Transactions on the Built Environment vol 39 © 1999 WIT Press, www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3509 The Berlin 'Neues Museum' - a microcosm of Prussian building technology against the background of beginning industrialization W.Lorenz Chair of history of building technology, Brandenburg Technical University, D-03013 Cottbus, Germany email:
[email protected] Abstract The 'Neues Museum', situated in the historic center of Berlin, was built between 1841 and 1859. Heavily damaged during world war II and increasingly ruined in the following decades, it is presently awaiting restoration, the plans for which have been drafted by the British architect David Chipperfleld. This paper goes into the role of this masterpiece of Prussian classicism as a high-tech structure in its time, characterized by a wide range of unusual and newly developed construc- tion methods - various light weight brick vaultings as well as hollow pot vaul- tings, but, of primary importance, a multitude of often hidden cast iron and wrought iron structural elements. The building's design and history, as well as the building itself, express a new, forward-looking understanding of construction against the background of the industrial revolution, that includes all of its aspects - the process of building, the produce of building and the challenge in terms of architectural and artistic expression. Now, 150 years after the building's com- pletion, the rebuilding and restoration post new technical challenges, because as many of the historical structures as possible have to be made to perform their functions again, with due consideration given to conservation requirements. 1 Introduction In 1841, just 17 years after the works for the first great Museum in Berlin, desig- ned by the famous Prussian architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel, had begun in 1824, Transactions on the Built Environment vol 39 © 1999 WIT Press, www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3509 390 Structural Studies, Repairs and Maintenance of Historical Buildings foundation works for another Royal Museum were started.