Restored museum in the heart of Berlin draws huge crowds

The line stretched from the Neues Museum to the Lustgarten half a kilometer back. Visitors waited up to two hours to take a look at the restored Neues Museum in Berlin. After 11 years restoration work and redesign by British architect David Chipperfield, the museum is currently open to the public for just three days (March 8-10).

Standing in line. Flickr (cc) looking glass

In those three days Berliners are eager to see what the museum looks like inside and have flocked there in numbers – for on Monday the museum will be closed again and officials will have 222 days to fill the empty museum with exhibits.

The museum was heavily damaged during World War Two. Following the now completed  €200m restoration, Neues Museum has been hailed as the final missing piece in the rehabilitation of the historical heart of the city, as it was the only building on the Museum Island still left ruined by the War.

During the restoration the core principle was founded on the retention of original materials, so as to conserve historic and cultural value. As a result the design of the restored museum uses many conserved parts such as frescoes ,columns and pedestals.

Chipperfield, who is being hailed for his architectural achievement in the German press said the work had been "incredibly complex", and "intellectual and emotional".

http://www.wiederaufbauneuesmuseumberlin.de