Berlin’s “Neue Nationalgalerie” Restored and Ready to Reopen

After a 6-year makeover, Berlin’s iconic gallery of modern art will reopen in August.

The Neue Nationalgalerie which was first opened in 1968, and at the time, fronted a structure by Henry Moore soon became an icon of modernist architecture. The museum houses an extensive collection of 20th-century art masterpieces, and was shut in 2015 for an extensive refurbishment.

According to the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin’s official website, the structure designed by Bauhaus pioneer Mies Van Der Rohe, required the installation of 1,600 square metres of new glass to complete the construction work on the upper exhibition hall alone. “A new covering was applied to 15,000 square metres of the building, and maintenance work was carried out on 500 of the steel structure’s welding joins. After being refurbished and restored in accordance with the building’s status as a historic monument, 800 ceiling lights were fitted with LEDs and reinstalled, along with 196 sections of the ceiling lattice and 2,500 square metres of Striegau granite panels.”

In August 2021 the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin’s Neue Nationalgalerie will reopen exhibition works by Alexander Calder.