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According to media reports, dozens of exhibits on Berlin’s Museum Island have been damaged by strangers. According to “Zeit”, it is “one of the most extensive attacks on works of art and antiquities in the history of post-war Germany.”
One or more unknown perpetrators had at least 70 objects in the Pergamon Museum, the New Museum, the Old National Gallery and other places splattered with an oily liquid, according to a report by “Zeit” and Deutschlandfunk. These include Egyptian sarcophagi, stone sculptures, and paintings from the 19th century. The liquid left visible stains on it.
The incidents are said to have already occurred on October 3, the day of German unity, and have yet to be made public. It was not initially clear if the day was chosen on purpose. Initially, nothing was known about the motives of the perpetrator or perpetrators.
Authorities ask visitors for help
At the request of “Zeit” and Deutschlandfunk, the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation and the Berlin police confirmed that there was damage to the exhibits, according to the report. A preliminary investigation into property damage has been launched.
According to the “Tagesspiegel”, the State Criminal Police Office (LKA) wrote to the visitors that they had booked museum tickets for October 3 and urgently asked for their help.
At the request of the German Press Agency, the police did not provide any information on Tuesday night. The Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation could not be reached overnight for comment.
Berlin are its museums
The Museum Island has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO since 1999. At the beginning of October, the Pergamon Museum celebrated its 90th anniversary. It is named after its most famous attraction, the Pergamon Altar. It dates back to the 2nd century BC and belonged to the residence of the powerful Pergamon kings, who created a cultural metropolis based on the model of Athens in the west of what is now Turkey.
As one of the few museums in Germany, the Pergamon attracts more than a million people each year, when fully open. The group of Altes Museum, Bode-Museum, Alter Nationalgalerie, Neue Museum with the famous bust of the Egyptian Pharaoh of Nefertiti and James-Simon-Galerie as the most recent building attracted almost 3.1 million people. (SDA)
