Deutsches Historisches Museum, or the German Historical Museum, is the place where I spent most of my first afternoon in Berlin. It’s near the Museum Insel, or Museum Island, where five huge museums are clustered in the city.
Almost everyone suggested me to go to Pergamon Museum instead, since it has magnificent collections from Asia Minor and Middle East. Or the equally huge Altes Museum, Neues Museum, and Bode Museum — all in the same island. But hey, 1) in Berlin I want to learn about German history, not others; and 2) most collections of Pergamon Museum are stolen by German excavators from the original region anyway — just like the British and the French put Egyptian mummies in the British Museum and Louvre. (Pergamon altar, the museum’s namesake, was taken from Turkey in 19th century, and Turkey has been demanding it to be returned.)
So I went to the museum of history. And they have loads of loads of things to show, ranging from artefacts from Celtic tribes to pieces of Berlin wall. Their collection’s huge but somehow it’s a bit boring after a certain point (perhaps because I still had some kind of hangover after the 1,5 hours of cycling in the wee hours), although they offer some interactive computers here and there. However, it’s interesting if you’re into history 🙂
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