Mini
Task #2: The Neues Museum
The
Neues Museum is seen as a frozen ruin since the Museum visibly displays the traces
of its history through ruination. According to Kerstin Barndt, “its ruination
has been ‘frozen’ in time, preserved for the museum’s future” (2011, p. 300).
Barndt further explains that the Neues Museum represents destruction, ruination
and restitution not only by displaying its scars from war but also the National
Socialist History. The exterior of the building was very visibly damaged from
the war as there are distinct bullet holes and missing parts to the columns and
the building. The interior of the museum also embodies the idea of a frozen
ruin since there are still clear signs of destruction to the building that has
not been restored. In addition, the areas that have been restored, for example
the second floor staircase, were not restored to the original but instead
designed to display the wounds of the war. This is a deliberate, in order to
preserve the museum as a ruin, and display the museum as a “wounded memory”.
Exterior of Museum:
Interior of Museum:
Bibliography:
Barndt, Kerstin.
“Working through Ruins: Berlin's Neues Museum,” The
Germanic Review: Literature, Culture, Theory, Vol. 86 No. 4 (2011): 294-307.
4 comments:
I like that you mentioned that somethings were restored but not to their original form, like the staircase. Do you think that is noticable to the average visitor? Or is it something that is likely overlooked?
I think that it is easy to tell that the staircase area has been restored. This is because the stairway itself is clearly newer and the walls surrounding it have reminents of the original structure. That being said, I think that the reconstruction is not as grand as the original structure, and if they were to have reconstructed it on a larger scale it would have been harder to tell where the reminents are.
I agree with Amanda. I think that it is clear to the average visitor that the staircase has been restored. I do however, think that the reason behind the design of this staircase would be overlooked by the average visitor. That being said, the audio guide did give a very good explanation of the original staircase and the reason for the design of the restoration. In fact, pictures of the original staircase were even displayed on the audio guide screen!
I like the point about the audio guides. I defintetly think that having the clips on the building restoration is great, especially since the way it was done was so unique.
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