Restored Berlin museum boasts Nefertiti and Troy treasures (Feature)

By Nehal el-Sherif Nov 6, 2009, 1:08 GMT

Berlin - In one of the corners in the newly renovated Neues Museum in Berlin stands a bust of a woman that looks as if it was never restored. White with black lines all over her face, it looks as if a child was playing with some colours.

However, as the director of the Egyptian Museum and Papyrus Collection in Germany points out, this is not just another statue.

Friederike Seyfried says that this unfinished head of ancient Egyptian queen Nefertiti allows visitors to use their imagination and think how the artist wanted to make the piece look like if it was finished.

'Paintings show that the sculptor wanted to change something in her face. The black line between her eyebrow and below her cheek show he wanted to mould these parts a little,' Seyfried said.

This unfinished bust for Nefertiti lies in harmony with everything else inside the recently-inaugurated Neues Museum, where the inner walls of several rooms are made of the same old bricks of the building, which was restored by British architect David Chipperfield.

'David wanted to give a nice impression of the original structure and let people imagine what World War II did to this museum,' added Seyfried.

   After extensive six-year, 318-million-dollar renovation, Chipperfield restored the heavily damaged remains of the museum, which was originally built by Friedrich August Stueler between 1843 and 1855.

The museum, which was closed to the public in 1939, was opened to visitors seven decades after it was virtually reduced to rubble by World War II air raids.

   These old bricks can been seen in the walls at the grand central stairways, drenched in natural light, which ascends through the main space to the museum's three levels amid withstanding columns.

   The bust of King Amenemhat III, the Berlin Green Head with its broken nose that witnessed no restoration at all, or the small head of ancient Egyptian Queen Nefertiti's mother-in-law, Queen Tiye, all lie there to add to the mixture of old and new the visitors are treated with.

In one room, the ceiling is covered with paintings, copying patterns that can be seen in Dandara temples and in the Valley of Kings in Upper Egypt. 'This ceiling was preserved because there was another ceiling built below it,' said Seyfried.

   However, while some items were on display at other museums during the past 70 years, such as the 3,500-year-old iconic bust of Nefertiti, which was on display at the Charlottenburg museum and then at the Altes, there are few pieces that are being shown to public for the first time, such as the huge parts of tomb walls.

   'This is a key piece of text,' said Seyfried, adding that everything is written on these walls about the person buried, including his career.

Lighting was an important element during the reconstruction of the museum, said Seyfried. It took days and weeks to make sure items were properly highlighted, even when spotlights were placed behind the glass ceiling in the hall, made especially to minimize amount of sunlight on the artefacts.

'All these statues needed light, especially of the Akhenaten family, as they worshipped light, so it is perfect for them right now,' Seyfried added.

The Museum comprises 8,000 square metres of exhibition space on four levels - shared by the Egyptian Museum and Papyrus Collection and the Museum for Pre- and Early History, with artifacts also on display from the Collection of Classical Antiquities.

   Golden replicas of the original treasure of Troy, busts of Roman warriors facing a Bavarian statue, the statue of Helius, the Gold Hat from the late Bronze Age, side galleries of mummies and sarcaphagos in the underground floor, as well as artifacts from the Nubian civilization are all on display at the Neues Museum.

   However, after renovation, there is only one thing missing from the museum, which receives 3,500 to 4,000 visitors everyday. Unlike other museums on the museum island, there are hardly any benches for people to sit and contemplate the art works.

   'I've only been 10 weeks in charge, but the first thing I noticed was the lack of seats,' said Seyfried. 'More will be installed, everywhere.'