One of the most memorable places I saw in Berlin was the Pergamon Museum, possibly one of the most unique museums in Europe and an essential place to visit if you ever find yourself in Berlin.

Located on Berlin’s Museumsinsel (Museum Island – in itself a UNESCO World Heritage Site) the Pergamon Museum is in fact three separate museums housed in a classically elegant building from the turn-of-the-century. The most well-known pieces are in the antiquity collection – located directly off the main ticket hall.

A ticket will set you back 10 euros. Quite steep for a relatively small museum, but the reconstructions inside are well worth the money. It would probably be wise to invest in an audio guide too as many of the smaller exhibits are written only in German. We saw many people using them and judging by the interested expressions on their faces an audio guides are probably rather informative.

First you come to the colossal room housing the monumentally reconstructed Pergamon Altar. The altar was built around 180 – 160 B.C in the ancient Greek city of Pergamon. The altar is huge – covering an area about the size of a tennis court. Amazingly this reconstruction is only one third of the original size of the altar. Running along the base of the altar is the original, marble frieze, depicting the struggle between the Greek Gods and the Titans. Steep steps lead to the imposing colonnade above. Surprisingly, you can actually climb the steps to where the altar would have been – though they’re quite steep so it might be a good idea to hold on to the railings at the side. Information boards in German and English and a small-scale model of ancient Pergamon give further information on this amazing majestic piece of ancient architecture.

A door to the right of the altar leads to the reconstructed Market Gate of Miletus. The huge, two-story gate dates back to the Roman Period, but was, unfortunately, undergoing renovation work during our visit.

Walking under the Market Gate you come to Ishtar’s Gate, the imposing Babylonian reconstruction standing over 14 metres high. The imposing gate is surmounted by high parapets and uses cobalt blue tiles and golden figures of mythical beats for decoration. Some of the tiles are original and date back to 575 B.C. Leading out from the gate leads an equally impressive processional walkway. Off of this main hall are smaller, but no less impressive, exhibits housing smaller artifacts and collections from Mesopotamia.

I only wish we had more time to do the museum justice. I would certainly come back to the Pergamon Museum and recommend it to anyone interested in a museum that’s beyond measure.

Note: I read on the website that the Pergamon Museum will be undergoing renovations starting in 2008. It should remain open, but I would check on the website (www.smb.spk-berlin.de) before planning your trip to avoid disappointment.

Remember the movie Phantasm? Where the characters walk into a dreary, corpse laden yet hospital clean mortuary? That's my experience in Berlin's famed Museums.

Pergamonmuseum: I read in Time Out Berlin, it's the place to be so okay, I gave it a try. Thats €10 down the drain. Although a bit of a archeology buff myself and seeing some of the stuff I learned in school, the atmosphere of the place and the display of some of these well... displays are quite dreadful. Dreadful is the word, yes. The tags next to each art piece adding to that the disgusting fluorescent light that goes through the place, I feel like I'm in an autopsy room with a hint of green. Also to add to that, I realize Germans and their relation to modern art, but at the archeology museum, the whole second floor is overtaken by modern art, which is okay but art by ONE artist alone, an artist that specializes in honey combed aluminum? Sweet freaking Christ! I got out of there quick.

Deutsches Museum: The good thing about this place is that there's people in here... Well, a tad better than Pergomon, it showcases the history of this country from middle ages through WW2 and beyond. Very informative in some parts, yet kinda lacks in the medieval section which I understand I guess. The WW2 section really catches your attention as it does deal with Berlin in a very personal matter I bet. But all and all, it was a satisfactory visit.

The Pergamon Museum boasts one of the finest collections for ancient Greece/Turkish art. In fact, it has the entire altar from the city of Pergamon, Turkey. The altar (frier) depicts the battle between gods and giants. It also has a nice collection of statues.

The museum is fascinating, especially the Pergamon Altar. As you walk into the room, you are amazed at the sight of the white steps. Another interesting sight is the Gate of Miletus. The gate is massive and interestingly decorated.

Spoiled for choice on Museum Island, the Pergamon Museum is an easy choice as it offers something different from the ordinary exhibitions, statues, and pictures seen in all standard museums and galleries. It has several enormous reconstructions of parts of ancient cities.

Included in the entry fee of Euro 4 is an audio set available in several languages. The audio guide is very good and leads you through the exhibitions providing sufficient general information without becoming overbearing. More detailed information can be requested for most displays should they really tickle your interest.

The star exhibition is the Pergamon Altar, a Greek construction with beautiful freezes that dates from the second century BC. The remains of this ancient building were shipped to Germany at the end of the nineteenth century during a period which German archeologists were very active. In contrast to the Elgin Marbles in the British Museum, some of the pillars came with and the display is build up so you can climb the decidedly modern stairs and see how it was presented originally.

In an adjacent room towers the Market Gate from Miletus. It is the façade of a market from a Roman town in Asia Minor and is more than 16 m high. Original date of construction is estimated to be about a century BC.

Passing through this gate you enter what is if not the most beautiful definitely the most colorful of the major displays – the Ishtar Gate. This gate from Babylon dates from the sixth century BC and gives the Pergamon Altar strong competition for star of the show. The glazed tiles, mostly in blue, are in astonishingly good condition given the age. Large pieces from the Processional Way leading up to the Ishtar Gate decorate both sides of the passage.

The displays of Islamic art on the second floor are smaller but no less interesting. The façade of the Mshatta Palace in Jordan, eight century BC, fills a room while another displays the inside of a seventeenth century paneled room of a rich merchant in Syria. Also of interest is a large world map from India – the audio guide is necessary to make much sense of it from a modern viewpoint.

On the ground floor are several more rooms with statues and mosaics, mainly from Greek and Roman times, but they have a hard time competing with the splendor of the larger exhibitions.

The museum is open Tuesday – Sunday 10 am to 6 pm (Thursdays until 10 pm).