Greek, Roman and Etruscan treasures
The Altes Museum was commissioned by the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhlem II to house the royal art collections and is among the most important neoclassical buildings in the world, designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel. On opening in 1830, it became the first public museum in Prussia and played a crucial role in establishing Berlin as a major cultural hub in Europe. Today the museum houses the antique collection of Berlin’s state museums with extensive holdings of Greek, Etruscan and Roman art. One of the museum’s most famous pieces is The Praying Boy, a life-sized bronze statue sculpted in Hellenistic style that is dated to c.300 BC. The museum was severely damaged during World War II, but was fully restored in the 1950s and again after 1990 following the reunification of Germany.
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