Egyptian Museum and Papyrus Collection Berlin

The New Museum which was opened in 1850 was already overfilled in 1900 when large scale excavations in Egypt began. After its reconstruction and reopening in 2009 the art and culture of the Pharaohs will be shown spread over three floors. The Egyptian museum with its world wide unique collection of art from the period of Akhenaten and Nefertiti (now located on the upper floor of the Old Museum) will then be presented in appropriate surroundings.

The art and archaeological objects will be able to speak for themselves again when the Papyrus Collection is once again integrating in the exhibition. The section Sudan will build a bridge to the art and culture of Africa.

David Chipperfield (London) was commissioned in 1997 with the plan to reconstruct and preserve the ruined museum. The plan does not intend a 1:1 reconstruction nor a intervention in the historic substance of the building.
The existing structure and the cubature of the Stühler-building will be, while preserving the original substance, converted to the clear architectural language of David Chipperfield and will become a modern and future-oriented functional museum in which the Egyptian Museum and the Museum of Prehistory will be at home.

Also part of the plan is a new section the 'Archaeological Promenade' which connects, thematically and architecturally, the neighbouring buildings.

The contest for the creation of a closed ambulatory through both exhibition levels as well as the connection between the 'Archaeological Promenade' and the New Entrance building was won in the year 2000 by O.M. Unger (Cologne). Part of the design is a transparent 4th wing for the Pergamon Museum along the Kupfergraben.