t The museum building, designed by Friedrich August Stüler
t The museum building, designed by Friedrich August Stüler
Experience Museumsinsel
The long island nestled in the tributaries of the Spree river is the cradle of Berlin’s history. It was here that the settlement of Cölln was established at the beginning of the 13th century, which grew up together with its twin settlement of Berlin on the opposite bank of the Spree.
Not a trace of Gothic and Renaissance Cölln is left now: the island’s character was transformed by the construction of the Brandenburg Electors’ palace, which served as their residence from 1470. Over the following centuries, the palace was converted first into a royal home and later into an imperial palace – the huge Stadtschloss. Although the palace was razed to the ground in 1950, several buildings on the island’s north side have survived, including the huge Berliner Dom and the impressive collection of museums that give the island its name – Museumsinsel.