Berlin's Bode Museum to reopen
After several years of careful restoration, Berlin's splendid neo-baroque Bode Museum is preparing to reopen its doors to visitors. It's the second of the five major cultural attractions on the city's Museuminsel (Museum Island) to be given a complete facelift.
"This is a wonderful day for Berlin, a wonderful day for Germany and for the museums of the world," declared Wolfgang Tiefensee, the new Minister for Transport, Building and Housing, who was in attendance at the official reopening ceremony.
The restoration project, which surprised many by staying within the 152 million euros budget, and the five and a half years time frame, brings the Museum Island twenty percent closer to reaching its former dazzling glory.
With the keys now safely back in the hands of the curators, the Bode is set to exhibit again from the middle of next year, with a trove of permanent treasures that will include 18th Century art and sculptures, Byzantine art, coins and Old Masters' paintings.
The next on the Museuminsel restoration list is the partially ruined Neues Museum, scheduled for completion in 2008.