James Simon Gallery

James-Simon-Galerie after completion (2019)

The James-Simon-Galerie is the visitor center of the Berlin Museum Island and was built from 2009 to 2018 according to plans by the British architect David Chipperfield (* 1953). It is located in place of the New Packhof, which was demolished in 1938 by Karl Friedrich Schinkel (1781–1841), between the Kupfergraben and the New Museum . Named after the important patron James Simon (1851–1932), the gallery, together with the Archaeological Promenade , forms the core of the Museum Island master plan .

function

According to the Museum Island master plan adopted in 1999, the James-Simon-Galerie serves as the central entrance building and visitor center; it currently offers the sole entrance to the Pergamon Museum , as well as an underground entrance to the Neues Museum . Once the master plan has been completed, the James-Simon-Galerie will be connected to four of the five museums via the Archaeological Promenade, thus directing the expected crowds. In addition to the ticket office and entrance area, the James-Simon-Galerie houses an auditorium for 300 people, a museum shop, a café and restaurant as well as rooms for special exhibitions on 10,900 square meters, of which 4,600 square meters are usable . They all aim to relieve the historical buildings.

history

Neuer Packhof am Kupfergraben, photograph by Hermann Rückwardt (1916)

A first design comes from the British architect David Chipperfield (* 1953), who won the 1999 competition to redesign the entrance area to the Museum Island with a simple, cubic solution made of steel and satined glass . The planning was stopped in 2002 by the federal government as the client and financier because the costs for the renovation of the Pergamon Museum threatened to explode. In November 2006, the German Bundestag finally approved funds totaling 73 million euros for the entrance building. After criticism of Chipperfield's design flared up again, the architect undertook a revision in December 2006, which the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation finally confirmed. Because this did not go far enough for some critics, a citizens' initiative with prominent representatives ( Lea Rosh , Günther Jauch ) sought a referendum against the implementation of the existing draft since February 2007 . On June 27, 2007, David Chipperfield presented another design. The actual building with space for temporary exhibitions, restaurants and museum shops is located in the base of a colonnaded corridor that leads from the Pergamon Museum to almost the pleasure garden along the Spree. The citizens' initiative stopped its activity on July 2, 2007.

After years of delays due to complicated foundation work with 1200 piles and renewed revision of the plans, the foundation stone was laid on October 18, 2013 .

The construction of the gallery cost 134 million euros. The construction time was almost ten years.

The official opening of the gallery took place on July 12, 2019 by Chancellor Angela Merkel . On the occasion of the opening, the Berlin State Museums prepared the special exhibition Close to Life. 200 years ago plaster molding , which illustrated the importance of molding in the history of sculpture using 200 objects and was shown in the James-Simon-Galerie from August 30, 2019 to March 1, 2020. In 2019 the James-Simon-Galerie already had 338,000 visitors.

construction

The gallery, a narrow, elongated part of the building along the Spree Canal , is subdivided into five levels: a basement, which is not open to the public, houses technology and storage rooms. The level 0 is the transition to the Archaeological Promenade and the New Museum is. It contains also areas for special exhibitions and Informationsspunkte. There is also a warehouse, a staff area and rooms for exhibition preparation. The level 1 consists of a lobby, an auditorium with concrete walls on the input side, which is extending to the part of the staircase and suitable for culture events. Storage and ancillary rooms as well as a delivery zone complete this floor . The mezzanine houses a foyer, a museum shop with book sales, the cloakroom with lockers and the sanitary facilities. The gallery ends with level 2 , the main floor with a foyer, a terrace, a café and the entrance to the Pergamon Museum . Visitors can choose barrier-free access by means of an elevator or use the stepped outside staircase . At the foot of the outside staircase, a pillar corridor forms the visual and weather-protected connection to the Neues Museum.

Construction work for the James-Simon-Galerie (2010)
Construction site (2016)
James-Simon-Galerie am Kupfergraben (2019), the Iron Bridge and the Neues Museum
The facade to the Kupfergraben (2019)
Access stairs and the New Museum (2019)