Pergamon Museum, Berlin

The Pergamon Museum in Berlin Germany is an incredible museum. Most history museums have vases and jewelry from various historical sites, and while Pergamon does have that, it also has the sites themselves. This museum was designed and built specifically for the collections it contains in the early 1900’s, though to me the exterior looks rather more modern.

I will save the best items for last, though they are showcased at the very beginning of the museum. The museum covers several major time period/regions in its collections. There are Greek works, Babylonian artifacts, and some Islamic work as well. There are quite a few Classic Greek statues here, and also some of a genera I didn’t know existed, depicting, in the same style, more natural poses, such as a boy examining his foot, and even a dog licking itself. Of course, the Classic Greek statues were beautiful. We were able to listen to English information about many of the works, by keying in a number into a handheld audio guide. In this area there was also a case of glass work, which is impressive both because it is so well preserved, and because it is so beautiful. The Babylonian sculptures were less realistic, but equally interesting. One of my favourite pieces was a clam shell, the inside of which had been intricately carved into a low relief mural. In the Islamic section were several architectural pieces, including portions of a palace wall.

The real highlight of this museum is that, as I have said, it has the archaeological sites as well as the artifacts. The very first chamber you enter contains the massive Greek Pergamon Alter. It takes up a single, very large room. Steep ancient stairs go up to the alter top, and high relief sculptures depicting epic battles circle the room outside the alter. You can indeed climb the stairs to the top of the alter, to view an amazingly complex mosaic in the floor (the mosaic is not original to this alter) each piece in the mosaic is about the size of a pencil eraser. There is more. There is an old market gate, with sand colored columns rising up to support the two tiered structure, and finally, there is the Ishtar Gate of Babylon. If you saw the movie Alexander, you have seen a representation of this gate. As Alexander enters the city of Babylon, he looks around at this incredible blue gate, and blue walls that go into the city. This is what we saw. It is the gate, and several sections from the wall, forming a sort of “Victory Way” for returning heroes, and in Alexander’s case, the conquerors. I am thrilled to have seen something that such a great historical figure would have laid eyes on with wonder himself.

This museum took several hours (5 or 6 if memory serves) to peruse using the audio guides, but was well worth the time. Admission was relatively inexpensive, and the museum was built for the items it displays, and has been doing so for nearly 100 years, so you can count on it being there when you visit. This is a must. A+