Neues Museum

The Neues Museum stands on Museum Island in the heart of the River Spree, forming part of Berlin's UNESCO World Heritage ensemble of five museums. Designed by Friedrich August Stüler and opened in 1855, the building suffered severe damage during the Second World War and remained a ruin for decades before David Chipperfield Architects completed a celebrated reconstruction in 2009, preserving the scars of history alongside restored nineteenth-century interiors.

Today the museum houses the Egyptian Museum and Papyrus Collection alongside the Collection of Prehistoric and Early History. Its most famous resident is the painted limestone bust of Nefertiti, created around 1345 BC and one of the most recognised works of ancient art in the world. Entry tickets allow visitors to move through rooms where Chipperfield's spare modern interventions meet Stüler's ornate original fabric, creating a building that is itself as much an exhibit as the extraordinary objects displayed within it.