The Pergamon Museum (German: Pergamonmuseum) in Berlin is a fantastic museum that houses three main departments: the Collection of Classical Antiquities (Antikensammlung), occupying the architectural halls and the sculpture wing, the Museum of the Ancient Near East (Vorderasiatisches Museum) and the Museum of Islamic Art (Museum für Islamische Kunst). With specialities like these, this is one of the best places in Germany to see religious art.
The star of the Classical Antiquities department is the Zeus Altar (180-160 BC), which is so large that it has a huge room all to itself. The frieze took over 20 years to reassemble from thousands of fragments uncovered in modern-day Bergama, Turkey. Steps lead from the museum floor up to the colonnade. Most fascinating is the frieze around the base, which depicts the struggle of the Olympian gods against the Titans. It is strikingly life-like, with figures that project as much as a foot from the background.
This department also contains the Market Gate of Miletus as well as sculptures from many Greek and Roman cities, including a statue of a goddess holding a pomegranate (575 BC), found in southern Attica, where it had been buried for 2,000 years. It was so well preserved that flecks of the original paint are still visible on her garments.
The Near East Museum contains one of the largest collections anywhere of antiquities from ancient Babylonia, Persia, and Assyria. Among the exhibits is the Processional Way of Babylon with the Ishtar Gate, dating from 580 BC, and the throne hall of King Nebuchadnezzar II (604 - 562 BC). Cuneiform clay tablets document a civilization that created ceramics, glass, and metal objects while Europe was still overrun with primitive tribes.
In the south wing of the museum is the Museum of Islamic Art, featuring miniatures, carpets, woodcarvings and illuminated manuscripts.
The museum provides an excellent 30-minute, English-language recorded tour, which you can pick up at the entrance.
