Pergamon Museum Berlin Germany

Written by Dave:  One of the sites our friends recommended we see in Berlin, Germany, was the Pergamon Museum.  We were told it was amazing, and we were not disappointed.

It is located on Museum Island, along with several other museums.  You could buy a ticket to a museum individually, or get a pass to go to all of them.  We only had time for the Pergamon.

The museum was badly damaged during World War II, but the Germans did a good job of protecting the artifacts.  The Russians later came and took many of the works.  They still have some of them, but did return much to Germany also.

When we entered the building, we arrived at the steps to the Pergamon Altar.  Summer really enjoyed stepping back in time and walking through history.  Much more exciting than reading history books.  She also has been reading a lot of Greek mythology lately, so that just added to her interest.

Surrounding the Pergamon Altar was an epic battle scene of the gods fighting the giants.  Not everything was intact, but what was there gave you a really good idea of how grand it once was.

Inside the temple was more frieze panels, this time depicting the history (actually a fictional history) of Pergamon.

This is the recreation of the Market Gate of Miletus.

Here is a closer look where you can see the detail of the stonework.  It was quite impressive.

This is a tile floor that was reconstructed from the period.

After leaving the area of the Market Gate of Miletus, we walked through the Ishtar Gate of Babylon.  You can see the scale of it, and it was quite impressive.  Then we learned this was just the small gate, as the main gate and wall would dwarf this one.  It must have been a very impressive city.

This is some of the detail of the tile work.  The colors were preserved quite well.

Here is a look down the Processional Way, which was designed to awe and intimidate anyone entering Babylon.  Lions are depicted all along the walk way.

Here is the family standing between the winged lions.  Luie is still listening to his headset explaining the history of the exhibit.  He really enjoyed listening to all the history as we moved through each room, and he really retained a lot of what he learned.  He kept talking about it for quite a while.

The statue below depicts a king holding two defeated rulers by a leash attached to a nose ring.  He wanted to show how completely he had subjected them to his rule.

They say the significance of this piece is that it is the first known action shot in a carving.  It is the same person shown in different poses to depict him presenting to an altar.  This is carved onto an altar.

This is some intricately carved ivory on display in the Islamic Art Museum.

This wooden panel dome was taken from the Alhambra in Spain.  Amazing carving detail.

This table was to hold the Koran, and was carved completely out of one piece of wood.  How the hinges and everything were made out of one piece of wood was incredible.  That had to take a long time.

There was so much in the museum, it was overwhelming.  You could easily spend a couple days there to learn all the history and truly see all the exhibits.

Here is a bit of video taken in the museum.