The Schinkel-designed museum in Berlin that is a masterpiece of German neoclassicism is the Altes Museum.
Built from 1825 to 1830 on Museum Island, the building was commissioned by King Frederick William III of Prussia to house the royal art collection. Schinkel’s design used a monumental Ionic colonnade facing the Lustgarten, a grand staircase, and a Pantheon-inspired rotunda. These features made the museum both a civic monument and a place for public education.
It originally opened in 1830 as the Königliches Museum, or Royal Museum. After the Neues Museum opened in 1845, it became known as the Altes Museum, meaning “Old Museum.” The name therefore describes its place in the growing Museum Island complex rather than its age relative to Berlin’s other landmarks.
A common mix-up is the nearby Berlin Cathedral, which stands beside the museum but is a separate building. The Neues Museum was designed later by Friedrich August Stüler, not Schinkel.