Art in the Bodemuseum (Berlin).
21 years had passed since the opening of the national gallery in 1876 before the next foundation stone was laid on the museum island. There had, in fact, been an architectural competition as early as 1882, but the results were considered inadequate. Finally Ernst Ihne was commissioned to design the Emperor Friedrich Museum, now known as the Bodemuseum. The neo-baroque building is majestically reflected in the water of the two arms of the Spree at the point where they re-unite. The dome, which is above a hall of honour in the interior, is at its most dominant in this exposed position. The entrance is in the rounded end of the building and is reached via the two bridges. The three-wing exterior is much more complex in the interior and has a total of five open courtyards. The last building on the museum island is the Pergamonmuseum built from 1912-30. Because of the rapid expansion of the collection of works from antiquity, it had to occupy the whole area between the Neues Museum, the national gallery and the S-Bahn urban railway, and it needed high rooms with skylights. The plans were designed by Alfred Messel who had become famous for his department store architecture, but he died before construction began. Thus the work began in 1912 under the direction of his friend from youth, Ludwig Hoffmann, but construction dragged on until 1930 and still remained unfinished. In addition to the existing three wing complex it was planned to build a colonnade between the side wings on Kupfergraben, a single storey extension to the Neues Museum along the water (which is at present also part of the plans for the restoration of the Neues Museum), an entrance hall (the present glass box dates from 1982) and a wing linking it to the Bodemuseum, which is cut off from the rest of the island by the railway line. In addition, it was planned to reorganise the urban structure of the area opposite the main frontage and to create a link from there to Hegelplatz in front of the university. Colossal Doric pilasters spanning both storeys sub-divide the side wings, and on the ends the strikingly steep gables are supported by half-columns. Hoffmann adapted Messel's heavy "state baroque" to classical forms which create a transition to the architectural language of the Neues Museum and Altes Museum. The windowless tall central structure and the large wall surface of the side wings give the complex a rather massive appearance.
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Masterpiece of the Gemäldegalerie of Berlin.
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Masterpiece of the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin (Germany).
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Discrimination and persecution of Jewish people unter the Nazi Regime.
At least 6 million Jews were murdered in Europe under the Nazi regime, about 200,000 from Germany. The Jewish community reacted to the discrimination and restrictions by setting up Jewish schools and a welfare aid network, and preparing for emigration. About half of the Jewish population succeeded in leaving Germany before the final emigration ban in October 1941.14. After the end of the war around 250,000 Jews waited in camps for displaced persons in Germany to emigrate to overseas. This number included nearly 50,000 survivors from concentration camps and the more than 1,500 Berlin Jews who had managed to survive in hiding. After a transitional period to the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany, the German Democratic Republic, and the state of Israel, around 20,000 Jews settled in West Germany and about 600 in East Germany. Today there are more than 105,000 members of Jewish communities in the Federal Republic of Germany, approximately 96,000 of whom are recent arrivals, immigrants from the former Soviet Union.
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Ancient art in the Altes Museum of Berlin.
Pericles (c. 495 – 429 BC, meaning "surrounded by glory") was a prominent and influential statesman, orator, and general of Athens during the city's Golden Age—specifically, the time between the Persian and Peloponnesian wars. He was descended, through his mother, from the powerful and historically influential Alcmaeonid family.
Pericles had such a profound influence on Athenian society that Thucydides, his contemporary historian, acclaimed him as "the first citizen of Athens". Pericles turned the Delian League into an Athenian empire and led his countrymen during
the first two years of the Peloponnesian War. The period during which he led Athens, roughly from 461 to 429 B.C, is sometimes known as the "Age of Pericles", though the period thus denoted can include times as early as the Persian Wars, or as late as the next century.
Pericles promoted the arts and literature; this was a chief reason Athens holds the reputation of being the educational and cultural centre of the ancient Greek world. He started an ambitious project that built most of the surviving structures on the Acropolis (including the Parthenon). This project beautified the city, exhibited its glory, and gave work to the people. Furthermore, Pericles fostered Athenian democracy to such an extent that critics call him a populist.
Greek and Roman art and sculptures can be found in the Altes Museum. The main highlights, the art of the Etruscans, will go on show when major restoration work on the building has been completed. Until then an exhibition of Greek works of art is open to the public on the newly designed main floor of the building. This thematically arranged exhibition includes stone sculptures, clay and bronze figures, friezes, vases, gold jewellery and silverware. Three information displays provide details on additional topics such as Greek myths, ancient city culture and the archaeological sites investigated by the Berlin museums.
Roman art is represented by relatively few pieces such as portraits of Caesar and Cleopatra, sarcophagi, mosaics, frescos and Roman-Egyptian mummy portraits offering a taste of the final presentation.
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