94-617: The Gemäldegalerie ( German pronunciation: [ɡəˈmɛːldəɡaləˌʁiː] , Painting Gallery ) is an art museum in Berlin , Germany, and the museum where the main selection of paintings belonging to the Berlin State Museums ( Staatliche Museen zu Berlin ) is displayed. It was first opened in 1830, and the current building was completed in 1998. It is located in the Kulturforum museum district west of Potsdamer Platz . It holds one of
188-735: A 2016 terrorist attack linked to ISIL , a truck was deliberately driven into a Christmas market next to the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church , leaving 13 people dead and 55 others injured. In 2018, more than 200,000 protestors took to the streets in Berlin with demonstrations of solidarity against racism, in response to the emergence of far-right politics in Germany . Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) opened in 2020, nine years later than planned, with Terminal 1 coming into service at
282-592: A Louvre on the Spree . The federal government pledged $ 20 million a year through 2010 for projects to enhance Berlin's prestige and Unesco declared the island a World Heritage Site . The contents of the museums were decided on as follows: The Pergamon, with the Greek altar that gives it its name, retained much of its collection and was defined as a museum of ancient architecture. The Neues Museum presented archaeological objects as well as Egyptian and Etruscan sculptures, including
376-501: A Slavic-derived name: Pankow , Steglitz-Zehlendorf , Marzahn-Hellersdorf , Treptow-Köpenick , and Spandau . Of Berlin's ninety-six neighborhoods, twenty-two bear a Slavic-derived name: Altglienicke , Alt-Treptow , Britz , Buch , Buckow , Gatow , Karow , Kladow , Köpenick , Lankwitz , Lübars , Malchow , Marzahn , Pankow , Prenzlauer Berg , Rudow , Schmöckwitz , Spandau , Stadtrandsiedlung Malchow , Steglitz , Tegel and Zehlendorf . The earliest human settlements in
470-475: A camp for Sinti and Romani people (see Romani Holocaust ), and the Stalag III-D prisoner-of-war camp for Allied POWs of various nationalities. During World War II, large parts of Berlin were destroyed during 1943–45 Allied air raids and the 1945 Battle of Berlin . The Allies dropped 67,607 tons of bombs on the city, destroying 6,427 acres of the built-up area. Around 125,000 civilians were killed. After
564-662: A center of the Enlightenment , but also, was briefly occupied during the Seven Years' War by the Russian army. Following France's victory in the War of the Fourth Coalition , Napoleon Bonaparte marched into Berlin in 1806 , but granted self-government to the city. In 1815, the city became part of the new Province of Brandenburg . The Industrial Revolution transformed Berlin during
658-753: A city district separate from Brandenburg. In the early 20th century, Berlin had become a fertile ground for the German Expressionist movement. In fields such as architecture, painting and cinema new forms of artistic styles were invented. At the end of the First World War in 1918, a republic was proclaimed by Philipp Scheidemann at the Reichstag building . In 1920, the Greater Berlin Act incorporated dozens of suburban cities, villages, and estates around Berlin into an expanded city. The act increased
752-507: A combined state of Berlin and Brandenburg is different from other state fusion proposals. Normally, Article 29 of the Basic Law stipulates that a state fusion requires a federal law. However, a clause added to the Basic Law in 1994, Article 118a, allows Berlin and Brandenburg to unify without federal approval, requiring a referendum and a ratification by both state parliaments. In 1996, there
846-510: A continental hub for air and rail traffic and has a complex public transportation network . Tourism in Berlin makes the city a popular global destination. Significant industries include information technology, the healthcare industry , biomedical engineering , biotechnology , the automotive industry , and electronics . Berlin is home to several universities such as the Humboldt University of Berlin , Technische Universität Berlin ,
940-645: A corridor downstairs, which are also open to visitors. The Gemäldegalerie prides itself on its scientific methodology in collecting and displaying art. Each room can be taken in as a single statement about one to five artists in a certain period or following a certain style. The German collection is the finest and most comprehensive in the world, rivaled only by Vienna and Munich, and the Early Netherlandish and Italian collections are also exceptionally comprehensive. The holdings of Spanish, French, and British art are much smaller. Especially notable rooms include
1034-531: A distinct collection as most museums do. For example, L'Enseigne de Gersaint , or "Gersaint's Shopsign", (1720), a famous painting by Jean-Antoine Watteau , is displayed with other works in the appropriate setting of Charlottenburg Palace . The whole collection of Old Master Western paintings in the Berlin State Museums is usually said to be around 3,000. In 1999 the Gemäldegalerie restituted to
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#17328480758001128-417: A microclimate, with heat stored by the city's buildings and pavement . Temperatures can be 4 °C (7 °F) higher in the city than in the surrounding areas. Annual precipitation is 570 millimeters (22 in) with moderate rainfall throughout the year. Snowfall mainly occurs from December through March. The hottest month in Berlin was July 1834, with a mean temperature of 23.0 °C (73.4 °F) and
1222-424: A monumental ensemble. The National Socialist regime embarked on monumental construction projects in Berlin as a way to express their power and authority through architecture . Adolf Hitler and Albert Speer developed architectural concepts for the conversion of the city into World Capital Germania ; these were never implemented. NSDAP rule diminished Berlin's Jewish community from 160,000 (one-third of all Jews in
1316-602: A scientific, artistic, and philosophical hub during the Age of Enlightenment , Neoclassicism , and the German revolutions of 1848–1849 . During the Gründerzeit , an industrialization-induced economic boom triggered a rapid population increase in Berlin. 1920s Berlin was the third-largest city in the world by population. After World War II and following Berlin's occupation, the city was split into West Berlin and East Berlin , divided by
1410-413: A small margin, largely based on support in former West Berlin , Brandenburg voters disapproved of the fusion by a large margin. It failed largely due to Brandenburg voters not wanting to take on Berlin's large and growing public debt and fearing losing identity and influence to the capital. Berlin is in northeastern Germany, in an area of low-lying marshy woodlands with a mainly flat topography , part of
1504-472: A strung-out exhibition room for interdisciplinary presentations. The Archaeological Promenade may be characterized as a cross-total of the collections that are shown separately (in accordance with cultural regions, epochs, and art genres) in the individual museums of the Island. The Archaeological Promenade will address multi-focus topics that have occupied the human mind irrespective of time and cultural region, be it
1598-608: Is Germany's second-largest metropolitan region after the Rhine-Ruhr region, and the fifth-biggest metropolitan region by GDP in the European Union . Berlin was built along the banks of the Spree river, which flows into the Havel in the western borough of Spandau . The city incorporates lakes in the western and southeastern boroughs, the largest of which is Müggelsee . About one-third of
1692-460: Is an iconic landmark of Berlin and Germany; it stands as a symbol of eventful European history and of unity and peace. The Reichstag building is the traditional seat of the German Parliament. It was remodeled by British architect Norman Foster in the 1990s and features a glass dome over the session area, which allows free public access to the parliamentary proceedings and magnificent views of
1786-640: The Forum Fridericianum along with, the Berlin State Opera , Charlottenburg Palace , Gendarmenmarkt , Alte Kommandantur , as well as the City Palace . The tallest buildings in Berlin are spread across the urban area, with clusters at Potsdamer Platz , City West , and Alexanderplatz . Over one-third of the city's area consists of green and open-space, with the Großer Tiergarten , one of
1880-1016: The Altes Museum , the Neues Museum , the Alte Nationalgalerie , the Bode-Museum and the Pergamonmuseum . As the Museum Island designation includes all of Spree Island north of the Karl Liebknecht Boulevard, the historic Berlin Cathedral is also located there, next to the open Lustgarten park. To the south of Liebknecht Boulevard, the reconstructed Berlin Palace houses the Humboldt Forum museum and opened in 2020. Also adjacent, across
1974-821: The Berlin State Museums branch of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation . Museum Island further comprises the Lustgarten park and the Berlin Cathedral . Between the Bode and Pergamon Museums it is crossed by the Stadtbahn railway viaduct. The adjacent territory to the south is the site of the former royal and imperial Berlin Palace and the Palace of the Republic . The Prussian collections became separated during
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#17328480758002068-496: The Berlin State Museums , that occupy the Spree island's northern part. In 1999, the museum complex was added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites because of its unique testimony to the evolution of museums as a social and cultural phenomena and the corresponding development of museum architecture. Nearby: A first exhibition hall was erected in 1797 at the suggestion of the archaeologist Aloys Hirt . In 1822, Schinkel designed
2162-843: The Berlin University of the Arts and the Free University of Berlin . The Berlin Zoological Garden is the most visited zoo in Europe. Babelsberg Studio is the world's first large-scale movie studio complex and the list of films set in Berlin is long. Berlin is also home to three World Heritage Sites : Museum Island , the Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin , and the Berlin Modernism Housing Estates . Other landmarks include
2256-559: The Berlin Wall around West Berlin, and events escalated to a tank standoff at Checkpoint Charlie . West Berlin was now de facto a part of West Germany with a unique legal status, while East Berlin was de facto a part of East Germany. John F. Kennedy gave his " Ich bin ein Berliner " speech on 26 June 1963, in front of the Schöneberg city hall, located in the city's western part, underlining
2350-579: The Berlin Wall . East Berlin was declared the capital of East Germany, while Bonn became the West German capital. Following German reunification in 1990, Berlin once again became the capital of all of Germany. Due to its geographic location and history, Berlin has been called "the heart of Europe". The economy of Berlin is based on high tech and the service sector , encompassing a diverse range of creative industries , startup companies , research facilities, and media corporations. Berlin serves as
2444-1055: The Brandenburg Gate , the Reichstag building , Potsdamer Platz , the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe , and the Berlin Wall Memorial . Berlin has numerous museums , galleries, and libraries. [REDACTED] Margraviate of Brandenburg 1237–1618 [REDACTED] Brandenburg-Prussia 1618–1701 [REDACTED] Kingdom of Prussia 1701–1867 [REDACTED] North German Confederation 1867–1871 [REDACTED] German Empire 1871–1918 [REDACTED] Weimar Republic 1918–1933 [REDACTED] Nazi Germany 1933–1945 [REDACTED] Allied-occupied Germany 1945–1949 [REDACTED] West Germany 1949–1990 [REDACTED] East Germany 1949–1990 [REDACTED] Germany 1990–present Berlin lies in northeastern Germany. Most of
2538-676: The Burgundians followed. In the 7th century Slavic tribes, the later known Hevelli and Sprevane , reached the region. In the 12th century the region came under German rule as part of the Margraviate of Brandenburg , founded by Albert the Bear in 1157. Early evidence of middle age settlements in the area of today's Berlin are remnants of a house foundation dated 1270 to 1290, found in excavations in Berlin Mitte . The first written records of towns in
2632-715: The Karl-Marx-Allee heads east, an avenue lined by monumental residential buildings, designed in the Socialist Classicism style. Adjacent to this area is the Rotes Rathaus (City Hall), with its distinctive red-brick architecture. In front of it is the Neptunbrunnen , a fountain featuring a mythological group of Tritons , personifications of the four main Prussian rivers, and Neptune on top of it. The Brandenburg Gate
2726-582: The Pushkin Museum in Moscow . As for the city's major museums, it took much of the 1990s for a consensus to emerge that Museum Island's buildings should be restored and modernized, with General Director Wolf-Dieter Dube's cautious plan for their use finally approved in January 1999. Then, six months later, Peter-Klaus Schuster took over and set in motion a far more ambitious program intended to turn Museum Island into
2820-531: The Re-unification of Germany . In 1992 the museum administrations of East and West were re-united, but uniting the collections physically took longer. The current building on the Kulturforum was completed in 1998, and displays some 1,250 paintings, although yet another move currently seems likely (see below). Other works are displayed elsewhere, as the museum forms part of the Berlin State Museums and does not own
2914-596: The Wayback Machine and still impacts urban planning decisions. Walter Momper, the mayor of West Berlin, became the first mayor of the reunified city in the interim. City-wide elections in December 1990 resulted in the first "all Berlin" mayor being elected to take office in January 1991, with the separate offices of mayors in East and West Berlin expiring by that time, and Eberhard Diepgen (a former mayor of West Berlin) became
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3008-626: The collection of antiquities on the lower. At this point, the collection contained nearly 1200 paintings, with a core of 160 from the 17th-century collection of Marchese Vincenzo Giustiniani , bought in Paris in 1815. An even more important purchase was 677 paintings from the collection formed in Berlin by the English merchant Edward Solly , which were acquired in 1821; Solly was an early collector of Italian Trecento and Quattrocento paintings and Early Netherlandish painting . Purchases continued throughout
3102-800: The end of World War II in Europe in May 1945, Berlin received large numbers of refugees from the Eastern provinces. The victorious powers divided the city into four sectors, analogous to Allied-occupied Germany the sectors of the Allies of World War II (the United States, the United Kingdom, and France) formed West Berlin , while the Soviet Union formed East Berlin . All four Allies of World War II shared administrative responsibilities for Berlin. However, in 1948, when
3196-504: The highest population within its city limits of any city in the European Union . The city is also one of the states of Germany , and is the third smallest state in the country in terms of area. Berlin is surrounded by the state of Brandenburg , and Brandenburg's capital Potsdam is nearby. The urban area of Berlin has a population of over 4.5 million and is therefore the most populous urban area in Germany. The Berlin-Brandenburg capital region has around 6.2 million inhabitants and
3290-419: The 19th century, with 345 works acquired during the inaugural directorship of Gustav Friedrich Waagen from 1830 to 1868, though paintings competed with antiquities for rather reduced purchasing budgets. After Berlin became the capital of the new German Empire in 1871 the funds available greatly increased, and purchases accelerated, as Berlin strove to catch up with the greatest European collections. In 1874
3384-423: The 19th century; the city's economy and population expanded dramatically, and it became the main railway hub and economic center of Germany. Additional suburbs soon developed and increased the area and population of Berlin. In 1861, neighboring suburbs including Wedding , Moabit and several others were incorporated into Berlin. In 1871, Berlin became capital of the newly founded German Empire . In 1881, it became
3478-496: The 20th century. 17% of Berlin's buildings are Gründerzeit or earlier and nearly 25% are of the 1920s and 1930s, when Berlin played a part in the origin of modern architecture . Devastated by the bombing of Berlin in World War II many of the buildings that had survived in both East and West were demolished during the postwar period. After the reunification, many important heritage structures have been reconstructed , including
3572-412: The 20th-century collection of Ulla and Heiner Pietzsch, bequeathed on condition that it be displayed in its entirety. The proposal has provoked controversy and criticism, particularly since there are no permanent plans for a new structure that would house the collection in its full scope. The plan to move the collection was later scrapped following the public backlash and financial considerations regarding
3666-579: The Berlin Museums from 1890 to 1920. A specialist in Rembrandt and Dutch painting, he made very significant additions in those areas but did not neglect Italian painting. His leadership marked the rise of the Gemäldegalerie to international prominence. In 1904 the Gemäldegalerie moved to the newly built Kaiser Friedrich Museum , now the Bode Museum , where the collection continued to expand. The museum
3760-452: The Bode Museum on Museumsinsel) and West Berlin in Berlin-Dahlem , where from the 1950s they were housed in a building originally used for the Asiatic collections, built in 1923, with post-war additions. Purchases for the West Berlin collection eventually resumed after the war, with Dutch Golden Age painting , Italian Baroque painting , and the creation of a small section for English painting being priorities for successive directors before
3854-409: The Bode, and a new annex, and Museum Island will present all art from the ancient civilizations to 1900. The James Simon Gallery , a $ 94 million visitors' center designed by the British architect David Chipperfield , is being built beside the Neues Museum. It will in turn be linked to the Neues, Altes, Pergamon and Bode Museums by an underground passageway decorated with archaeological objects. Once
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3948-403: The Cold War during the division of the city, but were reunited after German reunification , with the exception of some art and artifacts removed after World War II by Allied troops . These include the Priam's Treasure , also called the gold of Troy , excavated by Heinrich Schliemann in 1873, then smuggled out of Turkey to Berlin and smuggled out of Germany to Moscow. Today it is kept at
4042-467: The Federal Republic of Germany was founded in West Germany and eventually included all of the American, British and French zones, excluding those three countries' zones in Berlin, while the Marxist–Leninist German Democratic Republic was proclaimed in East Germany . West Berlin officially remained an occupied city, but it politically was aligned with the Federal Republic of Germany despite West Berlin's geographic isolation. Airline service to West Berlin
4136-426: The Huguenot immigration. Many other immigrants came from Bohemia , Poland , and Salzburg . Since 1618, the Margraviate of Brandenburg had been in personal union with the Duchy of Prussia . In 1701, the dual state formed the Kingdom of Prussia , as Frederick III, Elector of Brandenburg , crowned himself as king Frederick I in Prussia . Berlin became the capital of the new Kingdom, replacing Königsberg . This
4230-432: The Museum Island Master Plan is completed, the so-called Archaeological Promenade will connect four of the five museums on the Museum Island. The Promenade will begin at the Old Museum in the south, lead through the New Museum and the Pergamon Museum and end at the Bode Museum, located at the northern tip of the Island. Before World War II, these museums were connected by bridge passages above ground; they were destroyed due to
4324-481: The Museumsinsel U-Bahn station opened in 2021, which completed all new works on the U5. A partial opening by the end of 2020 of the Humboldt Forum museum, housed in the reconstructed Berlin Palace , was postponed until March 2021. On 16 September 2022, the opening of the eastern wing, the last section of the Humboldt Forum museum, meant the Humboldt Forum museum was finally completed. It became Germany's currently most expensive cultural project. The legal basis for
4418-410: The US support for West Berlin. Berlin was completely divided. Although it was possible for Westerners to pass to the other side through strictly controlled checkpoints, for most Easterners, travel to West Berlin or West Germany was prohibited by the government of East Germany. In 1971, a Four-Power Agreement guaranteed access to and from West Berlin by car or train through East Germany. In 1989, with
4512-440: The Western Allies extended the currency reform in the Western zones of Germany to the three western sectors of Berlin, the Soviet Union imposed the Berlin Blockade on the access routes to and from West Berlin, which lay entirely inside Soviet-controlled territory. The Berlin airlift , conducted by the three western Allies, overcame this blockade by supplying food and other supplies to the city from June 1948 to May 1949. In 1949,
4606-436: The area of Berlin from 66 to 883 km (25 to 341 sq mi). The population almost doubled, and Berlin had a population of around four million. During the Weimar era , Berlin underwent political unrest due to economic uncertainties but also became a renowned center of the Roaring Twenties . The metropolis experienced its heyday as a major world capital and was known for its leadership roles in science, technology, arts,
4700-403: The area of modern Berlin are dated around 60,000 BC. A deer mask, dated to 9,000 BC, is attributed to the Maglemosian culture . In 2,000 BC dense human settlements along the Spree and Havel rivers gave rise to the Lusatian culture . Starting around 500 BC Germanic tribes settled in a number of villages in the higher situated areas of today's Berlin. After the Semnones left around 200 AD,
4794-419: The area of present-day Berlin date from the late 12th century. Spandau is first mentioned in 1197 and Köpenick in 1209. 1237 is considered the founding date of the city. The two towns over time formed close economic and social ties, and profited from the staple right on the two important trade routes , one was known as Via Imperii , and the other trade route reached from Bruges to Novgorod . In 1307
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#17328480758004888-411: The capital's most visited sights and one of the most important museum sites in Europe . Originally built from 1830 to 1930, initially by order of the Prussian Kings , according to plans by five architects, the Museum Island was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999 because of its testimony to the architectural and cultural development of museums in the 19th and 20th centuries. It consists of
4982-448: The cities and villages in northeastern Germany bear Slavic languages -derived names. Typical Germanization for place name suffixes of Slavic origin are -ow, -itz, -vitz, -witz, -itzsch and -in , prefixes are Windisch and Wendisch . The name Berlin has its roots in the language of the West Slavs , and may be related to the Old Polabian stem berl-/birl- ("swamp"). Of Berlin's twelve boroughs , five bear
5076-403: The city lost half of its population. Frederick William , known as the "Great Elector", who had succeeded his father George William as ruler in 1640, initiated a policy of promoting immigration and religious tolerance. With the Edict of Potsdam in 1685, Frederick William offered asylum to the French Huguenots . By 1700, approximately 30 percent of Berlin's residents were French, because of
5170-417: The city's area is composed of forests, parks and gardens , rivers, canals, and lakes. First documented in the 13th century and at the crossing of two important historic trade routes , Berlin was designated the capital of the Margraviate of Brandenburg (1417–1701), Kingdom of Prussia (1701–1918), German Empire (1871–1918), Weimar Republic (1919–1933), and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). Berlin served as
5264-401: The city. The East Side Gallery is an open-air exhibition of art painted directly on the last existing portions of the Berlin Wall. It is the largest remaining evidence of the city's historical division. Museum Island The Museum Island ( German : Museumsinsel ) is a museum complex on the northern part of Spree Island in the historic heart of Berlin , Germany. It is one of
5358-512: The coldest was January 1709 , with a mean temperature of −13.2 °C (8.2 °F). The wettest month on record was July 1907, with 230 millimeters (9.1 in) of rainfall, whereas the driest were October 1866, November 1902, October 1908 and September 1928, all with 1 millimeter (0.039 in) of rainfall. Berlin's history has left the city with a polycentric metropolitan area and an eclectic mix of architecture. The city's appearance today has been predominantly shaped by German history during
5452-423: The collection acquired the best of the collection of mostly north European art formed by the industrialist Barthold Suermondt of Aachen after his business collapsed. This was handled for the museum by the art historian Wilhelm von Bode , who had joined in 1872, and was to be the Berlin Museums' greatest Director. He headed the sculpture collections from 1883, then the paintings from 1890, becoming general head of
5546-409: The country) to about 80,000 due to emigration between 1933 and 1939. After Kristallnacht in 1938, thousands of the city's Jews were imprisoned in the nearby Sachsenhausen concentration camp . Starting in early 1943, many were deported to ghettos like Łódź , and to concentration and extermination camps such as Auschwitz . Berlin hosted the 1936 Summer Olympics for which the Olympic stadium
5640-414: The effects of the war. There have never been plans to rebuild them; instead, the central courts of individual museums will be lowered, which has already been done in the Bode Museum and in the New Museum. They will be connected by subterranean galleries. In a way, this archaeological promenade can be regarded as the sixth museum in the Island, because it is devised not only as a connecting corridor but also as
5734-430: The end of October, and flights to and from Tegel Airport ending in November. Due to the fall in passenger numbers resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic , plans were announced to close BER's Terminal 5, the former Schönefeld Airport , beginning in March 2021. The connecting link of U-Bahn line U5 from Alexanderplatz to Hauptbahnhof, along with the new stations Rotes Rathaus and Unter den Linden, opened on 4 December 2020,
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#17328480758005828-474: The end of the Cold War and pressure from the East German population, the Berlin Wall fell on 9 November and was subsequently mostly demolished. Today, the East Side Gallery preserves a large portion of the wall. On 3 October 1990, the two parts of Germany were reunified as the Federal Republic of Germany, and Berlin again became a reunified city. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the city experienced significant urban development Archived 16 December 2023 at
5922-399: The exception of the National Gallery, London ), the Gemäldegalerie collection is not essentially formed around the former dynastic royal collection, but created by a process of acquisition by the Prussian government beginning in 1815. From the first the museum was intended to reflect the full range of European art, giving a different emphasis from that of older royal collections, including
6016-401: The features of Amor . The current gallery sits in the southwest corner of the Kulturforum, a modern-styled answer to the old Museumsinsel ( Museum Island ). The gallery was designed by Munich architects Heinz Hilmer and Christoph Sattler . The building consists of 72 rooms providing a two-kilometer (1.25 mi) floor. Upstairs the rooms flow around a large central hall, described by
6110-443: The first elected mayor of a reunited Berlin. On 18 June 1994, soldiers from the United States, France and Britain marched in a parade which was part of the ceremonies to mark the withdrawal of allied occupation troops allowing a reunified Berlin (the last Russian troops departed on 31 August, while the final departure of Western Allies forces was on 8 September 1994). On 20 June 1991, the Bundestag (German Parliament) voted to move
6204-417: The heirs of Hans Purrmann was forced to sell the work from his collection after losing his livelihood due to Nazi persecution. West Berlin: East Berlin: After Reunion, 1990 Berlin Berlin ( / b ɜːr ˈ l ɪ n / , bur- LIN ; German: [bɛʁˈliːn] ) is Germany's capital and largest city by area and by population . With over 3.85 million inhabitants, it has
6298-446: The heirs of a famous Jewish art collector Harry Fuld Senior who had been looted by Nazis. In 1940 the panels by the Italian artist Giovanni di Paolo, The Clothing of St. Clare By St. Francis, and St. Clare Rescuing the Shipwrecked, (c 1455), were acquired via the art dealer Carl Bümming by what was then called the Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum. In 2020 Berlin's Gemäldegalerie restituted a 16th-century painting by Hans Baldung Grien to
6392-447: The heirs of the Jewish art collector Federico Gentili di Giuseppe a painting by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo , entitled Rinaldo Abandoning Armida. Gentili di Giuseppe's art collection had been plundered by Nazis and disposed of via a series of Paris sales in 1942; the Gemäldegalerie had acquired it from the French art dealer Cailleux, in 1979. In 2019, Berlin's Gemäldegalerie (Old Master Gallery) returned two late medieval panels to
6486-408: The humanities, city planning, film, higher education, government, and industries. Albert Einstein rose to public prominence during his years in Berlin, being awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921. In 1933, Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party came to power . Hitler was inspired by the architecture he had experienced in Vienna , and he wished for a German Empire with a capital city that had
6580-403: The largest and most popular parks in Berlin, located in the centre of the city. The Fernsehturm (TV tower) at Alexanderplatz in Mitte is among the tallest structures in the European Union at 368 m (1,207 ft). Built in 1969, it is visible throughout most of the central districts of Berlin. The city can be viewed from its 204-meter-high (669 ft) observation floor. Starting here,
6674-456: The left, and German and Flemish art to the right. Completing the circuit takes the visitor first forward, then backward, in time. The numbering system starting on the north side of the museum covers mostly Northern European art, then British art. A visitor following along the southern side will go through mostly Italian and Southern European art. The main floor galleries contain some 850 works in 53 rooms, with around 400 more in several rooms off
6768-691: The low plateaus on both sides of the Spree Valley. Large parts of the boroughs Reinickendorf and Pankow lie on the Barnim Plateau, while most of the boroughs of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf , Steglitz-Zehlendorf , Tempelhof-Schöneberg , and Neukölln lie on the Teltow Plateau. The borough of Spandau lies partly within the Berlin Glacial Valley and partly on the Nauen Plain, which stretches to
6862-911: The lowest is the Spektesee in Spandau, at 28.1 meters (92 ft) elevation. Berlin has an oceanic climate ( Köppen : Cfb ) bordering on a humid continental climate ( Dfb ). This type of climate features mild to very warm summer temperatures and cold, though not very severe, winters. Annual precipitation is modest. Frosts are common in winter, and there are larger temperature differences between seasons than typical for many oceanic climates . Summers are warm and sometimes humid with average high temperatures of 22–25 °C (72–77 °F) and lows of 12–14 °C (54–57 °F). Winters are cold with average high temperatures of 3 °C (37 °F) and lows of −2 to 0 °C (28 to 32 °F). Spring and autumn are generally chilly to mild. Berlin's built-up area creates
6956-488: The museum as a "meditation hall". The hall sometimes displays sculpture, but is mostly empty, allowing easy crossing between rooms, and somewhere for school parties to sit. There are also works downstairs, a gallery devoted to frames, and a digital gallery. In 2012, the gallery's collection faced a pending move to a temporary site on Berlin's Museumsinsel, to make room for the expansion of the Neue Nationalgalerie and
7050-515: The new buildings. The paintings will remain in their current location. The collection was first opened to the public in 1830, on completion of construction of the Royal Museum, now called the Altes Museum ("Old Museum"), designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel and sited by the Lustgarten opposite the Royal Palace on the other side of Unter den Linden . The paintings occupied the upper floor with
7144-401: The octagonal Rembrandt room and a room containing five different Madonnas by Raphael . There are two paintings by Vermeer in the collection, The Wine Glass and Woman with a Pearl Necklace . Other notable experiences include Flemish moralistic paintings which stretch across the north side of the museum, showing an interplay between the religious motives of the artists' patrons and
7238-543: The often sensual inspirations of the artists. In the Renaissance section, for example, Caravaggio 's Amor Victorious is displayed alongside Giovanni Baglione 's Sacred Love Versus Profane Love . The two paintings are historically connected; after hearing of the scandalous portrayal of the theme "love conquers all" in Caravaggio's work, a Roman bishop commissioned Baglione's reply, which mimics Carvaggio's style, including
7332-584: The other major European collections. Furthermore, several hundred paintings were looted by Russian or American soldiers or confiscated by the Red Army and never returned, although in June 2006 a small painting by Alessandro Allori , missing since 1944, was returned by the British journalist Charles Wheeler , who had been given it at the end of the war in Berlin. The surviving collection was divided between East Berlin (mostly at
7426-503: The plans for the Altes Museum to house the royal Antikensammlung , the arrangement of the collection was overseen by Wilhelm von Humboldt . The island, originally a residential area, was dedicated to "art and science" by King Frederick William IV of Prussia in 1841. Further extended under succeeding Prussian kings, the museum's collections of art and archeology were turned into a public foundation after 1918. They are today maintained by
7520-545: The renowned bust of Queen Nefertiti . The Altes Museum, the oldest on the island, displayed Greek and Roman art objects on its first floor and hold exhibitions on its second floor. The Bode Museum's paintings went from Late Byzantine to 1800. And, as now, the Alte Nationalgalerie will cover the 19th century. Once this process is completed, perhaps by 2020, the Gemäldegalerie's painting collection will be transferred to
7614-674: The royal collection of Saxony, now mostly in the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden , the finest German princely collection, which like other royal collections is strongest in Italian art. The collection is arranged more or less chronologically starting from the entrance and moving toward the farthest room; however there are many doors back to the long central space, so it is straightforward to reach any other room at any point. The visitor chooses between southern, mainly Italian, art to
7708-565: The seat of the German capital from Bonn to Berlin, which was completed in 1999, during the chancellorship of Gerhard Schröder . Berlin's 2001 administrative reform merged several boroughs, reducing their number from 23 to 12. In 2006, the FIFA World Cup Final was held in Berlin. Construction of the "Berlin Wall Trail" (Berliner Mauerweg) began in 2002 and was completed in 2006. In
7802-758: The town citizens against the building culminated in 1448, in the "Berlin Indignation" ("Berliner Unwille"). Officially, the Berlin-Cölln palace became permanent residence of the Brandenburg electors of the Hohenzollerns from 1486, when John Cicero came to power. Berlin-Cölln, however, had to give up its status as a free Hanseatic League city. In 1539, the electors and the city officially became Lutheran . The Thirty Years' War between 1618 and 1648 devastated Berlin. One third of its houses were damaged or destroyed, and
7896-468: The two towns formed an alliance with a common external policy, their internal administrations still being separated. Members of the Hohenzollern family ruled in Berlin until 1918, first as electors of Brandenburg, then as kings of Prussia , and eventually as German emperors . In 1443, Frederick II Irontooth started the construction of a new royal palace in the twin city Berlin-Cölln. The protests of
7990-451: The vast Northern European Plain which stretches all the way from northern France to western Russia. The Berliner Urstromtal (an ice age glacial valley ), between the low Barnim Plateau to the north and the Teltow plateau to the south, was formed by meltwater flowing from ice sheets at the end of the last Weichselian glaciation . The Spree follows this valley now. In Spandau, a borough in
8084-548: The west branch of the Spree is the German Historical Museum . Since German reunification , the Museum Island has been rebuilt and extended according to a master plan. In 2019, a new visitor center and art gallery, the James Simon Gallery (by a sixth architect), was opened within the Museum Island heritage site. The Museum Island is so-called for the complex of internationally significant museums , all part of
8178-616: The west of Berlin, the Spree empties into the river Havel , which flows from north to south through western Berlin. The course of the Havel is more like a chain of lakes, the largest being the Tegeler See and the Großer Wannsee . A series of lakes also feeds into the upper Spree, which flows through the Großer Müggelsee in eastern Berlin. Substantial parts of present-day Berlin extend onto
8272-572: The west of Berlin. Since 2015, the Arkenberge hills in Pankow at 122 meters (400 ft) elevation, have been the highest point in Berlin. Through the disposal of construction debris they surpassed Teufelsberg (120.1 m or 394 ft), which itself was made up of rubble from the ruins of the Second World War. The Müggelberge at 114.7 meters (376 ft) elevation is the highest natural point and
8366-558: The world's leading collections of European paintings from the 13th to the 18th centuries. Its collection includes masterpieces from such artists as Albrecht Dürer , Lucas Cranach , Hans Holbein , Rogier van der Weyden , Jan van Eyck , Raphael , Botticelli , Titian , Caravaggio , Peter Paul Rubens , David Teniers the Younger , Rembrandt , Frans Hals , Johannes Vermeer , Thomas Gainsborough , Joshua Reynolds and Antonio Viviani . Unlike most major national European collections (with
8460-473: Was a successful attempt to centralise the capital in the very far-flung state, and it was the first time the city began to grow. In 1709, Berlin merged with the four cities of Cölln, Friedrichswerder, Friedrichstadt and Dorotheenstadt under the name Berlin, "Haupt- und Residenzstadt Berlin". In 1740, Frederick II, known as Frederick the Great (1740–1786), came to power. Under the rule of Frederick II, Berlin became
8554-411: Was an unsuccessful attempt of unifying the states of Berlin and Brandenburg. Both share a common history, dialect and culture and in 2020, there are over 225,000 residents of Brandenburg that commute to Berlin. The fusion had the near-unanimous support by a broad coalition of both state governments, political parties, media, business associations, trade unions and churches. Though Berlin voted in favor by
8648-423: Was badly damaged during World War II , but most of the collection survived the war in shelters across Germany. At the end of the war, however, 400 works that were regarded as too large to take to the remoter hiding places were destroyed in a fire in a Flak tower that served as a bomb shelter. Many important altarpieces and other large works were lost, and the collection remains short of very large works compared to
8742-480: Was built. During World War II , Berlin was the location of multiple Nazi prisons, forced labour camps, 17 subcamps of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp for men and women, including teenagers, of various nationalities, including Polish, Jewish, French, Belgian, Czechoslovak, Russian, Ukrainian, Romani, Dutch, Greek, Norwegian, Spanish, Luxembourgish, German, Austrian, Italian, Yugoslavian, Bulgarian, Hungarian,
8836-486: Was granted only to American, British and French airlines. The founding of the two German states increased Cold War tensions. West Berlin was surrounded by East German territory, and East Germany proclaimed the Eastern part as its capital, a move the western powers did not recognize. East Berlin included most of the city's historic center. The West German government established itself in Bonn . In 1961, East Germany began to build
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