International opening
Museum Barberini, Potsdam
Director Ortrud Westheider tells Rebecca Swirsky how this historical venue has been reconstructed for the 21st century
Just half an hour from Berlin by train, this new museum in the suburb of Potsdam used to be home to the Prussian monarchy.
In 1750, King Frederick the Great commissioned the city’s Barberini Palace as a royal residence, modelling its Baroque splendour on Rome’s Palazzo Barberini. In the 19th and 20th centuries it was cherished as a centre of arts and culture, before being bombed in a 1945 allied air raid. Today, under the patronage of Hasso Plattner, a billionaire software magnet, philanthropist and art collector, this copy of a replica of the Roman original has been returned to its former glory and transformed into a museum.
Berlin architect Thomas Albrecht’s thoughtful designs combine time-honoured craftsmanship with modern-day features such as underfloor heating. Visitors can see 17 airy galleries spread over three floors, accompanied by a smartphone audioguide app, and enjoy a high-definition digital “smart wall” on which artworks can be scrolled through (the wall was programmed by Plattner’s software company, SAP). The museum’s first major temporary exhibitions, Impressionism: The Art of Landscape and Modern Art Classics (both until 28 May), include key works by Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir, Gustave Caillebotte, Wassily Kandinsky, Max Liebermann and Edvard Munch. Many of these works are on loan from Plattner’s own collection and the two exhibitions are curated by the museum’s director, Ortrud Westheider.
How was the museum introduced to the people of Potsdam?
Westheider: Eight weeks before its official opening in January, Museum Barberini welcomed its first visitors – 24,500 people attended special visitor days when the museum was still empty. They wandered through the galleries, shop and cafe, enjoying the traditional building techniques used in the reconstruction, such as the Rabitz plasterwork in the foyer – which uses wire meshes – as well as the cutting-edge gallery architecture by Albrecht.
The reconstruction of the palace as a museum ties in with its cultural significance. Until its destruction in 1945, it was a civic and community centre and used as a youth hostel, theatre, cinema, civil registry office, library, meeting place for cultural societies, dance school and one of Potsdam’s first cinemas.
During the visitor days, we organised readings, concerts, silent films and dances that were reminiscent of the building’s prior uses. As soon as the visitor days ended, we began hanging artworks.
In what way do the museum’s two opening exhibitions speak to each other?
Plattner’s art collection was the starting point. Placing works from his collection in the context of those from other national and international museums and private collections was important. Visitors can explore the first distinctly modern movement in painting in Impressionism: The Art of Landscape, which presents various themes in impressionist landscape painting. The impressionists brought depictions of the sea and gardens into modern art. Many of these landscape themes can be found in Modern Art Classics, which features work by Emil Nolde, Edvard Munch, Max Liebermann and Wassily Kandinsky. Visitors can wander through the galleries and see links between the shows visually and in terms of subject matter.
It’s been 250 years since Frederick the Great commissioned the Barberini Palace. How has technology changed the building?
There is an app that can be downloaded for free on smartphones, as well as a multimedia guide that can be borrowed. These help visitors navigate the museum and know which works of art they are close to at any given moment.
We also offer tours of various lengths: families can select a children’s tour for the young ones while the parents go on a tour for adults.
What is the smart wall?
This was designed to engage young and old visitors alike. They can learn more about the artworks by navigating across the widescreen by using a touchpad.
The artworks, which are reproduced in 200 pixels, can be arranged in different contexts, such as chronologically or according to artist.
Plus, for our current exhibition on impressionism, the photographer Christoph Irrgang tracked down the actual places that served as scenes for the landscapes at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th. On the smart wall you can view the impressionist artworks alongside photographs of the places depicted in them as they look today.
How has the Barberini been received?
We have been welcomed with open arms by our colleagues at other museums and the citizens of Potsdam. The Verein Stadtbild Deutschland, a society promoting the preservation and reconstruction of historical architecture, named the museum its building of the year, while the grand opening topped the Guardian newspaper’s top 10 list of museum openings in 2017. In the six weeks after we opened, we sold 100,000 tickets. Demand for our annual Barberini Friends pass also shows we are on the right track.
What role will Plattner’s collection play in future exhibitions?
His collection ranges from old masters to present-day works. This diversity will continue to provide starting points for exhibition projects. Plattner has taken pleasure in creating a place where he can present his art to the public; it is a project that is close to his heart.
What does the future hold for the Barberini?
Seventeen galleries are distributed across 2,200 sq m where we will show rotating exhibitions through international collaborations. The shows will range from old masters to contemporary art. For example, our summer exhibition this year is dedicated to America’s road to modern art. The exhibition, Behind the Mask: Artists in the GDR, will end our opening year. In 2018, we will put on an exhibition of work by the German expressionist artist Max Beckmann in cooperation with the Kunsthalle Bremen.
Ortrud Westheider is the director of Museum Barberini in Potsdam
Rebecca Swirsky is an art critic and fiction writer
Main funder Hasso Plattner Foundation
Architect Hilmer & Sattler; Thomas Albrecht
Exhibition design Gunther Maria Kolck; BrücknerAping Büro für Gestaltung
Graphic design BrücknerAping Büro für Gestaltung
Exhibition ends Impressionism: The Art of Landscape, until 28 May; Modern Art Classics, until 28 May
Admission Adult €14; children, free
Just half an hour from Berlin by train, this new museum in the suburb of Potsdam used to be home to the Prussian monarchy.
In 1750, King Frederick the Great commissioned the city’s Barberini Palace as a royal residence, modelling its Baroque splendour on Rome’s Palazzo Barberini. In the 19th and 20th centuries it was cherished as a centre of arts and culture, before being bombed in a 1945 allied air raid. Today, under the patronage of Hasso Plattner, a billionaire software magnet, philanthropist and art collector, this copy of a replica of the Roman original has been returned to its former glory and transformed into a museum.
Berlin architect Thomas Albrecht’s thoughtful designs combine time-honoured craftsmanship with modern-day features such as underfloor heating. Visitors can see 17 airy galleries spread over three floors, accompanied by a smartphone audioguide app, and enjoy a high-definition digital “smart wall” on which artworks can be scrolled through (the wall was programmed by Plattner’s software company, SAP). The museum’s first major temporary exhibitions, Impressionism: The Art of Landscape and Modern Art Classics (both until 28 May), include key works by Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir, Gustave Caillebotte, Wassily Kandinsky, Max Liebermann and Edvard Munch. Many of these works are on loan from Plattner’s own collection and the two exhibitions are curated by the museum’s director, Ortrud Westheider.
How was the museum introduced to the people of Potsdam?
Westheider: Eight weeks before its official opening in January, Museum Barberini welcomed its first visitors – 24,500 people attended special visitor days when the museum was still empty. They wandered through the galleries, shop and cafe, enjoying the traditional building techniques used in the reconstruction, such as the Rabitz plasterwork in the foyer – which uses wire meshes – as well as the cutting-edge gallery architecture by Albrecht.
The reconstruction of the palace as a museum ties in with its cultural significance. Until its destruction in 1945, it was a civic and community centre and used as a youth hostel, theatre, cinema, civil registry office, library, meeting place for cultural societies, dance school and one of Potsdam’s first cinemas.
During the visitor days, we organised readings, concerts, silent films and dances that were reminiscent of the building’s prior uses. As soon as the visitor days ended, we began hanging artworks.
In what way do the museum’s two opening exhibitions speak to each other?
Plattner’s art collection was the starting point. Placing works from his collection in the context of those from other national and international museums and private collections was important. Visitors can explore the first distinctly modern movement in painting in Impressionism: The Art of Landscape, which presents various themes in impressionist landscape painting. The impressionists brought depictions of the sea and gardens into modern art. Many of these landscape themes can be found in Modern Art Classics, which features work by Emil Nolde, Edvard Munch, Max Liebermann and Wassily Kandinsky. Visitors can wander through the galleries and see links between the shows visually and in terms of subject matter.
It’s been 250 years since Frederick the Great commissioned the Barberini Palace. How has technology changed the building?
There is an app that can be downloaded for free on smartphones, as well as a multimedia guide that can be borrowed. These help visitors navigate the museum and know which works of art they are close to at any given moment.
We also offer tours of various lengths: families can select a children’s tour for the young ones while the parents go on a tour for adults.
What is the smart wall?
This was designed to engage young and old visitors alike. They can learn more about the artworks by navigating across the widescreen by using a touchpad.
The artworks, which are reproduced in 200 pixels, can be arranged in different contexts, such as chronologically or according to artist.
Plus, for our current exhibition on impressionism, the photographer Christoph Irrgang tracked down the actual places that served as scenes for the landscapes at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th. On the smart wall you can view the impressionist artworks alongside photographs of the places depicted in them as they look today.
How has the Barberini been received?
We have been welcomed with open arms by our colleagues at other museums and the citizens of Potsdam. The Verein Stadtbild Deutschland, a society promoting the preservation and reconstruction of historical architecture, named the museum its building of the year, while the grand opening topped the Guardian newspaper’s top 10 list of museum openings in 2017. In the six weeks after we opened, we sold 100,000 tickets. Demand for our annual Barberini Friends pass also shows we are on the right track.
What role will Plattner’s collection play in future exhibitions?
His collection ranges from old masters to present-day works. This diversity will continue to provide starting points for exhibition projects. Plattner has taken pleasure in creating a place where he can present his art to the public; it is a project that is close to his heart.
What does the future hold for the Barberini?
Seventeen galleries are distributed across 2,200 sq m where we will show rotating exhibitions through international collaborations. The shows will range from old masters to contemporary art. For example, our summer exhibition this year is dedicated to America’s road to modern art. The exhibition, Behind the Mask: Artists in the GDR, will end our opening year. In 2018, we will put on an exhibition of work by the German expressionist artist Max Beckmann in cooperation with the Kunsthalle Bremen.
Ortrud Westheider is the director of Museum Barberini in Potsdam
Rebecca Swirsky is an art critic and fiction writer
Project data
Cost UndisclosedMain funder Hasso Plattner Foundation
Architect Hilmer & Sattler; Thomas Albrecht
Exhibition design Gunther Maria Kolck; BrücknerAping Büro für Gestaltung
Graphic design BrücknerAping Büro für Gestaltung
Exhibition ends Impressionism: The Art of Landscape, until 28 May; Modern Art Classics, until 28 May
Admission Adult €14; children, free