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| former_name = | established = 2020| dissolved = | location = Berlin Palace, Berlin, Germany| type = Art museum| accreditation = | key_holdings = | collections = non-European art| collection_size = | visitors = | founder = | executive_director = | leader_type = | leader = | director = Hartmut Dorgerloh| curator = | architect = Franco Stella| historian = | owner = | employees = Berlin U-Bahn>U: Museumsinsel (Berlin U-Bahn) ({{Rail-interchange>berlin|U5}})| parking = weblink}}| network = | embedded = }}The Humboldt Forum is a museum dedicated to human history, art and culture, located in the Berlin Palace on the Museum Island in the historic centre of Berlin. It is named in honour of the Prussian scholars Wilhelm and Alexander von Humboldt. Considered the "German equivalent" of the British Museum,NEWS,weblink Neil MacGregor: 'Britain forgets its past. Germany confronts it', 17 April 2016, Tim, Adams, The Guardian, London, 6 January 2023, the Humboldt Forum houses the non-European collections of the Berlin State Museums, temporary exhibitions and public events. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it opened digitally on 16 December 2020 and became accessible to the general public on 20 July 2021.PRESS RELEASE,weblink Berlin's newest landmark is ready and waiting, Humboldt Forum, 16 December 2020,

History

The Humboldt Forum incorporates two former museums, the Ethnological Museum of Berlin and the Museum of Asian Art. 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 in the mid 16th century, but was nearly destroyed during the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648). The art chamber was rebuilt as a magnificent collection by Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg, and was moved to the newly extended Berlin Palace by Frederick I of Prussia 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, 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.NEWS,weblink Berlin Humboldt Forum opens in stages, 22 November 2018, Deutsche Welle, en, 6 January 2023, By 2019, the Forum's overall costs totaled $700 million;NEWS, Thomas, Rogers, 13 June 2019,weblink Berlin's Troubled Humboldt Forum Pushes Back Opening, The New York Times, 6 January 2023, subscription, at the time, it was considered Europe's most expensive cultural project.Scaturro, Michael (18 May 2015). "Berlin's rebuilt Prussian palace to address long-ignored colonial atrocities". The Guardian. London. Its opening was initially planned for autumn 2019, then delayed to 2020 due to technical problems, including with its air conditioning system.NEWS, Christopher F., Schuetze, Alex, Marshall, 8 April 2020,weblink Explosion at Berlin's Humboldt Forum Puts Delayed Opening in Doubt, The New York Times, subscription, Delivery delays and the unavailability of workers during a lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany pushed it back a few months further.Hickley, Catherine (16 June 2020). "Berlin's Humboldt Forum to open this year despite pandemic delay". The Art Newspaper.Hickley, Catherine (7 October 2020). "Berlin's Humboldt Forum to open in phases beginning in December". The Art Newspaper. In April 2020, two tar cookers exploded at the construction site, injuring one worker.On 16 September 2022, the opening of the eastern wing, the last section of the Humboldt Forum museum, meant the Humboldt Forum museum was finally completed. It became Germany's currently most expensive cultural project.NEWS, Completed Humboldt Forum opens in Berlin – DW – 09/16/2022,weblink dw.com, en,

Building

(File:Humboldt Forum 10493.jpg|thumb|North and east facades of Humboldt Forum. )The Humboldt Forum has its seat in the reconstructed Berlin Palace.NEWS, So verlief das Richtfest am Berliner Schloss, Topping-out wreath ceremony at the Palace, de,weblink Der Tagesspiegel, 12 June 2015, Christiane, Peltz, 6 January 2023, The foundation stone was laid by President Joachim Gauck in a ceremony on 12 June 2013.NEWS,weblink Berlin begins reconstruction of King Frederick the Great's palace, Harriet, Alexander, 12 June 2013, The Daily Telegraph, London, 14 June 2013,

Museum

On completion in 2020, the City Palace housed the Ethnological Museum of Berlin and the Museum of Asian Art, as well as two restaurants, a theater, a movie theater and an auditorium.NEWS, Berlin Palace Rebuilding Begins 63 Years After Explosion,weblink Bloomberg News, 30 October 2015, Catherine, Hickley, subscription, The project is led by a three-member management committee, chaired by founding director Neil MacGregor and also including the co-directors, archaeologist Hermann Parzinger and art historian Horst Bredekamp. The Foundation for the Humboldt Forum in the Berlin Palace has been set up to create the museum.NEWS,weblink A New Museum Opens Old Wounds in Germany, Bowley, Graham, 12 October 2018, 4 November 2018, The New York Times, subscription, MacGregor has proposed to make the museum admission-free, based on the model of the British Museum.NEWS,weblink Neil MacGregor unveils plans for Berlin's ambitious Humboldt Forum, Catherine, Hickley, 3 November 2016, The Art Newspaper, 6 January 2023,

Controversy

The Humboldt Forum came under criticism before and after its 2020 opening due to the museum's ownship of stolen art and other artefacts which were acquired from the German colonial empire and other European colonies in Africa and Asia, such as the Benin Bronzes.WEB, No Humboldt 21,weblink 3 June 2013, 31 December 2020, en, WEB, Humboldt Forum: Berlin museum opens despite criticism over looted art,weblink BBC News, 16 December 2020, In 2018, it was at the center of a debate about the legality of cultural heritage from former German colonies being put on display in Germany, drawing protests from activists and art historians including as Bénédicte Savoy, who alleged the museum had not done enough to research the provenance and failed to critically present objects originating from the Global South in its collection.NEWS, Black Lives Matter movement is speeding up repatriation efforts, leading French art historian says,weblink Anny, Shaw, 21 November 2020, 6 January 2023, The Art Newspaper, en, NEWS, Christopher F., Schuetze, 15 March 2019,weblink Germany Sets Guidelines for Repatriating Colonial-Era Artifacts, The New York Times, subscription,

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 GuineaCuauhcoatl-1.jpg|A CuauhcoatlMaya Krieger-1.jpg|A beaker for chocolate from the MayaBarrigon-3.jpg|The Barrigon a Potbelly sculptureVishnu Museums für Asiatische Kunst (Berlin).jpg|VishnuNandi Museums für Asiatische Kunst.jpg|NandiVorstellung-Highlights-Humboldt-Forum-10.jpg|Hand of a Western gorillaSope-12.jpg|SopeOrobates 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.

See also

• Museum Island

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

{{Commons category|Humboldt Forum}}

• {{Official website}} {{in lang|de|en}}

{{Museum Island, Berlin}}{{Visitor attractions in Berlin}}{{Authority control}}