regions of Italy where the foot of a Russian-speaking tourist rarely steps. Largely guilty of its geographical location and lack of information. The Basilicata includes two provinces of Matera and Potenza. They are located between the regions of Puglia and Calabria and, as it were, sandwiched between them. The region is located in the very south of Italy near the Gulf of Taranto (Ionian Coast), and its western part is washed by the Tyrrhenian Sea.
Read More
Cagliari - the capital of Sardinia in Italy
Regions of Italy

Cagliari - the capital of Sardinia in Italy

Cagliari is a relatively small Italian city. It is located in the middle of a cozy and picturesque valley on the south coast of Sardinia. For all its compactness, it is Cagliari that is the administrative center of the island of Sardinia. The complicated and very colorful history of the city, rooted in antiquity, has left us a rich cultural heritage.
Read More