The Neues Museum In Berlin - Architectural Historism Article Review Sample

Speaking of great architects in Germany, one has to mention such name as Karl Friedrich Schinkel. Undoubtedly, Schinkel could be called one of the most talented architects of his time, due to huge amount of significant and valuable projects like “Marienburg”, “Stolzenfels castle” “Cologne Cathedral” and many others. Coupled with his work, Schinkel is famous and essential to the German architecture in whole due to his students that has continued his legacy, especially during the 1840s. A great example of such student is one of his most dedicated followers - Friedrich August Stueler, who later physically continued his master’s work.
The most prominent project of Steuler was the Neues Museum that was built in the middle of the 19th century. One of the important features that has to be enlighten, is the location of the museum. Due to the fact that Neues Museum was larger than the Altes Museum in order to not show up or somehow overshadow the Old Museum, the creation of Stueler was positioned at right angles to the back wall of the older building, thus creating a perfect harmony between these two museums. Throughout the whole museum one could see a lot of references to Schnikel work and his Altes Museum. Very importantly, one should know that the very creator of the museums conceived his creation as only a large addition to the main Museum by Schinkel, so here one may say that in spite of the fact that, basically Neues Museum was a separate project by Stueler, still he decided that it should complement the main building rather than compete with it.
Nevertheless, there were a lot of innovative and fresh ideas and elements in the Neues Museum – the most obvious example was in the grand three-story hall and staircase that constituted the center of the rectangular structure and paralleled the famous staircase and rotunda in Schinkel’s museum. Another element of the Neues Museum that has to be shown is the attention to historical context and detail in display spaces. With the help of background wall paintings, friezes and sculptures the objects in display cases were explained more vividly, while in Old Museum Schinkel tried not to mix various showpieces with the background. Here one can see the difference between these two Museums, and difference between the views of each creator.
Not only the way in which the objects were displayed in the Neues Museum differed, but also chronological sequence of the Art pieces that played relevant role. It is safe to say that much more attention to chronological sequence was given to the displays in the Neues Museum rather that in the Old Museum. The sequence of the collections was created with scholarly historical specificity. One may claim that it is possible to see the differences between the aesthetic views of Schinkel and Stueler, and in fact one will be correct. Both museums had a representation of chronological narration with the help of sculptures and arts, to create the chain of great turning in human history, however due to the differences in architects’ views, cultural message and pedagogical function of the museums differs. (Architectural And Musical Historicism) However, in the Altes Museum, Schinkel did not want to fill the gaps between the models with something not original that is why there were empty spaces in chronological sequence. Contrastingly, Stueler decided to fill these gaps with the help of plaster-cast models. One may say that what he has done is not quite correct, because it is wrong to put original pieces next to some plaster-cast models. However, as for me, I think that it is perfectly fine, until the historical accuracy is kept.
Hence, one can come to the conclusion that among the many museums in Germany, Neues Museum is perfectly can be called a masterpiece. With the help of perfect mixing of Schinkel’s ideas and Stueler’s fresh and innovative view one may say that this building had a different cultural message presented. Due to such combination of old and new, it is possible to conclude that Neues Museum in tandem with Altes Museum creates a whole piece, one big museum that combines views of two talented architects.

Work Cited

Architectural And Musical Historicism. 1999. Print.