Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte (Berlin)

The Museum of Prehistory and Early History of the National Museums in Berlin is one of the largest national archaeological and prehistoric collections of the Old World. It was from 1958 until 27 April 2009 at the Langhans building (former Palace Theatre ) of the Schloss Charlottenburg. Since October 2009, the collection at the New Museum is on display on the Museum Island.

In addition to a permanent collection, special exhibitions are regularly shown. Attached to the museum is a specialized library for pre-and early history with 50,000 volumes. The museum also is the seat of the Commission, inter alia, for the exploration of archaeological artefacts and documents from the north-eastern Central Europe and a project for the study of ancient Egyptian calendar.

History

The museum's collection goes back to the art collection of the Hohenzollern family, the castle in Monbijou a collection of old artefacts had set up as a "museum Patriotic antiquities " from 1830. The collection later had its headquarters first at the New Museum, from 1886 at the Museum of Ethnology in the Prinz- Albrecht-Strasse and from 1921 in the Martin- Gropius-Bau, the 1931 was converted into the National Museum of Prehistory and Early History. Among the most important supporters and contributors to the collection of Rudolf Virchow and Heinrich Schliemann.

After the Second World War came partial collections of the museum as art looted by Russia, including the Eberswalde gold treasure and the scabbard of good stone.

The relocation of the museum in the castle Charlottenburg was 1958. After the turn was the exhibits that were previously in East Berlin Museum of Prehistory and Early History, will be reunited with the pieces in West Berlin. On 26 April 2009, the exhibition in Langhans Building was closed. The workshops for the time being remain at the old location.

Since autumn 2009, the exhibits, the Neues Museum in Berlin -Mitte.

Exhibition halls

The museum can be visited in the form of a tour. This performs the following halls:

Rudolf Virchow Center

The Rudolf - Virchow- Center ( Room 1) is didactically oriented with a focus on schools. It gives a clear overview with practical examples about the technological history of the Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages, and is equipped with a PC station, a lecture room and is equipped with a separate entrance for school classes.

Schliemann Hall

The Schliemann Hall (Room 104) is now home to discoveries and findings copies from the collection of Trojan antiquities of Heinrich Schliemann, in particular parts of the world-famous so-called Priam's Treasure. Schliemann had that in 1881 the German people paid to everlasting possession and undivided storage in the capital, after Kaiser Wilhelm I in a personal letter to Schliemann thanked him and decided that the treasure of Priam in was being built at the Ethnological Museum Berlin on permanent display should be, where he was seen from 1885 to 1939.

While the most important parts of the treasure now located in the Pushkin Museum in Russia as looted art and can be seen here in part only as a copy, the few are issued by the Soviet Union to the GDR as well as from Russia in 1992 returned to Germany parts in the original, for example, Silver plate including large silver vase (in the picture the top ) in which Schliemann found the existing gold jewelry main treasure.

Silverware from the treasure of Priam

Stone and Bronze Ages - Hall

In the Stone and Bronze Age Hall ( Hall 3 ) are presented finds of this era from Europe. On display are artifacts of Stone Age sites of Combe Capelle and Le Moustier, artifacts of the Ice Age and the development of the Paleo- and Mesolithic tools. In addition, the Neolithic cultures of Europe are presented by the band ceramic to the Bell Beaker culture. In addition, feature artifacts in the section to the Bronze Age, illustrate the development of metallurgy and of the cult and burial rites. Geographically, the Fund places range from Western Europe, North Germany and Scandinavia, eastern Central Europe, the Alps and the Danube region to Upper Italy.

The Gold Room

The Gold Room ( Room 4 ) houses valuable precious metal finds from the Bronze Age, most notably the Berlin Gold Hat.

Room 5

In Room 5 we find exhibits from the period from the beginning of the Iron Age to the Middle Ages. This begins with finds from the Hallstatt period from the Alps and the breastplate of Sticna, followed by finds from the time of the Celts, the Germanic tribes and the Romans. Finally, the median age is documented by the issuance of coins, clothing, weapons and other items.

Special

• The museum showed until 26 April 2009, a exhibition on the history of the legendary Prussia collection of Königsberg ( Prussia), including our own stocks.