MUSEUM ISLAND, Pergamonmuseum

The Pergamonmuseum is undoubtedly the most famous of the museums on the island, and boasts the largest number of visitors of any museum in Germany, attracting over a million tourists a year.  

It was built on the initiative of Wilhelm von Bode, director at the time of the Bode-Museum, to house the major architectural pieces that arrived in Germany in the early 20th century from the numerous German campaigns in Egypt and the Middle East. The work was entrusted to Alfred von Messel, one of the best-known German architects of the time, who appears to have taken his inspiration for the building from the Pergamon Altar, which the museum was to host and from which it takes its name.

Inaugurated in 1930, the Pergamonmuseum is home to some massive exhibits. In addition to the Pergamon Altar, more than 15 meters long and with a height of over 14 meters, you can admire the Ishtar Gate, 14 meters tall and 30 meters wide, as well as the Mshatta Facade, the remains of a sultan’s palace in Jordan, almost 8 meters tall. The largest of all, however, is the Market Gate of Miletus, measuring an impressive 16 meters in height and 30 meters in width....