Neues Museum in Berlin

General Remarks

The Neues Museum ("New Museum") is a museum in Berlin, Germany, located to the north of the Altes Museum (Old Museum) on Museum Island. It is dedicated to old stuff that was typically dug out of the ground somewhere - especially in Egypt, Troja (in present-day Turkey) and Northern Europe.

The museum was built around 1850. During the 2nd world war it was heavily damaged and lost parts of its treasures (like the Troja gold; now tugged away in Russia). After the wall came down and Germany was reunited in 1989, it was eventually rebuild and reopened in 2009. In 2014 or so more stuff was added to the permanent display.

You, like pretty much everybody else in the world with some education, know about its major treasure:


Queen Nefertiti (ca. 1370 BC– ca. 1330 BC)
Source: Neues Museum, Berlin

Pictures cannot do justice to the original; it is absolutely breath-taking.
There are many more world-famous Egyptian artifacts, below are two examples:


Wood sculpture of Queen Tiye
Source: Photographed 2015 in the Neues Museum, Berlin

Tiye (ca. 1398 BC – 1338 BC) was the "Great Royal Wife" of the Egyptian pharaoh Amenhotep III, who we have met before. She was the mother of the famous (and weird) Pharao Akhenaten , Nefertiti's husband, and thus the grandmother of Tutankhamun of iron dagger fame. Apparently she was also somebody you wouldn't want to cross.
Then you find the famous carved limestone relief that shows the royal family playing with their daughters. Below is only a section, the whole things is too badly lit to photograph well.


Nefertiti and 2 daughters. Parts of a small "house altar". Limestone; New Kingdom, Amarna period, 18th dynasty; c. 1350 BC
Source: Photographed 2015 in the Neues Museum, Berlin

There is more major Egyptian stuff around, not to mention the Trojan things unearthed by Heinrich Schliemann. Or the "Berlin Gold Hat", a world-famous artifact made of thin gold leaf in the bronze age.

Iron, Steel and Swords

As far as Iron Steel and swords are concerned, the Neues Museum is a must-see if you ever make it to Berlin. You will find a lot of interesting things, and some of them you can actually see. Others are there but kept in the dark - we have another victim of the "keep-things-in-the-dark disease" ¹⁾.

Here is an example of a large case full of bronze swords. In the (strongly enhanced) picture you can see far more than in the museum.


Bronze sword collection. There are many more "invisible" bronze swords on display Large picture (plus another one)
Source: Photographed 2015 in the Neues Museum, Berlin

Pictures of other interesting items can be found elsewhere in the Hyperscript:

The only known contemporary "picture" of Charlemagne.
An "Ulfberht" sword.
A Viking sword (hilt).
A picture of Pharaoh Amenhotep III, the receiver of an Hititte iron dagger.
A complex bronze object.
A Luristan bronze / iron axe.
A Spanish falcata (or a Greek Kopis?)
Luristan bronze standarts.
Nefertiti with daughters

Now let's look at a few special objects right here:

A very rare Celtic "Knollenknaufschwert as described here. It's not quite as long and thin as the other known ones and might be a kind of intermediate between normal Celtic swords and fully developed Knollenknaufschwerter.


Celtic Knollenknaufschwert
Source: Photographed 2015 in the Neues Museum, Berlin

A garnet-encrusted hilt, typical for the Merovingian or Vendel culture:


Garnet decorations No details given. Found in the "East" (??)
Source: Photographed 2015 in the Neues Museum, Berlin

A gold-hilt spatha from South Germany, around 415 (Alemanni; in other words) together with everything else found in the grave:


Alemanni grave goods with gold hilt spatha
Source: Photographed 2015 in the Neues Museum, Berlin

A Roman gladius from the first half of the first century AD, found in Dijon, France, and a spatha from the 3rd century AD found in an unknown location. The gladius shows a structure that hints at pattern welding. Unfortunately it is not possible to see that clearly because of an unfortunate display and illumination. The heavily processed picture below shows far more than what you can see.
Since we have "no Roman pattern welded swords from the 1st century AD" according to Ypey, it would be of some interest to have a good look at that gladius.


Spatha and gladius. Was pattern welding involved?
Source: Photographed 2015 in the Neues Museum, Berlin

Enough. There is a lot more of fascinating stuff around and you should definitely go and see this museum. Afterwards complain about the bad illumination.

¹⁾

Other museums / exhibitions that have succumbed to the "keep-things-in-the-dark disease" are

With frame