Berlin Neue Nationalgalerie asv2021-11 img1

The Kulturforum ( en, Cultural Forum) is a collection of cultural buildings in Berlin. It was built up in the 1950s and 1960s at the edge of

West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...

, after most of the once unified city's cultural assets had been lost behind the Berlin Wall. The Kulturforum is characterized by its innovative modernist architecture; several buildings are distinguished by the organic designs of

Hans Scharoun Bernhard Hans Henry Scharoun (20 September 1893 – 25 November 1972) was a German architect best known for designing the Berliner Philharmonie (home to the Berlin Philharmonic) and the Schminke House in Löbau, Saxony. He was an important ...

, and the

Neue Nationalgalerie The Neue Nationalgalerie (New National Gallery) at the Kulturforum is a museum for modern art in Berlin, with its main focus on the early 20th century. It is part of the National Gallery of the Berlin State Museums. The museum building and its s ...

was designed by

Mies van der Rohe Ludwig Mies van der Rohe ( ; ; born Maria Ludwig Michael Mies; March 27, 1886August 17, 1969) was a German-American architect. He was commonly referred to as Mies, his surname. Along with Alvar Aalto, Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius and Frank Lloyd ...

. Today, the Kulturforum lies immediately to the west of the redeveloped commercial node of

Potsdamer Platz Potsdamer Platz (, ''Potsdam Square'') is a public square and traffic intersection in the center of Berlin, Germany, lying about south of the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag (German Parliament Building), and close to the southeast corn ...

Cultural institutions

Among the cultural institutions housed in and around the Kulturforum are: *

* Gemäldegalerie *

Kunstgewerbemuseum Berlin __NOTOC__ The Kunstgewerbemuseum, or Museum of Decorative Arts, is an internationally important museum of the decorative arts in Berlin, Germany, part of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (Berlin State Museums). The collection is split between t ...

(Museum of Decorative Arts) * Musical Instrument Museum * Kupferstichkabinett (

Print room A print room is a room in an art gallery or museum where a collection of old master and modern prints, usually together with drawings, watercolours, and photographs, are held and viewed. A further meaning is a room decorated by pasting prints ...

) * Kunstbibliothek Berlin (Berlin Art Library) *

Berliner Philharmonie The Berliner Philharmonie () is a concert hall in Berlin, Germany, and home to the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. The Philharmonie lies on the south edge of the city's Tiergarten and just west of the former Berlin Wall. The Philharmonie is o ...

* Chamber Music Hall *

Berlin State Library The Berlin State Library (german: Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin; officially abbreviated as ''SBB'', colloquially ''Stabi'') is a universal library in Berlin, Germany and a property of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation. It is one of the ...

''Haus Potsdamer Straße'' *

Ibero-American Institute The Ibero-American Institute or IAI (german: Ibero-Amerikanisches Institut, es, Instituto Ibero-Americano Patrimonio Cultural Prusiano) is an interdisciplinary institution located in Berlin, Germany, for academic and cultural exchange between Ger ...

* Wissenschaftszentrum * St. Matthäus-Kirche

History

After World War II, the public art collections were divided by the Berlin Wall, with particularly the Old Master paintings split between the Bode Museum in what became the east, and a temporary exhibition space in Dahlem, a western suburban district of Berlin. Public opinion at the time of reunification strongly favored a return of the Old Masters to their historical home at the Bode Museum. Yet Wolf-Dieter Dube, the then director-general of the

Berlin State Museums The Berlin State Museums (german: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin) are a group of institutions in Berlin, Germany, comprising seventeen museums in five clusters, several research institutes, libraries, and supporting facilities. They are overseen ...

, pushed through his plans to move the collection to the Kulturforum, a modernist complex as answer to Museum Island. The

became the centerpiece of the new complex, completed in 1998 when the long-planned $140 million Gemäldegalerie was opened nearby to house paintings of the 13th to 18th centuries.Desmond Butler (December 2, 2001)
Berlin Museum's Revival Bolsters German Identity
''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''.

Sources

External links

www.kulturforum-berlin.info
{{Authority control Culture in Berlin Tourist attractions in Berlin Museum districts Buildings and structures in Berlin Berlin State Museums