The Humboldt Forum is a museum dedicated to

human history Human history, also called world history, is the narrative of humanity's past. It is understood and studied through anthropology, archaeology, genetics, and linguistics. Since the invention of writing, human history has been studied throug ...

, art and culture, located in the

Berlin Palace The Berlin Palace (german: Berliner Schloss), formally the Royal Palace (german: Königliches Schloss), on the Museum Island in the Mitte area of Berlin, was the main residence of the House of Hohenzollern from 1443 to 1918. Expanded by order ...

on the Museum Island in the historic centre of

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. It is in honour of the

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

n scholars

Wilhelm Wilhelm may refer to: People and fictional characters * William Charles John Pitcher, costume designer known professionally as "Wilhelm" * Wilhelm (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname Other uses * Mount ...

and

Alexander von Humboldt Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 17696 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, naturalist, explorer, and proponent of Romantic philosophy and science. He was the younger brother of the Prussian minister, ...

. Considered the "German equivalent" of the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

, the Humboldt Forum houses the non-European collections of the

Berlin State Museums The Berlin State Museums (german: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin) are a group of institutions in Berlin, Germany, comprising seventeen museums in five clusters, several research institutes, libraries, and supporting facilities. They are overseen ...

, temporary exhibitions and public events. Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, it opened digitally on 16 December 2020 and became accessible to the general public on 20 July 2021.

History

The Humboldt Forum incorporates two former museums, the

Ethnological Museum of Berlin The Ethnological Museum of Berlin (german: Ethnologisches Museum Berlin) is one of the Berlin State Museums (german: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin), the de facto national collection of the Federal Republic of Germany. It is presently located in ...

and the

Museum of Asian Art The Museum of Asian Art (german: Museum für Asiatische Kunst) is a part of the Humboldt Forum in Berlin since 2020. Before its relocation it was sited in the neighborhood of the borough of , Berlin, Germany. It is one of the Berlin State Museums ...

. Both had their roots in the Ancient Prussian Art Chamber. The Ancient Prussian Art Chamber was originally established by

Joachim II Hector, Elector of Brandenburg Joachim II (german: Joachim II Hector or ''Hektor''; 13 January 1505 – 3 January 1571) was a Prince-elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg (1535–1571), the sixth member of the House of Hohenzollern. Joachim II was the eldest son of Joa ...

in the mid 16th century, but was nearly destroyed during the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle ...

(1618–1648). The art chamber was rebuilt as a magnificent collection by

Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg Frederick William (german: Friedrich Wilhelm; 16 February 1620 – 29 April 1688) was Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia, thus ruler of Brandenburg-Prussia, from 1640 until his death in 1688. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he is ...

, and was moved to the newly extended

Frederick I of Prussia Frederick I (german: Friedrich I.; 11 July 1657 – 25 February 1713), of the Hohenzollern dynasty, was (as Frederick III) Elector of Brandenburg (1688–1713) and Duke of Prussia in personal union (Brandenburg-Prussia). The latter function h ...

in the early 18th century. The Ethnological Museum opened in 1886 as a successor of the Ancient Prussian Art Chamber; the Museum of Asian Art originated as the Indian Department of the Ethnological Museum in 1904.

Wilhelm von Bode Wilhelm von Bode (10 December 1845 – 1 March 1929) was a German art historian and museum curator. Born Arnold Wilhelm Bode in Calvörde, he was ennobled in 1913. He was the creator and first curator of the Kaiser Friedrich Museum, now c ...

, the Director-General of the Royal Museums in Berlin, established the Museum of East Asian Art as a separate collection in 1906. In 2006 the Museum of Indian Art and the Museum of East Asian Art were merged to form the Museum of Asian Art. From 2020 the Ethnological Museum and the Museum of Asian Art are both part of the Humboldt Forum in the Berlin Palace. By 2019, the Forum's overall costs totaled $700 million; at the time, it was considered Europe’s most expensive cultural project.Scaturro, Michael (May 18, 2015)
"Berlin's rebuilt Prussian palace to address long-ignored colonial atrocities"
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''. London. Its opening was initially planned for autumn 2019, then delayed to 2020 due to technical problems, including with its air conditioning system. Delivery delays and the unavailability of workers during a lockdown due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in Germany The COVID-19 pandemic in Germany has resulted in confirmed cases of COVID-19 and deaths. On 27 January 2020, the first case in Germany was confirmed near Munich, Bavaria. By mid February, the arising cluster of cases had been fully containe ...

pushed it back a few months further. In April 2020, two tar cookers exploded at the construction site, injuring one worker.

Building

The Humboldt Forum has its seat in the reconstructed

. The foundation stone was laid by President

Joachim Gauck Joachim Wilhelm Gauck (; born 24 January 1940) is a German politician and civil rights activist who served as President of Germany from 2012 to 2017. A former Lutheran pastor, he came to prominence as an anti-communist civil rights activist in E ...

in a ceremony on 12 June 2013.

Museum

On completion in 2020, the City Palace housed the

and the

, as well as two restaurants, a theater, a movie theater and an auditorium. The project is led by a three-member management committee, chaired by founding director

Neil MacGregor Robert Neil MacGregor (born 16 June 1946) is a British art historian and former museum director. He was editor of the ''Burlington Magazine'' from 1981 to 1987, then Director of the National Gallery, London, from 1987 to 2002, Director of th ...

and also including the co-directors, archaeologist

Hermann Parzinger Hermann Parzinger is a German historian who is a specialist in the culture of the Scythians. He has been president of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation since 1 March 2008 and the Executive President of Europa Nostra since 2018. Honours ...

and art historian Horst Bredekamp. The

Foundation for the Humboldt Forum in the Berlin Palace The Foundation for the Humboldt Forum in the Berlin Palace (german: Stiftung Humboldt Forum im Berliner Schloss) is a German foundation established by the Government of Germany to create the Humboldt Forum museum in the reconstructed City Pal ...

has been set up to create the museum. At the exhibition “Berlin Global,” visitors are put on an electronic watch and are offered to choose statements that reflect their

equality Equality may refer to: Society * Political equality, in which all members of a society are of equal standing ** Consociationalism, in which an ethnically, religiously, or linguistically divided state functions by cooperation of each group's elit ...

values while viewing the exhibition. The visitor has his own unique sound, which is constantly heard when making choices, and at the end of the exhibition, you learn what equality means to you by receiving a printed report about your choices. MacGregor has proposed to make the museum admission-free, based on the model of the British Museum.

Controversy

Like many of its counterparts in other western countries, such as the

, the museum has become embroiled in controversy over its ownership of

looted art Looted art has been a consequence of looting during war, natural disaster and riot for centuries. Looting of art, archaeology and other cultural property may be an opportunistic criminal act or may be a more organized case of unlawful or unet ...

and other artifacts which were obtained from the German colonial empire in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

and

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

. In 2018, it was at the center of a debate about the legality of cultural heritage from former colonies in Germany, drawing protests from art historians such as

Bénédicte Savoy Bénédicte Savoy (french: Bénédicte Savoy , born 22 May 1972 in Paris) is a French art historian, specialising in the critical enquiry of the provenance of works of art, including looted art and other forms of illegally acquired cultural obj ...

and activists, who alleged the museum had not done enough to research the provenance and fails to critically present ethnographic objects in its collection.

Gallery

Images of the highlights shown at the Humboldt Forum. Schiff aus Luf 1890 Berlin-Dahlem.jpg, A historical boat from the island of Luf in modern

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

Cuauhcoatl-1.jpg, A Cuauhcoatl Maya Krieger-1.jpg, A vase for chocolate from the Maya Barrigon-3.jpg, The Barrigon a

Potbelly sculpture Potbelly sculptures (Spanish barrigones pl. or barrigón sing.) are in-the-round sculptures of obese human figures carved from boulders. They are a distinctive element of the sculptural tradition in the southern Maya area of Mesoamerica. The prec ...

Vishnu Museums für Asiatische Kunst (Berlin).jpg,

Vishnu Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" withi ...

Nandi Museums für Asiatische Kunst.jpg, Nandi Vorstellung-Highlights-Humboldt-Forum-10.jpg, Hand of a

Western gorilla The western gorilla (''Gorilla gorilla'') is a great ape found in Africa, one of two species of the hominid genus ''Gorilla''. Large and robust with males weighing around , the hair is significantly lighter in color than the eastern gorilla, '' ...

Sope-12.jpg, Sope Orobates Pabsti-3.jpg, Model of an ''Orobates pabsti'': red parts are reconstructed from the fossil, blue parts are mirrors, and yellow parts are some estimations.

References