Museumsportal Berlin

The German Historical Museum (Deutsches Historisches Museum) presents its exhibitions in two buildings: the unique Baroque Zeughaus and the neighbouring modern exhibition hall designed by the Chinese-American architect Ioeh Ming Pei. The 300-year-old Zeughaus (arsenal) is the most important extant Baroque edifice in Berlin and the oldest building located on Unter den Linden. In 2006 the Permanent Exhibition “German History in Images and Artefacts” was inaugurated here; it showcases 2000 years of eventful and enthralling German history as seen within its European context. 8000 selected objects from the extensive collections of the German Historical Museum furnish valuable evidence of history and reveal, on a surface area of 8000 square meters, a fascinating and vivid picture of the past. The objects from nearly all areas of Germany’s historical heritage serve not only as mere illustration, but are also presented, explained and placed in relation to their international surroundings as historical testimonies in their own right. A picture emerges of German history within its European framework and beyond that takes into account the multifarious processes of exchange and the political and cultural-historical interconnections with the neighbouring states.

Supplementing the Permanent Exhibition are specialized temporary exhibitions displayed in the fascinating exhibition building designed by the renowned architect I.M. Pei. The spacious new structure with its glass and steel entrance lobby and distinctive winding staircase was opened in 2003. Definitive events and facets of German history are presented in a variety of special exhibitions on the four floors of the new building. Besides its own separate entrance, the Pei Building can be reached by way of the inner courtyard of the Zeughaus. When I.M. Pei was planning the new exhibition hall, he also designed glass roofing for the Zeughaus itself, an architectonical gem with its 22 giants’ masks by Andreas Schlüter.