Germany’s glorious 19th-century canon
The Alte Nationalgalerie opened in 1876 as a showcase for a then contemporary collection—a bequest to the Prussian state from the banker Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Wagener featuring exceptional works of the period by Caspar David Friedrich, Karl Friedrich Schinkel and painters from the Düsseldorf school. Today the holdings span world-famous and lesser-known treasures, across painting and sculpture, and encompasses neoclassicism, romanticism, realism and impressionism, with artists present from elsewhere in Europe. The basic architectural concept for the Alte Nationalgalerie—a temple-like building raised on a plinth decorated with motifs from antiquity—came from King Friedrich Wilhelm IV himself. The museum was badly damaged during World War II, but after extensive repairs reopened in 1949. Further renovations took place between 1998 and 2001 which modernized the museum’s gallery spaces and restored its original architectural features.
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