Press release , 27 July 2018

Hey, Look! Wow! Last chance to enjoy: Open Days of the Construction Site

On Saturday, 25 August, from 9 am to 2 pm, and on Sunday, 26 August, from 9 am to 6 pm, the Humboldt Forum invites you to the final Open Days of the Construction Site. The nearly completed Schlüter Courtyard is the focus of a programme which includes information on the palace’s construction and architecture, music, live speakers, street food and workshops for children. The exhibition halls on the second floor surrounding the Schlüter Courtyard are also open to visitors. Entrance is free of charge, and doors are open both days until forty-five minutes before the event ends.

The Schlüter Courtyard ranked among the most outstanding masterpieces of Baroque architecture in northern . It was designed by palace architect Andreas Schlüter as befitting the exalted status of Friedrich I, the first Prussian king. As part of the urban cultural quarter being developed with the Humboldt Forum, the reconstructed Schlüter Courtyard, complete with bistro and restaurant, will once again invite visitors to linger from late 2019 onward. This year’s Open Days of the Construction Site offers people the first opportunity to catch a glimpse of the courtyard in all its glory.

On the second floor surrounding the Schlüter Courtyard, the Ethnologisches Museum’s completed exhibition halls are also open for visitors to inspect. The outdoor area, with its three reconstructed Baroque facades complemented by a modern facade designed by architect Franco Stella, offers a festive space for a colourful, entertaining and informative stage programme, which this year has been put together by the friends’ association Berliner Schloss e.V.

Surrounded by beautiful Baroque stonework, visitors can learn more about the construction, architecture and contents of the Humboldt Forum as well as the reconstruction of the palace facades. Andrej Hermlin’s Swing Dance Orchestra will play music by Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman, and the Staats- und Domchor Berlin and the Universität der Künste Boys Choir, accompanied by the wind ensemble Hauptstadtblech, will sings works by Bach, Mendelssohn and Nicolai; the Humboldt Jazz Explorers, the school jazz band of the Humboldt Gymnasium in Berlin’s Tegel district will also take to the stage. Visitors of all ages will be able to satisfy their thirst for knowledge and their appetite for street food at a variety of stands providing fascinating information, delicious food and drink, interactive fun, experimental activities and interesting speakers.

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The programme is rounded off late on Sunday afternoon by a Samba show performed by Brazilian artist Girlene Santos and her show-dancing group. The final Open Days of the Construction Site are set to be a true folk festival.

Saturday afternoon offers a particular highlight: the Berliner Philharmoniker, under the baton of designated head conductor Kirill Petrenko, will revive a 1920s tradition by giving a benefit concert. The price of the entrance tickets for the event, hosted by the friends’ association Berliner Schloss e.V., will boost donations for reconstructing the Humboldt Forum’s historical facades. The concert is already sold out, but in order to allow as many visitors as possible to enjoy this outstanding cultural highlight, organizers plan to show a live broadcast of the concert in the . The concert will be broadcast by TV station rbb Fernsehen on the same day at 10:15 pm.

The benefit concert means that final entry into the Schlüter Courtyard on Saturday is at 11:30 am. However, the forecourt on the Lustgarten side, the passageway and the exhibition halls on the second floor will remain open until 2 pm. The last Open Days of the Construction Site is set to begin at 9 am on both days, while final admission is 1:15 pm on Saturday and 5:15 pm on Sunday.

When the Humboldt Forum opens its doors in late 2019 it will mark the establishment of a whole new cultural quarter in the very heart of Berlin. By bringing together outstanding collections containing major exhibits – among them spiritual objects and artworks from Asia, Africa and America – and coupling these with a variety of cultural activities, the Humboldt Forum is seeking to inspire new insights into the worlds of the past, present and future. The participating actors are the Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz (SPK) with the Ethnologisches Museum and the Museum für Asiatische Kunst of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Kulturprojekte Berlin with Stadtmuseum Berlin, and the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, with the Stiftung Humboldt Forum im Berliner Schloss taking on a leading role. The Humboldt Forum has already developed a highly visible presence throughout Berlin with its diverse programme of exhibitions, discussions, performances, workshops, films and artistic interventions.

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Hey, Look! Wow! Last chance to enjoy: Open Days of the Construction Site

Dates Saturday, 25 August 2018 and Sunday, 26 August 2018 Times Saturday from 9 am to 2 pm, last admission at 1:15 pm Sunday from 9 am to 6 pm, last admission at 5:15 pm Venue Construction site of the Humboldt Forum im Berliner Schloss, north entrance, Schlossplatz 5, 10178 Berlin

Press Tour Date to be announced

Berliner Philharmoniker Concert in the Schlüter Courtyard Date Saturday, 25 August 2018 Time 4 pm to 6 pm Venue Schlüter Courtyard in the Broadcast rbb Fernsehen on Saturday, 25 August 2018 at 10:15 pm A live broadcast is planned for the general public in the Lustgarten

Organizers Stiftung Humboldt Forum im Berliner Schloss in cooperation with the friends’ association Berliner Schloss e.V.

Partners Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz with the Ethnologisches Museum and the Museum für Asiatische Kunst of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Kulturprojekte Berlin and Stadtmuseum Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin as well as the Palace Workshop of the Stiftung Humboldt Forum im Berliner Schloss

Press contact Bernhard Wolter, Director of Communication for Construction & Fundraising Stiftung Humboldt Forum im Berliner Schloss +49 151 1400 11 99, [email protected]

Michael Mathis, Press Officer Cultural and Digital Communication Humboldt Forum Kultur GmbH +49 151 1617 97 27, [email protected]

humboldtforum.com/presse

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