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 Pergamon Altar, Berlin, Germany
N 52° 31.260 E 013° 23.794
33U E 391209 N 5820196
An ancient Greek altar, moved from Turkey to Germany
Waymark Code: WMKE9H
Location: Berlin, Germany
Date Posted: 03/30/2014
Views: 13
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Normally, we would not post a museum piece under "Relocated Structures", as those exhibits are by definition relocated to be placed in a museum. But this is no ordinary exhibit. It is an entire temple, moved from the ancient Greek town of Pergamon to the German Capital. The Temple came first, the Museum came later. It was actually built around the relocated structure.
When excavation began in Pergamon in 1878, a Museum was built in Berlin, but when the first pieces of the Altar arrived, the building soon turned out to be too small. So, the olt museum was demolished, and starting in 1907, a new museum was build to protect the excavated and rebuilt Altar from the elements.
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Artist rendering of the Acropolis of Pergamon with the altar on the left side. Source:wikipedia
Pergamon was an ancient Greek city, capital of the Kingdom of Pergamon between 281 and 133 BC. The Acropolis with the altar was built in the first half of the 2nd century BC.
Between 1878 and 1886, the German engineer Carl Humann, in partnership with the Turkish government, began official excavations in Pergamon. While most of the unearthed structures remained in place, it was agreed, that the altar would become the property of the Berlin museums.
Panoramic view of the Altar in the Pergamon Museum. Source:wikipedia
The drawing and the panoramic picture are borrowed from Wikipedia, all other pictures are our own.
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After the pieces of the altar arrived in Germany, they were inspected and restored by Italian archaeologists. The process was interrupted by the world financial crisis of the 1920s and it took until 1930 to rebuild the entire structure.
Only nine years later, with the beginning of World War II, the altar was taken apart again and stored in a bunker, where it was discovered by the Soviet Army and shipped to Moscow, Russia in 1945.
The pieces were returned to Germany in 1958, and since 1959, this remarkable piece of Greek culture is open to the public.
The entire altar is 39.4 feet (12m) hight, 116.9 feet (35.64m) wide and 109.6 feet (33.4m) deep, making it one of the largest antique structures ever moved from one continent to another.
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Original Location: N 39° 07.950 E 027° 11.052
How it was moved: Disassembled
Type of move: Country to Country
Building Status: Public
Related Website: [Web Link]
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Visit Instructions:
Tell of your visit. Post an original photograph if possible.
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