Prehistory and early history

The Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte presents its expansive collection together with objects from the Antikensammlung on three floors of the Neues Museum.

Visitors are greeted on the ground floor by the room entitled "Odin, Urns, Looted Art", which presents the 180 year old history of the museum, with preserved wall paintings depicting scenes from Nordic mythology. The following room is dedicated to Heinrich Schliemann, who bequeathed his collection of Trojan antiquities to the museum "for their eternal preservation". The room beyond that reveals how various influences in the art and culture of Cyprus conflated in a unique way on the Island.

The first first floor is considered to be the museum’s bel étage. The “Treasures from the Rhine” – the Xanten Boy and the “Barbarian Treasure of Neupotz” are showcased here, the latter being one of the largest metals hoards north of the Alps from the Roman period.” From here, the way leads on to the “Roman Provinces”. From there, the visitor has access to the "Pantheon" - Chipperfield's new South Dome Room, in which two colossal statues of divinities from the 2nd century AD originating from the Egyptian city of Lycopolis await visitors. The next room, "Rome's Northern Neighbours" is dedicated to the tensions between Rome and the Germanic peoples, while "Migration Period and Middle Ages" provides an insight into the time from the Migration Period to the Carolingian Renaissance.