The Altes Museum or Old Museum

Berlin - Germany. March 3, 2006



Museum Island (or, in German, Museumsinsel) in Berlin, Germany, is the name of the northern half of the Spreeinsel, an island in the Spree river, in the center of the city. (The southern half of the island is called Fischerinsel "Fishers' Island".)



Map of Museum Island (in red)The island received its name for several internationally renowned museums that are now occupying all of the island's northern half (originally a residential area dedicated to "art and science" by King Frederick William IV of Prussia in 1841). Constructed under several Prussian kings, their collections of art and archeology were turned into a public foundation after 1918, the Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz, which maintains the collections and museums today.

The Prussian collections became separated during the Cold War with the entire city, but were finally reunited after German reunification.

Presently, the Museumsinsel and the collections are in the process of being reorganized. Since several buildings were destroyed in World War II and some of the exhibition space is in the process of being reconstructed, the information below is in a state of flux.